"Wow…" Ralts breathed, looking out from their ship as it entered Sootopolis. "This is such a cool place!"
"Yeah, it is," Max agreed. "Most cities are… well, there's a lot that are this kind of size, but they're usually a lot flatter so it's hard to see how many houses there are."
Sootopolis certainly wasn't flat. It was built into the sides of a giant crater, with buildings of all types in terraced ranks up from the level of the sea inside the crater all the way up to the crater lip, and Ash stared around along with everyone else.
"Whenever I see a place like this, it reminds me of how Altomare is different from everywhere else," Latias said, next to him. "Because this place is different to everywhere else, too. And – I know a lot of places we've visited have something about them that's unique, but it seems like this place and Altomare and Fortree are very different from normal. Is that right?"
"I think so," Ash decided. "There's lots of different ways that places are, but you're right that there are some that are just… amazing, and different, like this. When they're built in a place where they work with the land, instead of against it."
"It reminds me of those Diglett," Pikachu said. "Remember?"
"Yeah," Ash nodded. "And the way that the guys who were going to do all that building work learned about working with what's already there."
He tapped a hoof. "I… know I keep thinking about that kind of thing, but I wonder if that's a lot of how Dad thinks? About why – well, why he made Rayquaza and my other brothers and sisters, but didn't make everyone and everything."
"I get it, I think," Pikachu realized. "Because otherwise it would all be the things he could come up with, without anything else in the mix."
"It's just a guess, but… yeah," Ash agreed.
He looked out over the harbour again, then pointed. "Now, that looks like a gym to me! Let's get over there as soon as we arrive!"
The Gym Leader, Juan, was actually out when Ash and his friends got to his gym, but he returned only a minute or so later and apologized profusely for the delay.
"I was giving a performance, you see," he said, and May brightened.
"You mean a Contest sort of performance?" she asked. "Or something else?"
"Oh, very much a Contest sort of performance," Juan confirmed. "You may have heard of my student, Wallace? He's moved entirely into Contests, these days, but I still split my time between the two and I find that each one enhances the other."
He turned his attention to Ash. "Now, I believe you'll be my challenger today? I've heard of you, of course."
"Great!" Ash replied. "What have you heard?"
"Well," Juan began. "Mostly – not entirely, but mostly – it's about you being a Pokémon."
Ash deflated slightly.
"But I have heard from Moore about your unusual Pokémon, and I've spoken to the Gym Leaders you battled before getting here," Juan added. "And I'm quite sure we've got an interesting battle on our way… you see, my challenge to you, as a veteran trainer seeking their eighth Hoenn badge, is going to be a mix of double and single battles! A double battle, to start, and then three more Pokémon for the single battle."
He adjusted his jacket. "That means, of course, that whoever wins the double battle will be going in to the single battles with an advantage… but nothing more than that."
"Huh," Ash said, already thinking. "That's… five Pokémon total, that's more than I was expecting… I think I need to think about this a bit. And discuss it with my Pokémon, too."
"Be my guest, please," Juan invited. "It would be a shame if you didn't have the chance to organize yourself after such a surprise."
Ash went behind some of the seats around Juan's big swimming pool, then sent everyone out.
"What do you guys think?" he asked. "I know we talked about this not long ago, but this is different."
"Well, I don't sense anything wrong, but I'm not sure if I'd pick up losing the battle as a problem," Absol said, with a shrug. "So I can't really contribute much."
"Well, I know roughly who I'm using," Ash clarified. "I'm just not quite sure who to use for the Double Battle…"
The Pokémon exchanged glances.
"I could do either," Unown stated. "I would probably prefer single battle, but double would be possible. Double alongside you would be optimal from the point of view of effectiveness, but possibly not from the point of view of building survival."
Pikachu winced.
"Yeah, I think single battle is better for you," Ash admitted. "So… what about you two?"
He pointed to Koraidon and Miraidon. "Between you, you should be able to have an advantage over just about any Water-type Pokémon!"
"Oh!" Koraidon said. "That sounds like fun, right?"
Miraidon sat down on their haunches. "It would be nice to have help for my first gym battle."
"Great, then!" Ash said. "I think that's the main thing I wanted to talk about, unless anyone wants to not do today's battle?"
Nobody said anything, which was good enough for Ash.
Juan sent out a Sealeo and a Seaking, then held up his hand.
"I don't want to begin just yet, but I have to say… those Pokémon are quite amazing," he said.
Koraidon looked pleased, and Miraidon tilted their head in interest.
"Are they regional variants of one another?" Juan asked. "Or perhaps it's gender differences? They're not shiny, they're too different for that…"
"Well, Koraidon's a girl and Miraidon's neither," Ash told him. "They're different but related Pokémon, like Latias and Latios or, uh… like how Solrock and Lunatone are clearly similar Pokémon even though they're not the same. They're, uh… what's the word for… Koraidon is Miraidon's sister, and I guess Miraidon is Koraidon's sibling. It's weird that there isn't a word that's like brother or sister but specific to neither."
Juan stroked his chin. "An excellent point! Not, perhaps, relevant, but an excellent point nevertheless, and I'll do my best to think about it. Now, since you did come here from Mossdeep, I don't suppose you need anything in particular explained about how a double battle works…?"
Ash shook his head.
"We can attack either of the other Pokémon, but we have to make sure we don't hit anyone else, correct?" Miraidon checked.
"Yep!" Koraidon told them.
Juan's assistant cleared his throat. "If everyone is ready…" he left a pause. "Begin!"
"Abilities on!" Ash instructed.
Juan blinked in surprise as both Koraidon and Miraidon activated their abilities, spreading both sunlight and electrical energy over the battlefield.
"Ready that Horn Drill!" he called. "Sealeo, Frost Breath!"
"Look out!" Ash called. "Koraidon, Miraidon, attack Sealeo!"
Miraidon was the first to attack, mechanical paws slipping slightly on their floating platform as they used Thunderbolt, but Seaking jumped in the way with his horn whirring. The attack hit his Horn Drill and bounced off, sending smaller sparks flying in all directions and deflecting the main attack right at Koraidon.
She yelped, skidding backwards and splashing off her platform into the water, then puffed up her throat to float better and glanced back at Ash. "Should I still attack?"
"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "Try and get that Seaking!"
"Behind!" Juan retorted, and Seaking splashed around behind Sealeo. The dual-typed Pokémon used Frost Breath, but not at Koraidon or Miraidon – instead, she plunged into the water for a moment and coated herself in ice.
Koraidon's Flamethrower attack hit the ice, but despite the boost from her sunlight it didn't do well.
"You'll have to get close in, I guess," Ash said. "Break that ice! Miraidon, Solarbeam!"
"Horn Attack!" Juan retorted, as Miraidon's Solarbeam attack hit Sealeo's icy armour and sent glowing rainbows all through the gym. "Icy Wind!"
Seaking thumped into the underside of Miraidon's platform, sending their Solarbeam attack off target and sending them slipping into the water as well. Miraidon then bobbed back to the surface, the front wheel from their high-speed form energizing and a pair of jet engines spinning up in their thighs to provide mobility, but while they were coping with that Koraidon was swimming at high speed towards Sealeo.
She took the Icy Wind attack square in the muzzle, shaking her head to try and avoid the worst, but then got close enough that Ash was able to give a specific instruction. "Rock Smash!"
That was a move Koraidon knew very well. She slammed a Rock Smash blow into Sealeo, and it knocked the Ice-type backwards along with shattering the icy armour into pieces.
"Keep it up!" Ash added. "Sealeo's the bigger threat!"
"Hyper and Aurora Beam!" Juan ordered.
"Sis!" Miraidon called, as both their opponents focused their attacks on Koraidon. The Aurora Beam hit first, then the Hyper Beam, and that one made an explosion that sent icy fragments throughout the whole gym.
"Koraidon!" Ash shouted, trying to spot her after the flash of light. "Are you okay?"
"That really stung!" Koraidon replied – from overhead – and Ash looked up.
She was gliding overhead, feathered wings unfurled, and Juan pointed. "Aurora Beam!"
"Thunderbolt!" Ash countered. "While Seaking is recharging!"
Miraidon opted to blast the whole pool at once, which was probably Discharge rather than Thunderbolt, but since Koraidon was still in mid-air she didn't get hit and both Sealeo and Seaking did get hit hard.
"Now, Flamethrower!" Ash told Koraidon. "Use it for extra height! Miraidon, aim that Solarbeam at Seaking!"
"Dive, Seaking!" Juan countered, taking the pure Water-type out of Miraidon's arc of fire. "Sealeo, Aurora Beam Miraidon!"
Ash struck his hoof sharply on the poolside for emphasis. "Koraidon – dive down and use Solar Blade!"
Koraidon did just that.
Sunlight flared around her as she furled her tendrils, going from a sustainable glide to an abrupt dive, and moments before she hit Sealeo it condensed into a green layer all over her claws that made them at least twice the length they'd been before.
The impact drove Sealeo entirely underwater, then the two female Pokémon surfaced again with a spa-loosh which sent a wave crashing over the side of the pool, and Sealeo tried using Frost Breath to freeze Koraidon.
That, it turned out, wasn't quite the right approach. Koraidon was right next to her, able to smash the ice with Rock Smash attacks – and her sibling was quite willing to use Thunderbolt, blasting Sealeo before Seaking could get in the way and intercept the attack.
"Back in the air, Koraidon!" Ash called, as Juan recalled Sealeo. "Over to the platform if you need a boost! Miraidon, once she's clear start Discharging – Koraidon, once you've done that the only way Seaking is safe from Miraidon is if he's where you can get him!"
"Got it, dad!" Koraidon said, sculling over to one of the floating platforms and hauling herself up.
Juan clapped his hands sharply.
"Very good," he said, recalling Seaking the moment the Water-type surfaced. "Sealeo and Seaking have excellent teamwork, and your two Pokémon have definitely matched them there."
"We did well?" Miraidon asked, panting.
"You did great," Ash told them. "Both of you. That was a really good first gym battle, Miraidon."
With both Koraidon and Miraidon not quite exhausted but very much tired out, Ash switched them both out, and so he and Juan were both sending out their third Pokémon at the same time.
"Ready?" Juan checked.
"Yeah!" Ash agreed, the Pokéball in question floating next to him.
"Then let us begin," Juan invited.
He sent out a Luvdisc, at the same time that Ash sent out Unown.
"Water Pulse," Juan ordered straight away, and Luvdisc fired out a blast of water that shot straight for Unown.
"Dodge it!" Ash said.
"Dodging," Unown announced, and switched to Alphabet Form. A pulse rippled outwards, and the Water Pulse suddenly swerved downwards sharply – causing it to splash into the pool rather than connect with Ash's Pokémon.
"I didn't know Unown could do that," Juan admitted. "I thought they only had one move."
"It's a surprise to me too!" Ash admitted. "Unown, that was Gravity, right?"
"You are correct," Unown confirmed, pulsing slightly.
"Keep it up, and use Hidden Power Electric!" Ash ordered.
"Underwater, Luvdisc," Juan commanded. "Mud Sport."
Ash frowned, as the water became muddy… and not simply muddy, either, but began showing a kind of pattern in lighter and darker mud. "Okay, uh… if Electric isn't working, switch to Grass!"
"And that is far outside how Hidden Power is supposed to work," Juan said. "But, well, you're full of surprises so far."
"So are your Pokémon!" Ash replied, as the art on the water's surface swirled ornately and Unown peppered it with Hidden Power attacks – which, mostly, seemed to be missing or unable to penetrate deeply enough. "That's not just a shield against electricity, that's art, isn't it?"
"Yes!" Juan confirmed. "I got the idea from a latte."
"Then…" Ash frowned, watching as Luvdisc popped up out of the water for long enough to fire a Water Pulse at Unown – and this time the Water-type had adjusted their aim enough to hit Unown. "Unown, get ready, we're going to change the battlefield!"
"More details requested," Unown said.
"You're using Gravity to make the shots miss, right?" Ash checked. "Then swap that around, lift the water's surface layer into the air!"
Unown pulsed again, and this time their Gravity distortion made some of the water rise upwards and collect into an orb. It didn't reveal Luvdisc, but it took most of the mud in the water with it, and Ash scanned the pool for a moment before pointing. "There! Hidden Power Psychic!"
This time a whole series of Hidden Power orbs flashed into the pool in succession, and at least three of them connected.
"Agility," Juan said. "Speed up, then jump into the muddy water."
"Stop them!" Ash called.
Unown released a gravity pulse, but Luvdisc was moving fast enough to make it into the muddy water orb.
"Whirlpool," Juan added, and the whole orb began swirling before crashing into Unown and launching them down into the pool.
"Unown, Hidden Power Flying!" Ash called out. "And use Gravity, blast your way out!"
Unown floated back into the air, but Luvdisc just slammed them with another high-speed Whirlpool, and their Hidden Power Flying pulses weren't able to drive the Whirlpool apart.
"Requesting permission to take the command 'blast your way out' and interpret it creatively," Unown asked, glowing.
"Creatively how?" Ash asked.
"We have worked out how to use a new attack," Unown answered. "It does not involve creating anything and should not be dangerous to anyone present."
"Then go ahead!" Ash decided.
Unown did something, and individual letters making up their Alphabet Form glowed. Then they began appearing and vanishing, each one individually materializing for long enough to slam bodily into Luvdisc and then disappear again, and no matter how fast Luvdisc moved they weren't safe from the relentless barrage of attacks.
When they finally faded, Luvdisc went splat onto the poolside and mumbled something about baristas.
"What was that?" Ash asked.
"I have the same question," Juan admitted. "I have a lot of questions about your Unown."
Unown transitioned back down into Letter Form. "After previous problems, it has become a priority to understand colloquialisms better," they said. "I have been doing my best. Did you mean that in a general or specific way?"
"Well, it's good to know, but I also meant specifically," Ash told them. "The move."
"The move is designated: Hyperspace Fury," Unown explained. "It is a barrage of attacks which use many arms to ensure hitting."
"That was really cool!" Ralts gasped. "Do you think I could do something like that with teleport?"
Unown examined him.
"I do not have enough information to be sure," the Psychic-type admitted.
Juan selected his next Pokémon, and Ash thought for a long moment about his options – then asked Absol to take to the field.
"On it," Absol agreed, pacing forwards, then examined the pool. "Hmm…"
Turning around and stepping back several paces, Absol took a running jump and landed on the nearest floating platform. The water level had dropped quite a bit since the start of the battle, and the floating platform was a bit wet, but Absol managed to balance well enough.
"Well, that's the first difficulty out of the way," he said, then looked at the Whiscash he was facing. "That's quite a big Pokémon."
"Absol is an interesting choice of Pokémon," Juan noted. "Of course, your whole team so far has been interesting choices! Though I must say, Absol is the most normal so far."
"Yeah, there's this weird stereotype that they cause trouble," Ash agreed. "But that's like saying that… that gyms cause cities?"
Juan chuckled. "I take your meaning," he said. "Sebastian, count us in please."
"On three," Sebastian confirmed. "One, two, three!"
"Surf," Juan commanded immediately, and his Whiscash flipped up to balance on his tail for a moment – then splashed down again, sending out a wave which slapped into Absol's platform and sent a wave curling over the edge.
Absol kept his balance, one paw slipping slightly, and Ash pointed. "Razor Wind! Keep a constant whirlwind going, and use it to push water off the platform – then attack!"
"Underwater," Juan said, prompting Whiscash to vanish beneath the pool's surface. "Rock Smash."
"Jump!" Ash called.
Absol sprang forwards, claws gaining him enough purchase to make a long-distance leap, and cleared the platform he was on just before Whiscash hit it. The Ground-type had aimed to knock the platform over and dunk Absol in the water, but the sudden reduction in weight meant that instead the platform went into the air and did a complete spin.
"Brake with your wind!" Ash added, as Absol reached his new platform, and the Dark-type discharged most of the Razor Wind he'd whipped up to reduce his speed. It mostly worked, meaning that Absol had a paw-scraping stop rather than sliding entirely over the edge of the platform into the water, and he whirled fast enough to flick the last of his charged Razor Wind at Whiscash.
"Hydro Pump," Juan ordered.
Whiscash stayed on the surface, this time, and fired out a great stream of water. His fins beat the water to keep him stabilized despite the recoil, and the water came crashing down on Absol's platform – or, at least, where his platform had been as he switched to another one of the floating platforms.
"I know you've got a good idea about how to resolve this, but I'd like to hear it!" Absol called, jinking left without leaving a platform this time as a Water Pulse splashed down next to him.
"I know!" Ash called back, thinking.
Absol actually had a good move to use on Whiscash, but the problem was how to get the attack to hit. Whiscash was way more mobile than Absol was, and the Razor Wind was letting Absol keep changing platforms without falling in the water but it wasn't letting him get an advantage.
Unless-
"Absol, get ready to use a False Swipe!" Ash called out.
"But why-" Koraidon began, then put her paws over her muzzle.
"Sorry, Dad," she mumbled, and Ash spared time to glance back at her.
"It's okay," he assured her, then turned his attention back to the battle.
He'd noticed that she was calling him Dad now, and he'd think about that later, but right now he needed to keep an eye on what Whiscash was doing.
"Hyper Beam!" Juan commanded.
"Uh oh!" Ash yelped, as Whiscash's whiskers lit up from the ends and the glow spread quickly down to his mouth. "Absol, kick down hard with your hindpaws!"
Absol managed to catch exactly what Ash meant, and kicked down hard. The platform he was on flipped up like a shield, catching most of the impact from the Hyper Beam as it broke in half, and the force of the impact also knocked Absol upwards and backwards.
"Boost forwards!" Ash instructed.
Absol expended the entirety of his gathered Razor Wind, that time, cancelling out the backwards momentum and launching himself down and forwards. He kicked off the bottom half of the platform he'd been on, pouncing towards his momentarily-vulnerable opponent as the move he'd been getting ready lit up his horn.
False Swipe didn't necessarily mean the move False Swipe… not if someone else was listening in, anyway. And Absol hit Whiscash with the same Solar Blade move Koraidon had learned, hitting the Whiskers Pokémon as hard as he possibly could.
Then he skidded along Whiscash's back, flipped up from his tail, and went splash as he finally ran out of luck in trying to evade the water.
"Whiscash, Surf!" Juan called. "As soon as you can!"
"Spin around and use Iron Tail to swim!" Ash advised.
Absol was very wet when he retuned to the poolside, and shook himself out before letting out a long sigh.
"Well, on the plus side, I assume there's a way to dry me off?" he asked. "Otherwise getting this wet would be a disaster."
"I think Latias can do it?" Ash suggested. "With Mystical Fire, I mean."
"This has been amazing so far," May declared. "I'm taking notes!"
"Ash, you've made it to my final Pokémon," Juan said. "I'd feel a bit upset that I hadn't knocked out any of yours, but I can see that it's been a set of close battles… now, I know who I'm using already, and I can tell you that it's my Milotic. But I'm curious who you're using…"
"I want to check," Ash asked. "If one of my Pokémon calls out to look out, or something like that, is that interfering in a battle?"
"Hmm," Juan said, thinking. "I suppose it wouldn't be, in general, though if it was overused it might be. Why do you ask?"
"Because I want to know if this is going to work," Ash explained. "I'm choosing myself."
"Oh, I see!" Juan realized. "Well, now that I think about it… I did hear about an unusual Pokémon on the Contest circuit, in Lilycove recently? Might that have been you?"
"That was me, yeah," Ash agreed, taking his saddlebags off with Confusion. Latias took them, setting them down on a seat next to Max, and Ash kept going. "I sort of loaned myself out to May, it's a bit weird how that works with trainers who are Pokémon. But I'm registered as my own Pokémon, so it should be okay, right?"
"I think it certainly should be all right," Juan decided. "And, rest assured, I will take care to be alert for if the battle needs to stop."
"Thanks," Ash said, paused, then went and opened his badge case.
He took out the Feather Badge, changing colour as he did, then returned to the side of the pool. "Okay, I'm ready. Pikachu, let me know if I miss something!"
"On it, Ash!" Pikachu confirmed.
"Since this is an unusual situation, I think I won't raise any issue with your Pikachu giving you warnings," Juan decided, then sent out his Milotic.
The serpentine Pokémon examined Ash, then flicked her tail. "Well, I don't know what you are, but I'll do my best."
"One, two, three!" Sebastian counted off.
Ash immediately darted forwards with Extremespeed, hammering into the Water-type to try and catch her before she went underwater, and the impact knocked Milotic sliding backwards.
"Twister!" Juan called, prompting Milotic to swish her tail around, and within a moment a tornado of Dragon-type energy exploded around her.
Ash slid backwards through the air a little, avoiding the attack, then Pikachu yelped.
"Look out above, Ash!" he called.
Ash looked up – and saw what Pikachu was getting at. Milotic's Twister had whipped up a whole water-spout of water from the pool, and it was just about to come crashing back down on top of him.
He did his best to dodge to the side, which mostly worked, but the water impact still drove him halfway underwater.
"Recover," Juan said, and a glowing light spread inside the Twister as Milotic restored her health. Ash considered doing the same for a moment, discarded it – he wasn't that badly beaten up yet – and fired a Dragon Pulse into the Twister to try and disrupt it.
It helped, but it didn't destroy the move by itself. Instead, the Twister became more unstable, then more a second time when Ash hit it again, and Juan swept his hand down.
"Dive, surface, Hydro Pump!" he commanded.
The Twister burst apart into wisps as Milotic stopped fuelling it, and Ash rose higher – his hooves moving sort-of-psychosomatically – as he looked down into the water to see where Milotic was. She was moving fast, darting from one end of the pool to the other and back again, then she burst out as a long ribbon of cream-and-blue scales.
Then she hit him with a Hydro Pump, one powerful enough to knock him backwards in the air, and Ash responded with a Flamethrower. That diverted some of the force of the water as Milotic kept attacking, but not enough, and Ash dropped back to ground level to use his hooves and fasten onto the poolside.
After a moment, he switched to Dragon Pulse, and fired three of them in quick succession to try and get Milotic while she was still in the air. He fired a bit late, though, and she dropped into the water with almost no splash to hide below… for a few seconds, at least.
"Iron Tail," Juan called.
Milotic emerged from the water next to Ash, rising out of the water head-first and then dropping right back again, moving so fast that there was just a sort of blur of scales going past. Ash flinched back as she reached her tail, but she didn't attack – just looped back again the other way, then the first direction again.
That was when she used Iron Tail, knocking Ash back at the point he'd stopped expecting it, and Juan clapped his hands sharply.
"Ice Beam!"
Ash was alert enough to recognize that that move was bad news, especially since he was Flying-type at the moment, and charged forwards to fly halfway across the pool and out of the way of Milotic's attack. Whirling on the tip of a hoof, he darted in for another Extremespeed, and Milotic caught him with the edge of the attack in return.
"Coil, then Avalanche!" Juan called.
Ash looked around for a moment as Milotic used Coil, trying to spot something for inspiration – then he had it, and blurred over to one of the floating platforms.
Landing on it with all four hooves, he planted them firmly and held on tight. Then he flew upwards, and the platform came with him.
Milotic began to use Avalanche, firing up a cloud of ice that hung near the ceiling, and Ash flipped over upside down so that the platform was acting as a shield. That gave him a precious few seconds to prepare something himself, as giant snowflakes two feet across crashed down around him or thumped into his shield, and golden flames began to gather around him.
"Where is she?" he asked, squinting through the ice shards.
"Underwater!" Pikachu told him. "Left side I think, I can't quite see where!"
Ash could see, now Pikachu had given him enough of a prompt, and as soon as the Avalanche attack had stopped he let go of the platform – and plunged down into the water with a Sky Attack.
The impact didn't knock Milotic out of the battle in one blow, but it did knock most of the water out of the pool in one go, which was almost as useful.
"Hmm," Juan said, examining Milotic.
Then Ash, who was panting heavily, but – unlike Milotic – still conscious.
"Yes, I think you've won," he decided, recalling Milotic, and sent out a new Pokémon – this time a Wailmer. "I'll refill the pool in a moment, but I'll wait until you're out of it."
"Thanks," Ash replied, floating up to the pool side. He dropped off his badge, returning to his normal colour, then took the case with him as he trotted around the pool to Juan.
"Here is the Rain Badge," Juan said, holding it out, then frowned. "Why is your Pikachu running over with a Pokédex?"
"To make sure I don't forget what I'm about to hear," Ash explained, taking the Rain Badge, and changed colour again.
This time, his ring and all the gemstones went almost exactly the same shade of blue.
"The rightful bearer of a Plate draws from the Plate it holds," Ash reported.
"I wonder what that means," Pikachu said, jumping up on Ash's back, as Wailmer refilled the pool with a quiet splashing sound.
"I guess the plates are something Dad has, and these are… my versions of them," Ash decided. "We knew that already, but it's nice to know that there's something specific about taking power from a plate."
"Anything new?" Brock called.
"Kind of!" Ash replied, trotting back, and forgot he couldn't fly any more.
"Ash-!" Pikachu yelped, as Ash stumbled over the lip of the pool, then watched in surprise as Ash landed smoothly on the water surface. "...you couldn't do that a minute ago."
"Yeah, it's weird," Ash admitted. "Hmm… maybe I should try surfing again!"
AN:
A nice long chapter because of a big gym battle, including the Raidons having their first double battle.
And Ash having his first gym battle.
I should also mention that I've comprehensively refactored the opening 40 or so chapters of Ashes of the Past. Just in case anyone was wondering.