Traveler

by The Straight Elf

Ash Ketchum has been determined to become the best since he was a toddler. He has his eyes set on a charmander, but a twist of fate led him to the humble Nidoran. Note: Mix between anime and the games.

37. Chapter 37: The Iron Wall

"Good job, Tangrowth!" Ash cheered as his friend hurled several balls of magma at an earthen wall erected by him earlier. The globs clung heavily to the damp surface and he could feel the heat even from where he stood fifty feet away. Most of them had almost completely fallen apart by the time they'd reached their target, but the drips of magma that had made it had done extensive damage.

Tangrowth gurgled happily and hopped up and down in a little dance, vines waving happily all around. Ash grinned as one rushed over to him and he patted it with just enough force for his friend to actually feel the contact.

Infernus, who stood about twenty feet away from Ash, snorted. A bit of flame spat from his nostrils but it was just a side effect of his power. If he'd actually been annoyed Dazed would have had to shield Ash from the resultant heat.

He eyed his friend with a savage grin, which he could almost see Infernus beginning to mimic as Tangrowth hurled several more balls of magma at different targets. Like the first volley they were just barely held together and lost most of their payload, but the important part was that Tangrowth actually learned how to manipulate the molten stone to a degree. They could only advance from here.

"It's impressive, isn't it?" Ash called out to Infernus as Tangrowth, engrossed in his success, used more and more of the lava to sear and crumble the targets into heated dust.

The Magmortar just grunted, though his lips were turned upwards. Ash smiled at that and turned back to the show.

He doubted he'd get more than that out of Infernus. Ash could read his friend well enough to know that the fire-type was impressed. Tangrowth had only taken a week to reach this point, though Ash suspected it would have taken much less time if Tangrowth hadn't had to work past the mental block Ash's grave warnings had erected.

Not that Ash minded. It was much more important for Tangrowth to know that his deadly new tool wasn't a toy than for him to learn it quickly.

What was power without control?

Ash had gotten a lot out of his training with Lance: Knowledge, great leaps in strength and combat experience in his team, and plenty of close friends. But he thought learning the importance of tempering his family's strength was more important than anything else.

Lance was all about power. It was what he loved in his team, what he searched for when looking at prospective new members. He had a keen eye for it and knew how to see the potential for his favorite trait.

That wasn't to say he wasn't skilled or cunning. No, the Indigo Champion was certainly both of those. But he had a deep fascination with raw, overwhelming power and favored its application above all else.

But he knew that unrestrained strength was useless. If it wasn't focused and honed into something then it would just go to waste. It was like trying to focus a wildfire – the forest fire might do more damage, but a campfire was much more useful.

Ash had taken that lesson to heart, and it was what he sought to instill in his team now. He was successful for the most part. Even Infernus had come to accept it somewhat, and ironically enough it was Tangrowth with his immature personality and devastating new ability that was the biggest threat to that ideal.

So he was content with reduced progress so long as he wouldn't find a glob of magma on his chest as a "joke".

That would be unfortunate, Friend-Trainer.

"Wouldn't it?" Ash grinned, still a bit giddy at Tangrowth's greatest success yet. Before today he'd been able to raise the magma a bit with Ancient Power but always lost focus. Something had clicked the last few days though, and he'd been able to maintain the sphere of magma longer and longer until it had finally managed to impact the target today.

It is good to know the Binder has finally succeeded. His disheartened mood was beginning to irritate me. I am pleased to know that his mental state will improve, though this excitement of his over mastering his new toy will only serve to distract me.

"So your mental abilities are coming along?" He asked, interested. Dazed had been quiet on her progress, so her actually giving him something was a welcome change. She certainly wouldn't be that sensitive to Tangrowth's mood before. Not without focusing on him, at any rate.

Yes. Others of my kind would still be disappointed in my capacity, but I have improved. I am able to bring the Striker under my influence with only three seconds of effort now while she is actively resisting. Progress is slowing but it is welcome.

"And your psychic awareness?" Ash raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like you're getting more sensitive."

It is growing more distinct. I may detect a slightly larger area, but the definition has increased. It is as though a fog has been wiped from my mind. Unfortunately, the brightness is almost blinding. I will have to focus my efforts upon filtering out excess minds.

Ash nodded. "Have you started yet?"

Yes. Today. The Binder's glee made me certain of the necessity of learning that skill.

"Good," Ash smiled. "I know I can't really help you directly with this, but if you need anything…"

You will be the first I come to, Friend-Trainer.

He grinned at that, content. "Good."

A sudden explosion and a disgruntled yowl split the air and Ash sighed. "Can you keep an eye on Tangrowth for a minute? I think Sneasel needs my help."

Very well. I believe you should give the Caretaker another few minutes with it. I am certain it deserves whatever vengeance it is being dealt.

He smiled at the suddenly enthusiastic Dazed but shook his head. "I'll be back soon."

XX

"Keep it up!" Ash grinned down at Aron as the young steel-type tried to fight Nidoking. His starter was essentially standing there and absorbing the blows, testing to see how far Aron could make him budge. Every now and then Nidoking would growl to stop Aron in his tracks and grunt something at him to correct some deficiency in his technique.

Aron warbled cheerfully at him, pausing in his relentless efforts to come over and bump Ash in the knee with his domed head. Ash smiled and barely managed to pat him before Nidoking growled fiercely and Aron quickly skittered back into the slight groove he'd worn into the ground from his repeated attempts.

Nidoking dipped his head to Ash before he turned his beady black eyes on Aron, who was focused entirely on the older fighter. The poison-type growled once and Aron charged, faster this time.

Ash watched with interest as Aron built up a level of speed that was actually a bit more impressive than Ash had expected from him. That interest focused itself as Aron reared up on his hind legs as he neared his target, his right front leg shining with a fierce white power before he drove it onto Nidoking's heavily muscled leg with a loud warble.

His friend barely flinched at the attack, though he did shut his eyes for a moment as the Metal Claw landed, leaving a slight indention in his leathery hide before it smoothed itself out.

Aron himself rested on his haunches, sharp tongue lolled out as he panted up to Nidoking. His head cocked slightly as he stared up at the much more powerful fighter, as though he were waiting for approval.

Nidoking just grunted and eyed Aron speculatively. He growled a few moments later and pointed over to a spot a few feet away from where Aron had started from the first time. Ash wasn't sure if he was trying to get Aron used to new angles of attack or if there was some other sort of training they were about to start on.

Not that it really mattered. He trusted Nidoking to get the job done. Nidoking had never failed him. He was stern with Aron but he was fair. His friend would make sure Aron would get to the level he needed to be at to start training seriously once they met Steven.

Aron wasn't quite at the level where Ash felt comfortable giving him an actual task to work on. It was clear he had learned to tap into at least some of his power in the form of Metal Claw, Rock Tomb, and Protect – he probably had the Sableye to thank for that one – but Ash was almost certain that Aron had practically no idea how to actually use them.

That much was made evident by how slow that Metal Claw had been. And weak. If Aron was properly trained that would have at least scraped Nidoking instead of just bouncing off.

Their newest teammate had a long way to go but Ash was confident he'd be prepared by the time they left. There had already been noticeable improvement he'd noticed. Aron was much more focused, for one. The first day he'd been a bit overeager and barely got anything done as a result…well, until Nidoking decided to take a more active role, anyway.

He was also much less reluctant to actually attack. Ash had known from the beginning that Aron was a gentle soul, so it wasn't too much of a surprise for him to find that the steel-type had trouble forcing his offense. Aron was actually fine with using Rock Tomb defensively and shielding himself, but to actually take the step to try and cause harm to another living thing had taken the better part of two days.

At first he'd tried to show Aron that nothing he could do would harm any of his friends by having him watch a light spar between Infernus and Torrent. It had been good in theory, but in practice Aron got distracted by all the wanton destruction and ended up having Tangrowth pick him up so he could get a better look at the massive conflict of fire and water taking place.

Needless to say that could have gone better. Well, it at least showed him that Aron wasn't averse to battle itself, just attacking.

He could work with that and he had. Tangrowth had been the one to help Aron begin the basics of attacking and Nidoking's stern attitude had transformed Aron's actions into a reflex rather than a conscious decision.

After all, he couldn't get upset if he couldn't think about it. That's how Ash saw it anyway.

There was one surprise, though: Ash was fairly certain that Seeker had something to do with Aron's changed stance. He'd noticed her perched onto his back a few times before training and he always seemed to do a bit better when she was around. He couldn't prove anything but he thought he might have to bring that up to the Zubat in the future – Seeker actually involving herself with the rest of the team wasn't a common event, after all.

He sighed and turned away as Aron started another long training session. "Have fun, both of you. Nidoking, we'll talk later, alright?"

Nidoking nodded, used to that by now. Ash tried to get a progress report on Aron every night. Dazed would give him the basics, though Ash could usually get quite a bit out of Nidoking anyway. They couldn't exactly talk in the way he and the Hypno could but they understood each other quite well. Coming by to check on the steel-type gave Ash a bit of context to help him out as well.

Aron clucked a goodbye at him, though he paid for the distraction and let out a quick, high-pitched yelp when he stumbled into a slight crevice Nidoking formed while the steel-type had looked away.

Ash just grinned and turned away. He had a few more to check up on before he could call it a day and he had to admit he was more than a bit eager to see how they'd shaped up.

XX

Plume screamed as she sped through the Ice Storm, tearing a gaping in the terribly powerful cyclone of wind and snow. Her cries were only barely heard over the fierce din of the hundred foot tall twister and held the haunting tones of a voice in the dead of winter.

Torrent intensified the Ice Storm at that, focusing more and more of his strength into it until the cyclone was less a twister and more a solid column of white, filled so densely with ice shards and winter's bite that scarcely a chink existed in his wintery armor.

The Pidgeot shot out and wheeled back before Ash could blink, scarcely capable of keeping track of the tan blur as she intensified her efforts as well. A thin, painfully bright beam shot from her curved beak and pierced the Ice Storm in a flash of light that Ash's eyes could barely stand even with his cap shielding him. Plume slipped into the gap and didn't come out, though he thought he saw small trails in the cyclone from where her wing tips brushed the edges.

Moments later he heard a thunderous crash, a deep rumble, and everything fell still.

Torrent's winds slowed and hung still in the air as they dispersed, the whirlwind of ice and snow falling to a whimper before hundreds of pounds of frozen dust collapsed to the ground with a roar.

It shuddered the earth and pulled up a dense cloud of dirt and crushed stone, casually dismissed by a flap from a tired form that rose slowly from the place from whence it had fell.

Ash stepped forward then, a grin stretched wide on his face as he watched the aftermath of the spar between Torrent and Plume. Both had done well, but the best showing was Plume's. Though she couldn't make dramatic progress in a week like she could when they'd first started out he'd been able to pick out noticeable strides. Her flying was impeccable, as always. But her Hyper Beam was far more effective and she'd learned to time it far better – now she was able to use it strategically to open up gaps in her opponent's barriers and swiftly dash in.

"Are both of you okay?" He asked as he crossed the ground now littered with layers upon layers of ice glittering in the sun like diamond. Ash took Plume's quick, exhausted coo and nip of his hat as a yes and looked to Torrent, who held onto his dignity even as his levitation strained him to his utmost.

Torrent nodded stiffly, scarlet eyes aimed only at Plume with interest. He cocked his head and snorted gently at the Pidgeot, who chirped back and preened happily under whatever the Kingdra had communicated to her. Ash watched with a soft smile and stepped forward to rub his friend's thick plates affectionately.

He took a moment to marvel at the heavy armor that enclosed his friend. It was different than the thick leather of Nidoking or the smooth steel of Aron – Ash wasn't quite sure how to describe the texture. His plates were almost eerily smooth, especially on the stomach area. Elsewhere he could feel just a hint of ridges where the plates overlapped.

Ash shook himself out his distraction. "So, how did both of you do? Good job with the Hyper Beam, Plume. Looks like you've finally worked out the timing."

Plume cooed softly at him as if to reward Ash for his praise and ruffled her feathers to get the last remnants of ice and dust off of her bright plumage.

"Torrent, the Ice Storm is looking better," Ash nodded to his friend. Torrent dipped his head back, eyes contemplative. "We'll have to work on condensing a small one into a barrier for you. I think that'll mostly be accomplished with Twister, though."

Torrent rumbled an affirmative. Though in the past they'd mostly relied on his ridiculously potent offense as Torrent's defense, Ash thought that they might be able to work at least some sort of defense in as well. Ice Storm itself worked quite well, but that was far too energy intensive to use all the time.

Ice Storm was Torrent's most powerful ability right now – Ash considered it to be beyond even Draco Meteor, at least for the near future – but he didn't use it every battle. Even Torrent couldn't sustain something like that constantly, especially considering he'd kept on learning to make it bigger and more powerful almost every time they spent any amount of time training.

No, Ash wanted something quick. Something that could be summoned with barely any effort and at least dampen most attacks. It wouldn't work against electricity, which was an issue considering how Torrent had been defeated in the battle against Michael, but if they kept working at it Ash thought that Twister would be able to dampen and alter the trajectory of projectile attacks and disperse fire, ice, and grass techniques.

"Take a break for now," he continued. Torrent nodded, confirming the meaning of the deep boom emanating from his chest. Plume chirped gratefully at Ash, nursing her wing. It looked like she'd taken a much harder hit than Torrent when she'd dove into the Ice Storm. Not exactly unexpected, of course. She was more fragile to begin with and she'd had a ton of momentum going in. To be honest it was almost miraculous how quickly she'd managed to change course and disperse most of the energy with her so quickly.

Though Plume wasn't quite as unstoppable in combat as Torrent she was still extraordinarily talented. It was something Ash appreciated whenever he could – even Lance had complemented Plume's flying. Considering Lance was almost as much a flying-type specialist as he was a Dragon Master thanks to the way his team was developed Ash found that to be a high compliment indeed.

"Wait around after dinner," he said to Plume once Torrent had levitated off. Ash eyed her injured wing worriedly, though his friend cooed at him to assure him that she was fine. "Doesn't matter. I'm still giving you a potion – I don't want that turning into anything worse. With how hard you've been pushing you should get a Potion anyway to fix up any damage you're doing to your body."

What was it his mother had told him, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?" or something along those lines? Ash wasn't quite sure but that principle was one he believed in. It was something emphasized heavily by Professor Oak as well before they'd been able to leave for their training journeys.

One of the most common problems that young trainers encountered was dealing with strain-induced injuries. They and their companions tended to get a bit enthusiastic and pushed themselves beyond their breaking point – not a terrible thing considering the miraculous potential of modern medicine but still dangerous if it happened out in the field.

That added up as well. Pokemon and humans were living longer than ever and rarely had to deal with the onset of wear-and-tear related complications but if damage occurred frequently from an early age then all medicine could do was slow the conditions down.

He'd avoided that. Ash didn't exactly focus on building up raw strength in most of his family. Some of the training methods he'd heard of other trainers doing – weights, extreme amounts of conditioning, and similar styles – just seemed almost pointless to him.

Oh they had their place, but only to an extent.

Weights could deal serious damage to the joints if they weren't aligned properly. It wasn't a good idea to put that much stress on one portion of the body, although the issue could be alleviated if the weights were dispersed basically over their entire body. Potions could help with the damage if done improperly but even Potions didn't heal perfectly – they just vastly accelerated the healing process. It consumed a lot of energy and didn't mean the wound would heal correctly.

No, you'd basically have to remove the affected area and implant some Ditto cells for perfect healing…or regeneration, as it was referred to in some of the databases that Professor Oak had recommended for understanding pokemon biology better.

Pokemon were much, much hardier than people and almost all of them were far stronger, but they were still organic. Well, mostly. There were a few odd exceptions.

Extreme conditioning and other physical exercises obviously helped, but Ash thought that indulging in that part of training too much just took time out of actual combat and technique training.

Those were what he focused on and he thought it had done him well. He balanced conditioning between perfecting their combat instincts, styles, and techniques. What was the point of having an exceptionally strong pokemon if they didn't know how to use it? They might have more raw strength but in most cases – namely, outside of a select few fighting-types like the Machoke family – it was better to have a wide variety of techniques and skill in battle.

Ash and his team had integrated battle into the deepest parts of themselves. Their responses were instinctual, abilities constantly ready to be put into use. When they were properly trained there was no hesitation – only action. They still thought during battle to work out strategies and ways to guide the battle but when they were actually fighting it was pure experience, instinct, and a few nudges from Ash guiding them.

Maybe it wouldn't work for everyone but it worked for him. His team were warriors to their core, not exercise enthusiasts.

"Don't give me those eyes," Ash snorted when Plume cocked her head innocently and cooed gently, raising her wing to show her range of motion. She wasn't a fan of the syringes he had to use to get the Potion in her when the injuries weren't on the surface. "It's just a tiny needle! You don't even mind Hyper Beams this much."

Plume ruffled her feathers and nipped the bill of his hat affectionately before she suddenly took off, probably trying to enjoy what time she could before he had to ruin her night with a tiny needle that even Ash could hardly feel.

He shook his head, exasperated. Ash didn't even think it was the needle itself that had Plume like this – she just hated it from the time he'd delivered a Potion into her as a Pidgey and had built the syringe up as much worse than it really was. Once he actually pricked her she probably wouldn't even notice.

Ash silently questioned whether it would be a good idea to just have Dazed place Plume under Hypnosis while he got her fixed up. It would be good practice for the both of them…

XX

Electricity sprayed from Oz's fist as she whirred furiously, eyes flitting to and fro as Dazed rapidly teleported around the battlefield in a sequence. Weak booms of thunder rolled through the earth with every strike, scorching it and kicking up clouds of thick dust that obscured the field from Ash.

He could only just pick out dim shapes whenever Oz struck and a great flash of light would briefly pierce through the clouds.

The dust was swept aside with a wave of psychic force a few moments later, revealing Dazed as she materialized a few feet behind Oz. Her eyes flashed a piercing blue and Oz whirred in surprise as her body became entrapped by a shell of power the same color as Dazed's eyes.

Ash squeezed his eyes shut to slits as the shield was consumed with electricity as Oz released thousands upon thousands of the volts stored up in her fur in an attempt to break free, testing Dazed's hold with her efforts. The Hypno had ceased any attempt at teleportation and had allowed her eyelids to fall as her pendulum yanked and twitched on its thin chain with the sheer amount of power flooding through it.

Their stalemate went on for what felt like an eternity as Ash watched, satisfied with each of their performances. Perhaps it was only a minute or less in real time but he was so enraptured he didn't even care. It was good to see Oz holding her own – she needed this.

Oz wasn't a pushover, but she'd consistently faced superior opponents or been struck with bad luck since he'd added her to the team. First Lance's fearsome dragons, then hit with Confuse Ray by Gary's Umbreon…it went on and on. She'd never been defeated easily but it had happened an unfortunate number of times.

She'd been training harder than almost any of the others though, and it showed. The Electabuzz would never have the ridiculous stamina and reckless determination that Infernus had brought to bear as a Magmar but she was quick, precise, and powerful enough to hold her own now.

Dazed was an excellent opponent for her, he knew as they continued to contest one another for the victory. Not too overwhelmingly powerful too deal with like Infernus, Tangrowth, or Torrent, not extremely well-adapted to taking her down like Nidoking, and not at a disadvantage like Plume was if Oz managed to hit her.

Control against control. Speed versus teleportation. Passion matched by unassailable calmness.

Yes, he liked this matchup.

He watched more carefully as the shine from both the shield and Oz's constant release of electricity grew more and more powerful, each flooding their actions with energy that would probably knock him unconscious in a second. Both were frozen, focused only on securing this match.

And finally it shattered in an explosion of sound and light and heat that seared his skin even from his position several hundred feet away.

Oz stood freed of her psychic bonds, fur standing on end as she windmilled her arms to gather more and more electricity for whatever was coming next. Her electricity arced freely around her, generating a cloak of lightning that would leave anything that came near a nasty shock.

Dazed looked to have taken things up a notch herself. Her eyes were focused solely on her opponent, blind to the billowing clouds of kicked up dirt or Ash's eyes or the Pidgeot that circled above. The world was silent to her aside from the constant crackle of electricity as it danced around its master.

She polished her pendulum, which had ceased its erratic twitching in favor of shining bright as a star as it pierced the shroud of her white mane. Dazed showed no sign of exhaustion nor anticipation. Her power was anchored in her mental clarity and as such that serenity was what she would cling to no matter what.

The waiting game lasted for as long as it took Oz to realize that Dazed would never make the first move. She bared her fangs and punched both fists forward, casting a net of electricity before her that very nearly reached Dazed before the Hypno vanished with a slight crack of sound, deftly avoiding the Shock Wave.

Oz snarled at her miss as the Shock Wave was solidly absorbed into the earthen walls constructed by Tangrowth and instantly turned to send another Shock Wave behind her, though she was struck by a quick Psybeam from Dazed before she could focus the electricity into the desired form.

She staggered and Dazed appeared a few feet to her right, preparing to hurl a Shadow Ball into the Electabuzz's side and take a serious step toward ending the spar right there.

Unfortunately for Dazed, Oz decided that moment was right to loose an ear-splitting howl and pound her fists together to release a tremendous discharge of electricity that created a terribly bright flash of light. Ash and Dazed cringed as one, both barely able to see thanks to the white spots clinging to their eyes.

Ash didn't take too long to recover. His brain could handle sudden, immense stimuli like that far better than the incredibly sensitive Dazed. Psychics had trouble with loud noises and flashes of light at the best of times, let alone when they weren't expecting it.

So he got to see Oz punch a bolt of focused electricity at Dazed, stunning her as the Thunder Wave overwhelmed her body and only compounded the issues she was already experiencing. Her bright yellow fur and white mane stood straight up as the electricity arced throughout her own fur, overloading her nerves and locking her in place.

Oz's whir was more high-pitched than ever before and she dashed forward, blurring into a Quick Attack that took her right to Dazed before she delivered a Thunder Punch right into Dazed's shoulder, casting her to the ground. Ash grinned at Oz's success, though he also appreciated that she hadn't struck Dazed in the chest.

Huge amounts of electricity and the heart didn't mix too well, though Dazed's body would likely subconsciously shield itself in order to prevent too much damage. Advantages of being an exceptionally powerful psychic, he supposed.

When Dazed failed to rise or teleport or do anything to show she was still willing to fight Ash ran forward with a wild grin on his face, though he slowed and relaxed as he neared Oz. The Electabuzz just stared down at her former opponent, mouth open in a great big smile even larger than the one he'd worn.

A constant hum emanated from her chest, though it lowered a bit as she realized Ash's presence and allowed the electricity exploding from her body in uncontrolled bolts to be reigned in and tamed. Ash stepped a bit closer once it was safe.

"You were great, Oz!" He cheered, rubbing her furry shoulder and ignoring the painful shock that left his fingers twitching uncontrollably and his arm numb – though that was much less disconcerting than the sudden feeling of oneness he felt with Oz…or the electricity raging through her fur, rather. Ash managed to pull away and exhaled, relieved as he felt only his own body and mind once more. "I'm proud of you – you took down Dazed perfectly. I don't think either of us expected that at the end."

Oz grinned at him and her whirring intensified, though Ash managed to catch her sending him an odd look as he glanced down to Dazed, who had managed to raise herself up and lock her body in place with her psychic powers. He ignored it, though, and assumed it had something to do with the effect the touch of electricity had on him.

Indeed. I – expect the light. It…was an – stra – but…

"Relax," he raised his hand that wasn't numb and met Dazed's eyes. Her telepathic voice was scarcely even a shade of its former self. Instead of the smooth, svelte monotone he'd grown accustomed too her "voice" was erratic. It was almost as indistinct as when she'd first begun to practice telepathy, though he was more concerned by the gaps and wild changes in pitch she was experiencing.

My apologies – it…is a strain. I fear – are lacking in…contr – moment. I –

Ash shushed her with a shake of his head. "We know you're having a hard time after all the lights and noise. Just give yourself a moment. Breathe. That Thunder Wave is probably still messing with you."

Oz whirred in agreement and moved herself so she stood by Ash, watching Dazed. She fielded a general air of concern, probably having never used something like that against a psychic before. Ash suspected it was her first time using that technique – Dazed would have been a bit more wary of her otherwise.

"Where'd you learn that?" He directed to Oz as they waited for Dazed to stop trembling. The Electabuzz frowned at that, as though she weren't quite sure how to get it across to Ash. Finally she moved a few paces away and stared directly at the walls of the decently sized arena he'd had Tangrowth set up for the two.

His eyes widened in realization as power surged about her, roaring to life as arcs of white and gold energy stirred about her before focusing around her fist, which she loosed in a brilliant blast of heat and plasma that warped the air where it passed until it finally hit the arena's walls and crumbled the point it hit into dust.

"Surge," he breathed. It made sense. Surge hadn't really allowed him to view Oz's training in Lightning Bolt and he had mentioned that one of his experienced pokemon like Electivire or Raichu might give her tips for some of the other techniques they'd developed.

Oz nodded in satisfaction, though she squeezed her face tightly as she windmilled her arms to recharge some of her energy. It only took a few seconds before she was satisfied and returned to Ash's side.

They stood there for a long time. Dazed's trembling lessened and slowed and finally vanished, though Ash could see there was still quite a bit of weakness in her limbs. With how many contractions her muscles had gone through after being struck he couldn't say he was surprised.

Pokemon could generally handle and recover from powerful electric shocks much better than humans, but they still suffered from that much energy being pumped into their bodies. The difference was that it took a lot more to give them permanent damage…almost all of them could shrug off blasts of electricity that would instantly kill a human and they needed extremely powerful shocks suffered extremely frequently over a long period of time before it would truly leave a lasting impression.

Electrical burns (generally mild) were the only real injury they'd have to deal with, though exhaustion after electrical attacks was also a constant. Well, in pokemon that didn't have some sort of protection anyway. Most could handle powerful shocks without seizing up as badly as a human and hurting themselves that way or having their eardrums ruptured.

Despite their adaptations, it was still dangerous. Shock-induced damage was actually the leading reason for Ditto cell transplants. Not much else would regenerate the nervous system and the myelin sheath in a way that wasn't incredibly intrusive and risky.

I believe myself to be recovered.

Her voice was still wavering just a bit, but Ash grinned at her response. It was good to hear her voice again – having it failing and dying and changing was just wrong in his mind.

"Good," he grinned. "Take it easy for the rest of the day. You still sound a bit out of it."

Indeed. I will not put myself through excessive exertion. Perhaps now will be a good time to work on my other skills. Combat would be trying.

Ash nodded in understanding. Dazed knew what would be best for her.

Of course.

He snorted, though he watched carefully as Dazed turned to Oz. Her eyes flashed a brilliant blue and Ash felt almost as though he were interrupting something as he gazed upon the two. Ash glanced away, not wanting to disturb them.

Finally Oz bared her fangs in that familiar smile and nodded, allowing some of the electricity that had built up around her to disperse with a punch away from Ash and the Hypno. She dipped her head to Ash and walked to the center of the arena where Ash could easily see her focusing on building up more and more power by windmilling her arms.

Oz certainly wasn't done for the day.

She wished for me to inform you that she will not be in until late tonight. The Striker requests that you simply leave food and water out for her.

Ash nodded and waved to Oz as she glanced back at the two to show he'd gotten her message. She flashed her fangs at him before she went back to channeling her power – the area surrounding her was fairly glowing thanks to twilight beginning to reach its hand out to grasp Hoenn in its palm.

I did not expect her to win today. I will not fall to the same tactic again. She is a worthy adversary, but I will not fail again so easily.

"Good," Ash said quietly, falling astride Dazed as she slowly hobbled out of the arena and back to the camp they'd set up. Her pace was even slower than her normal shuffle and he could see faint shivers still racing throughout her body. "That's all I could ever ask from any of you."

We know. Though you ask many things from us, the impossible is not one of them. Only that which we may achieve is expected and that is what we strive for.

Ash wasn't quite sure how to respond to that verbally, though he was certain that Dazed would be able to make sense out of the mix of emotions and fragments of thoughts swimming about in his head better anyways.

Yes, it is a preferable form of communication. Far more efficient than those sounds you spew from your face-gash.

"You mean lips?" Ash's "face-gash" curled up into a smile and he raised an eyebrow at his companion. She turned her head to look at him and he could see her eyes curl up into a slight smile, though he could have almost mistaken it for a smirk if he didn't know her as well as he did…

Yes. Lips. They are odd. I am glad my current form does not possess them. I do not remember how they felt as a Drowzee.

"Perhaps," he shrugged. Ash had to imagine that from her perspective lips really were strange. She'd been without them for almost a year now, sustaining herself solely on the energy of those whose dreams she devoured…namely, his own.

It was actually fascinating how their biology worked – Professor Oak had sent him a few reports on Hypno a few days ago once he'd sent the man a message and gotten back in contact. They were stupidly technical and were even worse than his mother's babbling about science but he'd managed to work it out with a bit of help from the dictionary included in the PokeDex archives.

Essentially their period as a Drowzee was meant to have them subsist mostly on actual food, building up their reserves of organic material. Eating dreams wasn't even necessary in that period of their lives. It was essentially training for their psychic powers and their form of sustenance as a Hypno.

Once they evolved the dramatic changes induced by evolution essentially used a lot of their muscle and fat reserves and restructured their bodies into that of a Hypno. Ash had no idea how they'd evolved to be like this, but they actually lost their mouth and gained an organ system in that space and other spots in their body similar to those used by plants and grass-types for photosynthesis, though instead of using sunlight to start the process they used the energy they sapped from humans and pokemon.

From there they used the sugars produced and basically skipped the middle step of eating another organism to fuel themselves. They had all the energy they needed in the form of the sugars and just ran it through the same processes as other organisms so they could make protein, fat…everything they needed to survive.

That was the gist of it, anyway. Most of the explanations went over his head and it was only thanks to being around his mother for the months after the Conference that he managed to easily understand what he did.

Friend-Trainer, your mental tangents distract me as well. Please refrain until I have mastered my new empathetic skills.

"Of course," he apologized with a quick smile that Dazed returned with an upturn of her eyes. "Anyways, telepathy is efficient but don't you think speech has its advantages?"

Telepathy enables me to communicate with any pokemon besides the shades and blots. I communicate in concepts with those I do not understand the speech of and allow their minds to fill in the blanks. I am also able to simulate language, as I am now.

"What was I thinking trying to argue with you?" Ash grinned, sensing Dazed's amusement as well. "I should know better than that by now. Should have just kept my face-gash shut."

Only in matters such as these. In most I acknowledge your superior knowledge and judgment.

Ash snorted at that and they fell into a comfortable silence he cherished. He'd forgotten how nice it was to just be with his friends after the Conference, staying at Pallet Town, and then Daisy. This week had been one of the best in his life, he thought.

It was too bad he couldn't just stay here forever. The curse of having responsibilities…

XX

Ash lazily prodded the fire so thoughtfully provided by Infernus with a charred stick. It was mostly black and had slowly come to disintegrate at the tip but it would serve him for a few more minutes yet.

He reclined against Nidoking's stomach, ignoring the slight discomfort nestled in his back at the tough surface. Nidoking's hide was thick enough as it was, but the wall of hard muscle right behind it made the ground seem more comfortable.

Not that he would trade this for the world. What was a bit of discomfort compared to where he was now?

Besides, there were plenty of advantages. Nidoking was fairly cool despite his proximity to the fire and he kept Sneasel from playing any unwanted tricks on them. Normally, anyway. At the moment he held the limp bundle of grimy fur in his lap, gently stroking him with several fingers to pick out the bits of leaf and dirt and bark that had gotten stuck in there.

Ash sighed at that. Sneasel's pranks weren't really something he had to worry about at the moment. Bruiser had done his job well in running Sneasel ragged, often forcing him to train for ten to twelve hours a day at least.

And that was when the Machoke was kind enough to accommodate Sneasel by training at night, when the dark-type would be at his best. Bruiser had come to practice every night, but thanks to the incredible vitality of a Machoke he worked for hours during the day as well.

Sneasel joined him on most of those occasions, naturally. Bruiser would never be the one to deny the dark-type the joy of training with him. He couldn't let Sneasel reflect badly on him – that would just be terrible.

Even Seeker got in on the fun by flying along with them as they played Chase the Sneasel for hours on end, flitting between branches and releasing waves of Supersonic to disorient the dark-type before dancing away to avoid a frenzied flash of his claws.

Bruiser made him pay for those attempts. He never broke bones but he had no compulsions about leaving Sneasel so sore and bruised that he could scarcely walk. It felt like when they weren't training Ash was either playing medic with Sneasel or protecting him from any attempts by the others to wake him from the slumber he so desperately needed after the intense training.

Ash had to admit he was worried about Sneasel. The first day had been relatively gentle. Bruiser hadn't even played Catch the Sneasel or its more popular variant Smash the Sneasel and had instead done general warm ups so as to ease them both in.

The second day was when the heavy training came in. Hours of combat, conditioning, meditation…it was a brutal load that Sneasel had hardly been ready for. He still wasn't ready for it.

After the third day he'd been about to transfer Sneasel and put him with another of the team, but Sneasel had steadfastly refused. There was a fire in his eyes burning just as brightly as any that Infernus could have conjured.

Bruiser's training was brutal and harsh and testing the lines of cruel. It was meant for pokemon that were far more physically powerful than the lithe, quick Sneasel. For strength, endurance, and raw power all provided by the body.

And Ash could see every bit of that in Sneasel. He couldn't stand after he was tossed into the camp at dawn and dusk for his break, having pushed himself far beyond his limits. His black fur was matted, usually with sweat and grime and a bit of blood. His claws were growing dull thanks to his constant use and the lack of any time whatsoever to maintain them. If he wasn't covered in his impossibly thick black fur he'd probably be black and blue all over.

It pained Ash for his friend to be like that, however annoying he could be. Sneasel rarely made any noise in camp anymore except for snores – Ash couldn't remember the last time he'd heard a hiss or a snicker or a snarl from the pokemon he'd raise from hatching. It was like a part of the team was missing.

His pride was extinguished, only the embers remaining to kindle his spirit. Sneasel knew he couldn't beat Bruiser or any of the true fighters of the team. He was the weakest and the tattered remains of his arrogance refused to allow him to stay that way.

Ash was proud of him.

When he'd asked Sneasel if he wanted to be transferred to work with Torrent there hadn't been a moment's hesitation. Sneasel had laid his beady little eyes straight on Bruiser, who stood a hundred feet of the way watching the dark-type with a smirk, and shook his head.

No hiss, no yowl. No posturing, just a firm refusal of Ash's offer.

Sneasel was many things: mischievous, bratty, a bit spoiled, and aggressive. But he had never been a quitter and never would be. He'd seen the satisfaction in Bruiser's face, the thought that Sneasel couldn't up, and hadn't spared a second thought about spitting in the face of the pain and hurt and impossible heat.

So Ash allowed it. It was probably too intensive for Sneasel but two weeks wouldn't lead to lasting damage. This wasn't strictly about improving Sneasel's abilities anymore and Ash wouldn't get in the way of that.

He accepted that and let Sneasel train like he never had before.

Ash would be there when Bruiser grabbed Sneasel by the scruff to haul him off to a long day of training.

He would be there when Sneasel and Bruiser clashed in a terribly unbalanced exchange of blows, every moment a desperate struggle for survival and pride.

He would be there when Sneasel collapsed, muscles quivering, and when he rose again on legs that just barely obeyed their owner's commands until they were pushed too far yet again.

He would be there when Bruiser unceremoniously dumped Sneasel in a heap of dirtied fur and limp limbs by Tangrowth, who cheerfully took the dark-type while he played with Aron.

And he would be there when he took Sneasel away from the rest and held him in his lap, allowing him to truly rest. He would feed him what he needed to recover and grow stronger, made sure he got water, and cleaned him as best he could since Sneasel was too exhausted to do it himself.

Finally, he would be there when Bruiser dipped his head and asked for permission to work the unyielding Sneasel half-to-death once again…and he would say yes.

It was hard but it was necessary. Ash wouldn't disrespect Sneasel by forcing him to abandon this mission. Sneasel had never pushed himself like this before and Ash wanted him to keep this blazing fire behind his eyes to replace the cool indifference he usually wore like a shroud.

This was the Sneasel he wanted to have on his team. Not the prankster or the child. No, he wanted the Sneasel that would never take the easy way out. That would push on for eternity to accomplish his goal.

The Sneasel that wasn't the baby of his team but a proud equal.

Ash sighed and relaxed as the stick finally started to fall apart in his hand. There was still a good seven or eight inches left to burn but the orange shine of the embers had slowly crawled toward him, seeking out all the fuel that was left to it.

He felt the Feather pulse with Fire and scowled. The branch landed in the campfire and he watched it silently as more and more pops echoed out through the eerily quiet night. Only the gentle chirping of Tailow and whistle of wind through the wings of Beautifly and Dustox kept him from tensing in worry.

Silence was rarely good out in the wilderness but he could appreciate this.

Ash adjusted Sneasel in his arms to angle him away from the fire. He had enough overheating issues as it was without leaving him to roast in his blanket of fur all night.

His eyes trailed over his team, rapt on examining each.

He couldn't see all of them but he knew where they were. He always would.

Dazed was a silent statue in the shadows behind him, leery of the warmth of the fire's hot touch. He could hear her soft, almost imperceptible breathing as air escaped her nose. A friendly touch coiled about his mind and he smiled.

Torrent wasn't too far off, having decided over the first few nights that he would rather create a small, private pond of his own than force himself to levitate all night. It was actually very easy – Tangrowth had ripped a chunk of earth from the close embrace of the ground and hurled it at Infernus and while those two had squabbled Torrent had decided to flood it with a bit of effort and help from an underground spring.

He imagined Infernus' eyes to be watching him from the glowing pool of magma that had been raised in a sort of bath about fifty feet away. Torrent had done the courtesy of creating a small moat around it to act as a heat sink and the "bath" itself that Tangrowth had helped Aron erect was nearly ten feet thick on every side and shaped from stone.

Infernus loved it, of course. If he wasn't tangling with his grass-type partner or trying to goad one of the others into a fight he just teleported into his pool and relaxed. Ash thought it might have been one of the first times he'd been relaxed outside of combat, odd as that may have sounded.

If he was right then Bruiser was getting some sleep underneath one of the huts Tangrowth had constructed for the team. He worked long days and exhausted Seeker and Sneasel long before he himself was done – Ash could scarcely comprehend how much training he was accomplishing. Only Infernus had that kind of stamina and he didn't do nearly as much physical work as the Machoke.

So Ash let him get his sleep. He didn't entirely approve of how brutal his friend was to Sneasel, but the situation didn't need to be addressed yet. Sneasel would get through the training or die trying and he hoped that this might be a way to engender some kind of respect between the two.

He sighed and used both hands to slowly work out a knot in Sneasel's fur. The lack of basic hygiene was what really alerted him to how badly off Sneasel was – normally his friend would spend a good hour per day at the least grooming himself and making sure there wasn't a single strand out of place. Another half hour was spent sharpening his claws and plucking at his feather and then a good twelve were spent sleeping…

When Bruiser didn't have a hold of him, anyway. Once all of this was done Ash wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to wake Sneasel up. He'd forced Bruiser to give Sneasel at least ten hours of sleep every day – Sneasel needed that sleep. That was the one thing he had put his foot down on and Bruiser had understood – it seemed like most of the issue was Bruiser not quite getting the differences in species.

If there was any member of his team obsessed with good health it was Bruiser. Ash was just glad he'd wasn't too picky about what he ate so long as it kept him strong and gave his body the incredible amount of energy it needed to maintain itself and grow even more muscle.

Ash couldn't remember perfectly but there was something like two thousand calories in one of the five bars Bruiser ate each day and close to a hundred grams of protein in them as well. That wasn't counting the protein supplements he put in Bruiser's water, which was quite frankly mindboggling.

He snorted at that. He really had no idea how Bruiser could like that water with all the supplement floating around in it. Even mixed it was basically like eating chalk. Not the most pleasant thing in the world, in his opinion.

Oh well. He couldn't understand how the others liked their food either. Most of them had gotten him to try at least a little bit of it at one point or another over his training career and it was just awful. It wasn't that bad at first, but the aftertaste…

Ash shuddered involuntarily at the memories of the standard food he'd had for most of his friends. They loved it for some reason, though he supposed some of that might have come from all the berries he mixed in.

He only fed that to a few of his friends, of course. Nidoking, Plume, Torrent, Infernus, Seeker, Tangrowth, Sneasel, and Oz. Dazed ate dreams and though Tangrowth and Oz supplemented their diet with photosynthesis and electricity to feed their powers, they still needed regular food.

A slight purr from Sneasel distracted him. He smiled and grabbed a brush from his pack so he could actually work out a few of the mats easily and get some of the leaf bits out. Normally Sneasel would have his claws out before he could even get close with the brush but well, desperate times called for desperate measures.

As Sneasel let out a sound not dissimilar to a motor he glanced over to the rest of his team.

All of the others were clustered to the side, fawning over Aron. The little steel-type basked in the attention, his icy blue eyes shut in rapture as he warbled cheerfully to some noise one of the others had made.

The corners of his lips twitched.

Aron had made himself very, very popular during his short time with them. He was just as friendly and cheerful as Tangrowth but without the oblivious nature that led most of the team to exasperation. Not to mention he was still young and childish and small and Ash assumed that most females of any species found those qualities…cute.

Tangrowth and Aron got along especially well, with neither of the two leaving each other's side for long. It seemed Aron had come to fill the void Sneasel had left after he started to get irritated with Tangrowth's constant attention. The grass-type still adored Sneasel, of course, but had slowly come to accept that things had changed.

Plume doted on him. There was no other way to put it. She'd found plenty of tasty metal treats for him, most of which he'd had to take. Ash really didn't want Aron getting in the habit of eating pokeballs…

Oh, and there was the time she brought a live Wurmple in her talons and set it in front of him. He'd come back to camp early from Dazed and Oz's arena one day and found Aron and the Wurmple playing contentedly. Aron had managed to snag one of the broken pokeballs he thought he'd put in his pack and munched happily on it as he chirped to Wurmple every few seconds.

Plume herself just watched them with a cocked head, not really sure what to make of the whole situation. Apparently making friends with her gift wasn't quite what she'd had in mind.

After Dazed took the Wurmple back to where it needed to be he'd had to spend some time ensuring it wouldn't happen again, though he had to admit he was just glad she hadn't tried to teach Aron to fly like she had Sneasel.

Ash could honestly say that he wouldn't know how to handle that.

Seeker was actually perched on his back, clinging to one of the ridges. He didn't seem to mind even though she practically covered his whole shell. She was rather light to Ash wouldn't be surprised if Aron hadn't even noticed the extra weight at all.

The last was Oz. She mostly kept an eye on him, though she seemed to enjoy his company. The Electabuzz had even put up with Tangrowth for a while as she stayed with Aron, doing her best to show him a few of her techniques every now and then.

She tended to keep the others in line. Ash had come to trust her with managing any more gifts from Plume, stopping any flying attempts, and keeping Tangrowth from being too reckless.

Oz was very, very good at it. It seemed almost second nature to her…he supposed she must have been involved with the children of her herd after all. Ash didn't really question it. He was just glad that he didn't have to constantly keep an eye on Plume and Tangrowth.

Plume wouldn't do anything reckless, but he'd rather avoid any of her shortsightedness. Though she was intelligent she just didn't seem to get that not every young pokemon was the same as a Pidgey.

Tangrowth…well, he was Tangrowth. Aron was probably more mature than him.

He shook his head and relaxed into the sleeping Nidoking's bulk. Ash laid his eyes on the fire and focused his attention on that and that alone, though a stray desire to try to play Lugia's Flute danced through his head.

Ash had to admit he wanted to give it a shot. The Flute was beautiful and he really did enjoy playing it, though he was terrible. He had no idea where to begin other than blowing in and flutes weren't exactly covered in the Pokedex.

Instead he just relied on the Flute's own incredible make to keep his attempts sounding at least passable. Not good by any means but they didn't make blood gush from his ears like he'd been afraid of.

It was harder to play in the forest. When he was by the coast it had been so much easier. Lugia's connection, no doubt.

Imagining the Song helped. The tune branded on his soul was quick to jump to his lips and be shared with the world again. It was the one thing he could play somewhat well, though he never reclaimed that state of perfection he had entered as he joined his voice with Lugia's in the wake of a ravaged world.

But in the end he decided against it. Ash couldn't put his finger on it, but it just didn't seem…right.

Instead he felt the Feather pulse as his focus became the campfire and he breathed.

Just a few more days and they'd be gone. Then it would be time to meet Steven and leave his mark on the world once more.

XX

"Did you get it?" Ash asked eagerly as he pulled the TM away from Infernus' forehead. The Magmortar was slack, as though he'd just finished running a marathon. His weakness only lasted a few moments though before he stood up perfectly straight, a delighted smile on his lips that unnerved Ash more than any snarl. "That's a yes, I'm guessing?"

Infernus nodded peacefully, the smile growing ever wider with every passing second. Ash felt the heat against his skin grow more and more despite the powerful shields Dazed had layered over his skin. The Feather sung at the touch of hot air and urged him to lean closer, though he quelled that desire instantly.

"Well, let's see how this'll work," he muttered to himself as he mirrored Infernus' expression. There was a frenzied energy to him as he jogged several hundred feet away to a safe location, like there was a bolt of lightning trapped inside his gut. His hands shook slightly as he stood behind the stone barrier raised by Tangrowth and watched with eager eyes.

Dazed stood beside him in a cloak of power as her pendulum floated aloft in the air, energy focused so intensely to it that it failed even to jump and dance as it usually did. Instead it was frozen in a shell of deep blue that nearly left dark stars glittering in his eyes.

Tangrowth, Nidoking, and Torrent were each arrayed in a safe zone around Infernus' arena. All three of them were ready to intervene at a moment's notice if things looked like they were about to get out of control.

Ash wasn't sure how this would go down. He'd probably set up more precautions than necessary but the limits on Infernus' evolved strength weren't quite known. And with the technique he was about to test that question would finally be answered.

"Do it now!" He shouted, his voice carrying easily to Infernus as the Magmortar stood in the midst of air warped and distorted by the sheer heat put out by his body. "Overheat!"

For a moment nothing happened. Infernus simply stood there, though the shell of wavering air immediately expanded to a radius of thirty feet more than where it had hung previous.

Then a slight glow suffused Infernus and flames shot up around him, their heat leaving the earth around the Magmortar caked and cracked and scorched in their wake as it stole away whatever moisture rested within. Tiny fires erupted all around as vegetation buried beneath the earth ignited underneath the terrible heats emitted by his friend, though they died almost instantly as their fuel was burnt away in an instant.

Smoke and steam clouded his vision, though it was helpfully cleared away by an observing Plume, though she quickly darted out of the area when Infernus' glow shone past the fruits of his labor with no effort at all – even through the clouds Ash had still been able to see his friend's shape outlined and filled with fierce light that strove to match the sun itself.

All over the span of a second.

Ash could almost feel the buildup of tension, all the power coiling with Infernus and straining to be released to sear away the entire world. It was the heat that exploded from the Magmortar, the rippling air, the scorched earth and endless steam from where Torrent had soaked the arena beforehand.

It released.

He couldn't help but fling his forearm over his eyes as a plume of orange and yellow fire exploded forth from one of Infernus' cannons, heralded by a great flash of light that left his eyes stinging and wet. A moment later a primal roar followed, echoing in his ears like the cries of some ancient beast woken from its slumber.

Infernus' form was hidden as the huge cone of flame rose from his arm, twisting and writhing like a great serpent. Smoke trailed from the edges, desperately chasing the lead of the column that flew higher and higher until it seemed as though the entire sky of the arena had been consumed in the power released in Infernus' Overheat.

Cinders fell from the sides as the great gout of fire stubbornly hung in the air for a few seconds, fighting the laws of physics desperately to continue burning and devouring the atmosphere itself. It felt like an eternity before it had finally dwindled into a simple rain of embers that drifted all over, falling from titanic clouds of smoke formed in the wake of the plume's death.

Ash's face twisted up into a smile, mouth barely held closed despite his inner want to whoop in joy and do a little jig before running over to hug Infernus, whose shoulders had slumped even as the results of his labor fell to the earth around him in tiny trails of flame, scorching the earth beyond recognition.

The arena itself and even the forest beyond felt the rain of countless embers, though they failed to ignite thanks to Torrent transporting almost an entire pond to douse it before hand. They were the only thing that shone in the world aside from Infernus himself – the sky itself was overcast with smoke for as far as Ash could see and even the air around him was filled with the thick, black substance that billowed through the atmosphere.

He could not see the sun. Only a hint of its light pierced Infernus' firestorm, lightening the smoke to a point where it appeared almost grey rather than the fierce black it truly was.

Ash coughed then as smoke rushed into his lungs and the Feather pulsed molten rock through his veins. Old wounds made themselves known and his lungs heaved terribly as they were reminded of the trials forced upon them by Moltres' volcano.

Nevertheless he kept watching with wide eyes and a stupid grin.

Infernus wasn't spent, but he was tired. Ash could see that from here. And considering what it took for Infernus to show even a hint of exhaustion…well, the evidence had just stolen the oxygen from his lungs and blinded him moments before.

It was taxing, but Ash couldn't have asked for more.

"Dazed, can you clear the way?" Ash coughed, wincing at the rawness of his voice. His throat burned horribly and he'd wished he'd had the foresight to bring one of his canteens with him. Still, getting to Infernus took priority. Plume would clear the aftereffects of Overheat away.

Yes, Friend-Trainer. Trust yourself. I will guide you to the brute.

He nodded and staggered forth, eager to congratulate Infernus. That was on a scale of nothing he'd accomplished before – even in the relatively brutal battles in which he clashed with Tangrowth he preferred precise blasts of intense flame. Unleashing his full might was just too dangerous for Tangrowth and so he'd been forced to reign his own power in – and that was the opposite of Overheat.

Overheat was pouring a huge amount of energy into the attack. It was much like Draco Meteor in that it taxed even experts of using the technique a great deal and could exhaust most inexperienced wielders. Essentially it was a blast of flame that matched the users highest potential at that time – all-or-nothing.

It was the equalizer. It tapped into power that could overwhelm even superior opponents if the user was strong enough, though it had better knock them out then or the rest of the match would be rather quick.

But Ash didn't really care about that. It wouldn't be something he relied on. Aside from the obvious tactical drawbacks the collateral damage was almost ridiculous – if he hadn't had the field prepped beforehand they would be fighting a full blown forest fire right now.

No, he wouldn't rely on it. But he had one very specific person who he knew he'd use it against in the near future. It wouldn't be an equalizer, it would be a fighting chance.

That was in the future, though. For now Ash just wanted to check on his friend.

XX

"Show me what you've got," Ash murmured as he firmly rubbed Aron's domed head one last time before he rose and moved a safe distance away. The little steel-type nodded with an air of determination about him, his rasping tongue held firmly in his mouth instead of hanging off to a side as it usually did. The early dawn's light shone off his armor brightly, making him difficult to look at but Ash managed.

Once Nidoking was absolutely certain Ash was safe he grunted. Aron warbled back and the battle to prove what the student had learned in these past two weeks began.

The first technique Aron accessed was one he'd proven to be rather adept with. He loosed what was probably meant to be a fierce cry and focused for several seconds, his small literally trembling with effort before all the power he'd gathered exploded forth in the form of several jagged walls of stone that jutted up and enclosed Nidoking in a fully sealed prison.

Aron slumped for a moment, though he quickly scurried as far as he could to his left before the thin barriers he'd summoned with Rock Tomb were destroyed by blunt claws, overwhelming force, and a single sweep of Nidoking's mighty tail.

Nidoking roared, the bellow forcing the dusty remains of his temporary prison several feet away. His beady black eyes swiftly settled upon Aron, who scarcely managed to focus his energy into a semispherical shield with Protect before dozens of poisonous quills sprayed into it, bouncing harmlessly off the barrier.

The steel-type quickly dashed away again as Nidoking followed him with his fierce gaze, analyzing every movement of Aron. He slid to a halt and only barely managed to keep his footing when Nidoking grunted again and tapped his foot to the earth, releasing vast amounts of focused energy that carved a thin crevasse into the soft ground and lined it with golden energy as it grew wider and wider.

With his escape cut off by a second Earth Power that carved off the area behind him, Aron made his last attempt. He warbled as he turned to Nidoking and charged with barely a moment's hesitation, head lowered.

Nidoking growled softly as Aron's domed head swiftly moved upwards, kicking a thin spray of dirt into the poison-type's eyes that managed to distract him just long enough for Aron to finish his charge.

…Unfortunately for Aron, that charge ended underneath Nidoking's heavy, clawed foot. The blunt nails pressed firmly into Aron's metal hide as Nidoking cocked his head, ears twitching as he glanced down at the steel-type. Finally he seemed to heave his plated shoulders in a shrug and removed his massive weight from the steel-type's body and let the stunned Aron stagger off to the side.

His friend met Ash's eyes inquisitively. Ash nodded with a grin – Nidoking had done well these past two weeks. Aron wasn't anywhere near ready to join the main team, obviously, but at least Ash felt confident releasing him against weak opponents.

Aron had come far from what he had been in the beginning of this past training session. Still young, still slow, and still weak. But he had experience and the mentality to grow strong now. That was all Ash had asked.

For Nidoking to have shaped Aron into a mighty warrior standing even close to Sneasel's ability would have required a miracle. Aron might have started training months later than Sneasel, but he had to be trained to have the proper mindset for combat unlike the naturally aggressive dark-type.

The newest member of their family was gentle. His kind developed slowly physically. They had the same incredible lifespan as the Rhydon family and lacked any natural predators – they didn't need to develop extremely quickly, especially since Aggron tended to be excellent parents and stuck around until they were certain the offspring could take care of itself.

Sneasel had been as ready for combat a mere few weeks after emerging from his egg as Aron was now. Different rates of development, different instincts, and different personalities accounted for that.

But Aron was ready now. It wouldn't be an easy road for him, but he had just taken his first few steps. Ash was confident in his ability to meet the rest of the team as equals one day – he just had to get started first.

"Good job!" He rubbed Aron's back and steadied his young friend as the steel-type almost fell onto his side. Looked like Nidoking stopping his charge had rattled him harder than Ash had expected. Dazed might need to check on him to make sure nothing was too bad. Aron's shell should have stopped anything too bad but it was better to be safe than sorry. "You've really gotten strong, haven't you?"

Aron squeezed his icy blue eyes shut at the praise and nuzzled Ash's hand, doing his best to lean his entire weight on it. Ash had to bring in his other arm and push his leg against the steel-type's mass to keep himself from being crushed but he thought it was more than worth it – being close to his team wasn't something that had a price.

"I'm going to return you now, alright?" Ash said slowly, doing his best to make sure Aron got every word into his heavy skull. Aron blinked and warbled, licking Ash's forearms and tearing plenty of skin off before Ash smiled at him and recalled him into his pokeball. "He should be more comfortable now. I don't think it would be good for him to try and walk back to camp."

Nidoking plodded over to Ash's side and nodded, taking care that his horn stayed far away from Ash.

"Thank you for helping him," Ash said quietly as he and Nidoking stood together. He turned his eyes to his friend, who had shifted his head so as to catch Ash's every word. "Nobody else would have done as good of a job."

His friend snorted at that, the soft rush of hot air brushing against the exposed skin of Ash's arm. Ash's lips twitched upward at the pleased rush on Nidoking's face before the monarch's countenance shifted back to hard, loyal stone.

"I'll get some more one-on-one time with you to make up for losing a good week of training," Ash said. Nidoking's ears twitched, pleased at the news. "How's your own training coming along? I know you've worked hard with Triad and I saw a lot of improvement with Earth Power. Not quite as rough, if that makes any sense."

Nidoking nodded in agreement, baring his fangs in a smile.

"By the way, start working a bit with your psychic abilities," he told Nidoking. The poison-type's ears twitched curiously, that part of their training having fallen by the wayside long ago in favor of his much greater potential in the form of his physical and elemental techniques. "Nothing major. Just try and improve while you're working with Aron – I've got some plans."

That was all Nidoking needed to hear and he gruffly dipped his head. Ash smiled and patted his friend's shoulder, grinning as the hulking Nidoking leaned into his touch. "Let's head back to the camp – I think it's about time we move on. I want to be early to Rustboro."

Nidoking grunted in agreement and fell in line with Ash as the two walked past the large clearing of Petalburg Forest that they'd claimed as their own – it was mostly deserted already, probably from some battle between careless trainers some time before. Their presence had attracted some attention over their second week in the forest, though. They often had audiences as they trained in the form of inquisitive Wurmple, Shroomish, and other young denizens of the area.

The older pokemon stayed away, probably just close enough to keep an eye on their children. Ash had no doubt that they were wary of him – the younger ones were impressed with his team's strength. The adults knew just how dangerous his friends could be.

Ash had briefly considered approaching some of the pokemon to see if they'd be interested in coming along with him but decided against it. Most were freshly hatched and he had his hands full with Aron – it was intensive bringing a new member into the fold and he wanted to make sure the team had stabilized again before throwing yet another new brother or sister-in-arms into the dynamics.

Maybe he'd make a return visit one day, but for now he wouldn't bother trying to test their interest. They were too young and the older ones had already settled in and had a life here in the forest. He wouldn't want to remove them from that unless they approached him first.

He'd have to make sure he had everything cleaned up before they left tomorrow. Not just their camp, but also all the damage his team had done to their separate arenas over the course of their training.

It wouldn't be too bad for the most part. Nidoking had practiced his Earth Power quite a bit, but he'd also work with general earth manipulation and used a bit of simple work to heal the scars in the earth he'd left behind. His training with Aron wasn't anywhere near enough intensive to do anything but leave slight tracks where he'd tossed the steel-type and treads in the angles he attacked from.

Torrent and Plume's training grounds would just require a bit of touchup by Tangrowth, as would Sneasel and Bruiser's. None of them had used attacks that would wreak large-scale devastation on the earth itself.

The Kingdra hadn't really focused much on his draconic techniques. He had them down fairly well and Ash wanted to develop some of his other talents for now, mostly working to expand his versatility.

Dazed and Oz wouldn't require extensive work either. He supposed Dazed had done about as much damage as Bruiser – though where he tended to leave small craters from his Focus Blasts she'd started working to rip chunks of earth out of the ground. It was a lot more draining than Ancient Power and not as effective but it worked well as a distraction and soaked up Oz's electricity quite well.

No, none of them would be the issue. They hadn't done their utmost to literally destroy and remake their training ground several times over, unlike a certain pair that came to mind.

Ash couldn't help but bare his teeth in a fierce grin as he remembered the sight of Tangrowth and Infernus dueling, each limiting themselves a bit to keep things interesting. Infernus wouldn't teleport and in turn Tangrowth could only use magma.

Technically that wasn't fair at all and Ash was fairly certain that Infernus had tricked Tangrowth into the match for fun. The magma might weigh Infernus down but the potent heat and molten stone soaking into whatever injuries he incurred only made him burn hotter and heal in moments – with how much he'd been coated with by the end of it Ash was fairly certain Nidoking could have gored him through the stomach and had the Magmortar's fiery flesh mend around the horn in seconds.

Probably an exaggeration and not at all safe to test, but Ash thought it was interesting.

If only he could call up Lugia's shields from the Shamouti Incident at will…

I can.

Ash's face twisted at the unwelcome intrusion and clamped down on it with an immediate assault. It had become a reflex with how much the Shade of Mew had decided to whisper into the back of his mind recently.

He didn't like it at all, though there was literally nothing he could do to stop it. It was something Ash had to deal with for now. Fire and Lightning flooded his body as his heart pounded, the adrenaline still drowning his system.

Ash grimaced and focused as they peacefully plodded across the flat expanse of dirt and tattered grass. What trees there were had been knocked over before they'd even come here – all that remained were a few stumps and thick, knotted roots that wound their way across the clearing's floor. They were dry and dead and Ash figured that a resident Slaking had probably thrown a tantrum here at one point.

That didn't explain some of the veritable wasteland that made up the rest of the team's training grounds but he supposed he would take what answers he could. It was too bad Daisy wasn't here. Maybe she would've been able to see what had happened with the help of her Ninetales…

Still, that wasn't quite as interesting as the memories of Infernus and Tangrowth's battles. The two were quite fierce with one another, though he supposed that was the norm for Infernus. Tangrowth's eyes were always narrowed, the luminous saucers never leaving the glow of Infernus' heat.

Of course, he was fairly certain Infernus was having the time of his life. Torrent rarely deigned to battle him, wary of the consequences should both of them unleash their full strength. Nidoking was ill-suited to fight the teleporting menace, whose incredible body heat made most melee engagements a joke. Dazed had trouble resisting even a few intense blasts of his terrible fires and neither Bruiser nor Plume could get close.

Tangrowth had turned out to be his ideal foe, at least when he didn't teleport on top of him and burn his way past the grass-type's fire retardant vines.

He disliked Infernus, fought best at range, and could literally make every step a constant war for control of the battlefield. Tangrowth wasn't very bright but he was excellent in combat and matched the Magmortar's lust for battle and blood with an iron resolve.

In fact, Ash thought that Infernus might be coming to like Tangrowth. That might be pushing it, but there was clearly an enjoyment there. It wasn't often Infernus could be truly pushed, even with a handicap. So to exert effort again and again until he could reach the final release of victory was probably the most satisfying thing in the world to him.

Ash himself couldn't have been happier with the development – even if it wasn't a real friendship and a very one-sided relationship it was good for Infernus and Tangrowth both. Infernus found something to occupy himself with, was able to release the pent up aggression Ash knew all too well, and got to actually stay outside the pokeball almost all the time.

For his part, Tangrowth had become a bit more focused. He was still the same as ever – especially when Ash caught him playing with the magma Infernus summoned for him, juggling it between vines with fascinated eyes on the glowing, sluggish liquid – but Infernus' harsh lessons had taught him well.

The dangerous smile he wore as he'd considered the wanton power wielded by two of his friends faded into one of content as he assessed the results of this trip. He literally couldn't think of a single thing to be disappointed in.

His friends hadn't just grown stronger – they'd grown closer. There had always been a rift in his team, now that he thought about it. His family was united in the sense that they wished to help him and tolerated one another, despite their own feelings. But they weren't close in the way he had wished.

This training trip had helped to mend that. The gap was by no mean healed, but it had been patched together with careful stitching. His team had partners, Aron, and actual peace for them to come together. There were no distractions from the outside world other than the inevitability of their departure.

And unfortunately, that time had come. Ash had to admit that he was more than ready to see Steven again but he would miss this. It felt like it had been ages since it had just been him and his team without a care in the world.

All good things came to an end, of course. While leaving this behind would be the death of a good thing, he had no doubt that joining Steven would be the beginning of something great.

XX

"The next time some of you are released, you might be facing down Steven," Ash began as he stood before his team in the bare clearing that once held their camp. They listened eagerly, several considering the future battle with childish fascination and others with wariness. "I don't expect us to win against any of his team, but I do expect to show him what we're made of. I've seen how far all of us have come in the last two weeks and we're going to make Steven see it as well!"

That got him a few cheers, a few faces full of anticipation. He smiled.

"I've tried to prepare all of you for what's coming, but it's going to be tough," he continued, face set in stone. "Steven's unlike any other opponent we've ever faced. He doesn't focus on flight like Lance. He's a defensive fighter and probably the best of that style in the whole world. I've shown you videos of his Metagross. Metagross might be his strongest, but that doesn't mean the rest of the team isn't on a similar level. So be ready and give it your all – we're going to start this journey off right."

"But that's in the future," he said easily, allowing his stern tone to slip away like water through a sieve. "Right now we need to clean up and then we'll enjoy ourselves. Everyone have fun and go demolish your arenas! Tangrowth, fill in the holes. We're not leaving a trace of evidence behind."

With that he relaxed and fell back against a tree, crossing his arms as most of his team eagerly went to tear down the walls that had contained their battles for the last two weeks. Sneasel especially was happy to dash off, more than ready to release some of his frustration on the walls that he'd been smashed into by Bruiser on more than one occasion.

He watched them go with a smile. They'd be quick.

Ash sighed and pulled himself off the tree. The camp was cleared up and he had all of his equipment safely stashed away in his storage compartments but he needed to prepare a few things beforehand.

Technically he was cutting it a bit close. He was due to be at Steven's place in Rustboro at three today according to the message Steven had sent him about a week ago. Ash guessed he'd completed his responsibilities at the Ever Grande Conference, though the event's closing Ceremony wasn't for another ten days when June came to a close.

But he'd prepared as much he could. His schedule allowed for a little bit of flexibility. Ash had looked up address his mentor had given him on the PokeNav databases, quickly locating it. It looked to be an apartment complex, probably ridiculously expensive.

So he knew where he was going. It was probably just a two hour flight to Rustboro and it was only ten in the morning. He'd woken up at the crack of dawn to get a last assessment of his team's progress and spent the next hour cleaning up the camp.

Now he just had to wait another thirty minutes or so for his team to come back, saddle up Plume, and then he'd be off. Rustboro probably wouldn't appreciate him flying in but he figured if he just went to the Pokemon Center closest to Steven's home then he'd be fine.

Besides, he was a member of the Indigo Elite Four. It wasn't like they'd stop him. That was definitely one of the more convenient parts of his position.

Ash figured he'd spend whatever spare time he had going to the Rustboro Gym to drop off Birch's package and then wait out at Steven's apartment. He would normally try to fit in a Gym battle to burn some time but Ash wouldn't allow his team to be anything but their best – none of them had done anything taxing for the last two days so they could recover properly.

He wouldn't disappoint Steven. The former Champion was doing him a great service by giving him the privilege of traveling and training under him for the next year or so and he wasn't about to reward the man with a poor display.

At that he shook his head. He needed to relax. Focusing too much on the battle wouldn't help any. He'd worked out plenty of strategies for what he knew for Steven's team and spent a bit of time running his team through them. There wasn't anything else he could do.

Instead of worrying further he released Aron. His newest friend wouldn't be much help to Nidoking in wrecking the arena and wouldn't be able to avoid the tremors of Nidoking's Earthquake either.

And if the Aron currently licking a hunk of scrap metal Ash had obtained was great at one thing it was distracting him with a good mood.

XX

"I'm sorry, the Gym Leader isn't in today," the attendant, a teenager maybe two or three years older than Ash, drawled. He rapped his fingers against the stone the Rustboro Gym's desk was carved from. The furniture looked ancient and flowed seamlessly into the rock floor, as though the building had been constructed around it. "She won't return until the conclusion of the Ever Grande Conference. If you'd like we could schedule a battle now. Just leave your Trainer ID number and we'll get it set up immediately."

"Thanks, but I'm actually here on a job from Professor Birch," Ash rasped, wincing at the sound of his voice. His throat was still a bit irritated from breathing in so much smoke during Infernus' first use of Overheat, though it had been clearing up. "I'm supposed to deliver a disk to the Rustboro Gym."

The attendant blinked and straightened up, more interested. "Oh, of course. Can I see it?"

"Here," he said, handing the disk's case to the teen. Ash wasn't too worried about this data. Although it did hold information on Legendaries Birch had said it was mostly just irregularities in normal patterns. There was nothing very sensitive on there. Nothing that would turn the world on its head.

"Thanks!"

Ash nodded stiffly and turned as the attendant whistled a merry tune and walked the disk into the gym proper, probably headed to Roxanne's office. He had no doubt that any personal deliveries from the Pokemon Professor of Hoenn would be given utmost priority. Roxanne might actually return from the Conference or have it transferred to her quarters there.

That wasn't any of his concern, though. Until he could battle her he couldn't really care less.

With that Ash headed out, pleased with how quick it had gone. No real niceties, just a simple exchange and the job was done. That was just about all he could ask for, even if it did mean he'd have to amuse himself for a bit longer now. It was only one o' clock so he still had two hours to wait.

Oh well. That would go by in the blink of an eye once he got into Cynthia's book. Despite fervently reading, it felt like he'd barely made any progress at all. He'd skimmed it, but considering how huge the monolithic text was he didn't count that. No, he wouldn't count himself as having completed the book until he'd actually mastered the knowledge held within. Anything less just wasn't sufficient.

That meant he'd have to release Dazed, of course. She enjoyed reading it through his mind as much as he did. Moreso, even. The Hypno had a scholarly and intellectual bent no other members of his team held and he was more than happy to foster it.

He had to get to Steven's apartment first, of course. With that in mind he trudged off into the city of Rustboro, navigating the steel jungle so similar to Saffron's with relative ease. It wasn't quite as cramped and the streets were far wider, though the dull monochrome brown of the city was a bit disappointing. At least Saffron was more varied with his colors.

Still, none of that mattered right now. He had a task to finish.

XX

Dazed helpfully turned the page for him with a flash of blue. Ash smiled at her and continued reading, losing himself in the text.

As such, Rustboro can in many ways be seen to mirror Sootopolis. In contrast with Sootopolis, a naval, sea-based superpower in the east, Rustboro is a land-based power with roots primarily in production and trade rather than war.

While it made good use of its access to the sea, traditionally Rustboro favored trade on land. The massive Meteor Falls cave networks and the foothills of Mt. Pyre separated them from Fallarbor's territory, though in essence Rustboro controlled the majority of central and northern Hoenn through close association with the ancient Draconid peoples, who have died out over the past centuries.

Though hugely successful, it failed to expand east beyond the Arid Zone separating Fortree and Lilycove from the rest of mainland Hoenn and found itself unable to push past Petalburg. It historically rivaled Slateport, who was in constant competition with Rustboro for dominance in the Dewford region.

Despite tensions that have lasted for the better part of a millennium, neither Rustboro nor their historical foe have gone to war. There are many reasons for this truce, which experts believe to primarily lie in the form of the Draconids, whose relationship with Rustboro enabled them to have military success without relying on a large standing armor.

The Draconids occupied a role similar to Blackthorn in the Johto region, though perhaps on a larger scale. Both possessed extremely close relationships with powerful dragons that allowed them to strike almost anywhere in a region overnight and return to their beds the next day.

Through their breeding of Salamence and other dragons, the Draconids were undisputedly the most powerful military force in all of Hoenn for centuries. Their ability to strike at targets hundreds and thousands of miles away meant they were feared by all and their own comparative lack of cities or infrastructure meant it was exceptionally difficult to find them. Many resided in concealed villages or in Meteor Falls, where –

Ash started slightly as the alarm he'd set on his PokeNav went off. He grinned and felt a little rush of energy surge through him as he quickly closed the Arbok-bound book and returned it to his storage compartment. Dazed gave him a quick nod of permission before he recalled her.

It was time.

He knocked on the door for the second time that day and patiently waited. Steven hadn't been here when he'd first arrived and had probably just teleported in. The former Champion certainly didn't seem the type to disregard punctuality.

A few moments later the door opened, revealing a smiling Steven Stone.

"Ash, it's good to see you!" He swung the door open fully, waving Ash inside. "Come in, come in. I'm glad you're here on time. We have a lot to do today."

He grinned back and followed Steven into the apartment, which looked to be absolutely massive. It wasn't unexpected for this apartment complex, which he wasn't sure he'd be able to afford even with his salary. Ash had half-expected to be given a complementary suit and tie just for visiting so as to avoid disgracing their reputation.

The living room along looked like it was the size of the first floor of his house back in Pallet and was completely pristine. There wasn't a single thing out of place. All of the furniture was spotless, blankets perfectly folded, and the floor clear of anything that might resemble a mess.

Honestly, if it weren't for the pictures of Steven with all sorts of people he was sure were influential in some way or another he wouldn't' think it had been lived in at all. Oh, and the display cases full of rare stones of both the mundane and evolutionary types.

"This place is huge," he commented as he took in the whole scene. This was less of an apartment and more of a one-story house. It didn't even have a kitchen attached – it looked like it was in its one room.

"It's fairly nice," Steven agreed as he shut the door and turned back to him. "I'm not here often but it serves its purpose."

Ash nodded dumbly, barely resisting the urge to snort at Steven's assessment. The former Champion had very different standards of luxury than he did.

"Please, take a seat," his new traveling companion motioned to one of the plush armchairs dotting the room. Ash quickly fell into one, tapping his fingers against the armrest as Steven sat across from him. "How have you liked Hoenn? I know I haven't been in touch quite as often as I should have. Wallace has been running me ragged with the Ever Grande Conference – after dealing with the Indigo Conference as well I couldn't be happier to be done with it."

He grinned. "I've enjoyed it. I haven't explored quite as much as I'd like but I've gotten a lot of training in and picked up a new teammate. And I found a few interesting things in Sootopolis and Granite Cave that might need to be investigated."

"Lance told me," Steven sighed and rubbed his temples. "We've known about the Cave of Origin for centuries now, though you illuminated us a bit more than the keepers of that lore. But the news of Granite Cave is a bit more worrying – I know of that mural. I've seen it before. But what you reported of the unnatural influences was unexpected. When I found it I felt nothing of the type."

Ash decided not to point out that the influences acting on him in that cave – the touch of Legends – probably shouldn't be classified as unnatural. They were practically the definition of natural, technically. He knew that much.

But that wasn't what they were discussing right now and it would just be picking at semantics. He wasn't entirely surprised only he'd felt it anyway. After all of the Legends he'd encountered he was probably more open to their influence than most.

"I'll ensure Wallace sends a Ranger team to investigate it," Steven muttered, scratching his chin thoughtfully. Ash wasn't sure the man was actually talking to him. "A mundane Ranger and at least one psychic or otherwise sensitive member…need a control."

"Be careful of the psychic that gets sent," he warned. Steven's head jerked up at the intrusion, as though he'd momentarily forgotten Ash's presence. "Human psychics tend to be more vulnerable to Legendaries, I've noticed. They might not be able to handle it."

Steven nodded at that. "Ah, yes. Thank you, Ash. I believe Sabrina reported something along those lines, though I'd forgotten it. I haven't been quite as involved in the research into the Legends as Lance has been."

"Now, what's this you said about a new team member?" Steven raised a silver eyebrow as he moved onto a happier topic.

Ash grinned and unhooked Aron's pokeball with a swift movement. An instant later he tapped the release and Aron materialized on the rug. The steel-type blinked and yawned before he allowed his rasping tongue to hang freely and sat down contentedly on his haunches as he examined his new surroundings.

Steven's eyes lit up. "An Aron! That's fantastic, Ash. I'm glad to see him on your team – it's been a long time since I've been able to work with an untrained steel-type. I'm afraid my team has remained the same for quite a while now."

He nodded along with Steven and had to hold back a snort as Steven slid out of his chair and next to Aron, carefully running his callused fingertips over his shell and muttering quietly.

Aron warbled and leaned into the touch, always eager to get some attention. Steven smiled and rubbed his domed head, stopping at a point where his head and main body connected to scratch. "I've found that almost all Aron like this spot rubbed. This is where a lot of the stress builds up from raising their head and they appreciate having some of the tension released. If they aren't with others of the Aron family they tend to have minor, chronic pain build up over time until they evolve."

Ash dipped his head to show he'd heard and watched carefully, appreciating Steven's deep knowledge. He paid rapt attention as Steven tapped a few more spots and seemed pleased with Aron's condition.

"He's in good condition," the Steel Master smiled softly as he tapped Aron's forehead before rising. "Aron and their line are hardy anyway. I'll show you what to keep an eye out for once we settle into our routine."

"And what will that be?" Ash raised an eyebrow. Aron plodded over by his feet and cheerfully knocked his heavy head into his shin before settling down and watching Steven with a small bit of interest.

Steven reclaimed his seat and relaxed.

"Today won't be too difficult," he said. "First I'd like to introduce you to someone who's very interested in meeting you. After that I will have us teleported to a training area I've frequented in the past a few miles out of Rustboro so I can assess you. Once that's finished we'll return here so that I can give you an outline of what we'll be working toward over the upcoming year. Understood?"

Ash nodded. "Crystal clear."

"Good," Steven smiled. He shut his eyes and moments later a Gardevoir appeared. Its luminous eyes raked over Ash and watched him intensely, though judging from the focus revealed on Steven's face they were having a mental conversation. "Recall Aron, please. Juliet here will teleport us to our destination."

He quickly followed the former Champion's command and flashed a smile to Juliet in thanks for helping them. At least he didn't have to put up with Bob's nonsense while she was around.

Juliet just nodded before she shut her eyes, though an inner light that suddenly flashed made it appear as though they were still open.

What followed was perhaps the smoothest example of teleportation he'd encountered aside from what he remembered from watching Mew battle Mewtwo. It was a perfectly seamless transition.

There wasn't even a moment of disorientation or a rush of motion and color and space as she teleported them, just as though they had shifted from one point to another. No flash of light, no crack, not even a hint that anything had happened.

"Thank you, Juliet," Steven said to the Gardevoir. She nodded and vanished a moment later, as though she'd never even been there at all. The former Champion idly toyed with the cuffs of his suit as he watched Ash marvel at their new surroundings.

He wasn't sure where they were, but it was lavish. The walls were of the same drab grey and brown stone much of Rustboro was shaped from but the floor was a glossy marble and artwork that practically screamed of wealth adorned the walls.

There were some news articles and what looked like scientific and financial journals hung on the wall but he couldn't really take the time to examine them at the moment. Most had pictures of a tall, smiling man with silvery-white hair just a few shades paler than Steven's slate on them. Despite his rather odd haircut – it vaguely reminded Ash of a Starmie – he still cut an imposing, albeit friendly, presence.

Seeing the man gave Ash a few guesses as to where he was but he figured he'd know for sure in a few minutes.

"Ah, Steven!" A booming voice echoed throughout the hall in which they stood. Ash instantly turned to examine the new arrival, who walked past a secretary's desk without a care in the world and blinked when he realized it was the man he'd just seen plastered all over the walls. "Welcome, welcome! It's been too long, my boy!"

"It has," Steven smiled as he shook the tall old man's hand. He waved Ash up. "Father, this is –"

"Ash Ketchum," Mr. Stone said gravely with an accent quite a bit stronger than Steven's. He looked down at Ash with interest as he took Ash's hand in a tight grip and shook it up and down enthusiastically. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ketchum. My name is Francis Stone. As you might have picked up on, I'm Steven's father."

Ash returned the firm grip. "It's good to meet you too."

Mr. Stone smiled lightly at Ash's simple greetings. "Let's move into my office. I'd hate to distract Ms. Carla while she works."

Steven and Ash followed in silence, though his mentor flashed the secretary a smile as they passed which she happily returned and waved them off, though she never took her eyes off her monitor.

The heavy wooden doors swung shut once they'd passed and left them in a massive office that looked like it doubled as a meeting room. It looked as though Mr. Stone's workplace was towards the back of the room and surrounded by all manner of personal touches. There was a huge table that looked as though the room had been carved around it in the center, lined with chairs. Its top was thick glass that revealed all manner of fossils and rocks trapped beneath.

Mr. Stone seemed to share Steven's fascination with minerals if the countless display cases full of rare and beautiful stones was anything to go by – their name was useful for that much, at least. He didn't even recognize some of the rocks that were obviously evolutionary stones and there were all sorts of stone slabs with ancient carvings etched into them that could be sold for a fortune.

But overall he was more distracted by the odd feeling that he was being watched…

"Please, relax!" Mr. Stone chortled as he slid into an impossibly comfortable looking armchair and steepled his fingers together, watching them closely. "Would either of you like something to eat or drink?"

"No, thank you," Steven shook his head. "While we would love to stay and chat this needs to be kept brief. We have a lot of work to get done."

"Of course, of course," the older man murmured. "Very well, then. Metagross!"

That was enough to distract Ash from his contemplation of an odd stone held aloft by what almost looked like some sort of ceremonial artifact. The side angled toward the chairs in front of Mr. Stone almost reminded him of a face the way a large crack angled straight down and then into what looked like a frown. Two dots were indented right above where the crack branched.

It was utterly unremarkable, though it put him on edge nonetheless. That might be something to talk to Steven about later if it became any stranger.

Still, that barely even mattered to him right now. No, he was much more concerned with the twin Metagross that had appeared from the shadows, eerily silent as they stepped forward with a smooth grace that belied their hulking forms and massive weight.

One was a few shades darker than the other, almost approaching black. That was a sign of age in Metagross if he remembered correctly and the strength of their armor tended to correspond to how dark it was. All the color reflected was how many layers had been developed over the course of their life.

The other was much closer in shade to Steven's and as it turned its bloody red eyes on him he froze.

He knew this Metagross.

"Mr. Ketchum, wait!" Mr. Stone cried as Nidoking and Dazed appeared beside the boy in a flash of light. Both picked up on the situation instantly, probably thanks to Dazed pulling the context from his mind. "Please restrain yourself! That Metagross will cause no harm to you."

"It already has," Ash snarled, staring down the Metagross he had once met in battle without a hint of fear. Fire roared in him and he was more than ready to resume that battle if he needed to. When he saw it and knew what it was, he did not think. He simply acted.

A firm hand took ahold of Ash's shoulder, despite the warning growl Nidoking sent to its owner. Steven didn't care about any of Nidoking's threats and squeezed him gently, just enough to snap him out of the reactionary state he'd fallen into.

"That's enough, Ash," Steven said quietly. "His Metagross won't hurt you. It simply wished to speak with you…although in a much different context. It wasn't supposed to happen like this."

Ash nodded jerkily, eyes never leaving Pierce's Metagross. It stared dispassionately back, looking very, very tired in that moment. "You could have told me beforehand."

"I was about to," his mentor frowned at Mr. Stone. "Some of us don't pay attention, it seems."

"Yes, I suppose most of the blame rests in my hands," Mr. Stone grimaced. His knuckles rapped nervously against the glossy wood of his desk. "My apologies. Metagross wasn't supposed to enter yet."

Our apologies as well, Conqueror. It was remiss of us to be so careless. But we desired to communicate immediately.

"What do you want?" Ash crossed his arms. He trusted Steven enough to relax a bit but by no means would he ever like this creature. It wasn't quite as monstrous as Pierce's other beasts in personality but it had aided and abetted countless murders and terrible acts when it stood by its master's side.

We simply wished to express our recognition of your accomplishment. We did not enjoy the last years of our time with our former trainer. Thank you for allowing us freedom and a return to our home.

"If you didn't enjoy it why didn't you leave?" He scowled at the hulking metal creature. Its eyes still held him dispassionately, not a hint of emotion displayed. "I know it's possible. Not always easy, but possible."

We are loyal. Master Pierce was there when we hatched and we expected to be there when he died. Though we did not condone his activities we would not forsake our bond. But without Master Pierce we see that perhaps there were alternative routes we could have taken to curb his level of collateral damage. But we were blinded. He was all we had ever known, unfortunate psychological failings and all. He was our duty.

Ash's lips were flat as he listened to the creature. "If you're trying to apologize –"

Why would we apologize? What is done is done. Lost lives may never be reclaimed. We simply wished to recognize your involvement in our freedom and thank you for it. The future is more mutable.

Perhaps we will conform to your preconceived notions of ethics in the future and redeem ourselves in your eyes. Or not. We wish only to thank you for allowing us that choice, Conqueror.

He nodded stiffly, just wanting this to be over as soon as possible. Ash didn't want to talk to this Metagross who had the blood of hundreds on its hands. Generally he thought himself quite capable of comprehending the alien mindsets of certain pokemon but this…he couldn't handle it. Not right now. Not yet.

Farewell, Conqueror. We wish for chance to favor you in the time to come as you travel with Master Steven and our kin. We see your strength for ourselves now but improvement is a certainty with Master Steven…you have surpassed Master Pierce already, and only Master Steven may guide you now.

Ash twitched as the Metagross lumbered silently away and into the shadows where it had first emerged, unnerving grace even more apparent to him now that he knew just what that creature was.

The other Metagross examined him. Its eyes were far darker than Pierce's Metagross, the red so deep it was nearly black.

Bearer of the Golden Feather, Storm-Tamer, and host of powers known and unknown…you carry lofty titles on your shoulders, Ash Ketchum. It is no wonder the Traitor-Thief-False Kin fell to you, young though you may have been. I thank you for your deed.

"You're welcome," Ash said, mouth dry. He was relaxed now that Pierce's Metagross was gone and quickly recalled his two friends now that the time of crisis was over – it was only putting more stress on everyone. "After what he did I would never let him escape justice."

Good. Blood must be paid with blood. That is our way.

The older Metagross truly looked at him now and he thought he saw a dangerous glint in its wise red eyes.

You are dissatisfied with the perceived escape the Betrayer has achieved. I will allow you to know the truth: Betrayer will pay for its crimes in a way that will mend them.

It is not within Betrayer's ability to bring back those it has stolen life and limb from, but for the deepest sin, the betrayal of family, it shall find peace. Soon, when it is large enough, I will return to the colony with Betrayer.

When I bring it to the site of its betrayal, I will summon the Dumb that hide there still. I will rend Betrayer limb from limb and the Dumb will do their work. From its life-husk countless Dumb will arise and grow and the colony will live again. Life begets death and death begets life.

It knows its atonement. It is the reason it was reclaimed and not destroyed by Champion for its crimes. It accepts and desires reconstitution to the colony as it should.

Ash nodded slowly at that. Cruel, but fitting. And perhaps the most good it could possibly do – it seemed like the Stones' Beldum colony had recovered very slightly, but was still in a precarious position.

He couldn't help but wince at the brutality of what would happen, but it seemed as though it would at least allow the Beldum to recover from what Betrayer – as the old Metagross so aptly named it – had assisted. And if Betrayer was okay with it…well, who was he to intervene?

It was their justice, not his.

Farewell, Storm-Tamer. Bear your burden well. I wish you luck.

"Thank you," he lowered his head to thank the Metagross. It allowed its body to sink low to the ground in response before it raised itself up on impossibly powerful legs and clambered quietly to the shadows, not a footstep heard.

That really was eerie.

"I'm sorry, Ash," Steven apologized once the Metagross had vanished into whatever area Mr. Stone had set up for them. "Like I said, it wasn't supposed to happen like this. We were going to ask you if you wished to see Pierce's Metagross, but it decided to take matters into its own hands. Figuratively, of course."

"Why did it even want to speak with me?" Ash muttered. It wasn't as if the meeting had been fulfilling for either of them. Well, he didn't think it had. The Metagross seemed to be at something resembling peace but all it had done was dredge up bad memories for him in its desire to show him recognition.

Mr. Stone interjected before Steven could open his mouth. "I believe I'm better suited to answer that question, my boy. You see, it's known since the beginning that if it were to be reclaimed it would be used to regenerate the colony."

"It might seem harsh, but that's the way of the Metagross," Mr. Stone continued. "It's common for them to reproduce through a form of fragmentation, where they allow one of their legs – which still retains the primitive neural network of a Beldum – to detach and develop into a Beldum on its own. But when times are desperate the leader of the hive uses either itself or another Metagross or Metang to provide a huge amount of material that can be shaped into Beldum."

"How they do it isn't entirely understood, but they're able to repurpose the neural network of the sacrificed individual and reconfigure pieces of it into fragments of the body. A single Metagross can yield upwards of a hundred proto-Beldum, which develop into what we recognize as Beldum over a few months!" Mr. Stone ended on a high note, the passion in his voice fascinating to Ash. It had him listening – and he even understood most of it, although that was mostly thanks to the vast amount of biology he'd been reading about thanks to Professor Oak's recommended texts.

Steven smiled softly. "Father, I think you went a little off-topic. I don't think Ash needed an entire dissertation to understand."

"Nonsense!" Mr. Stone shook his head staunchly. "This is necessary to comprehend what I'm about to say! Absolutely required. What's the point in explaining something if your audience never comes to understand it? Nothing at all, I say!"

The former Champion just rolled his eyes, looking like he'd heard his father's impassioned spiel many times before. "Regardless, the fact is that Pierce's Metagross knows its fate. It's willing to make amends in any way it can and it's not our place to interfere. It requested to speak with you before it was harvested and we thought it acceptable. Not that it went entirely as planned…"

"It's fine," Ash grunted. He returned both of his friends. They were wound up tighter than he was, having fed off of his own state of mind. It wouldn't be good to leave them out in such a volatile and fragile environment. "I'm over it."

Steven raised a silver eyebrow but didn't press. Mr. Stone coughed lightly to get his attention. "Now that the conflict is over, I'd like to personally thank you for the service you provided to our family in apprehending young Pierce. He was a monster who abused his power and betrayed everyone he's ever known. To see him locked away…it's a relief."

"Trust me, I'm more than happy to have helped," Ash grinned, eyes narrowed at the thought of Pierce hidden away in whatever hole the Ever Grande League thought he deserved.

"So Steven says," Mr. Stone chuckled. "Now, while I've been told that Champion Lance rewarded you most richly for your role in subduing my nephew, I would like to grant you a token of my own appreciation."

The man opened a drawer in his large desk and gently pulled a slab of flat stone out with both hands. Ash looked on curiously before Mr. Stone gently laid it in a clear area right in front of him. Steven smiled.

"If these were better times I'd gift you several Beldum in appreciation," the older man sighed, looking past Ash wistfully. "That is the traditional reward for such a great service to our family. But it will be years before the colony can afford to lose even a single Beldum…instead, I thought I'd gift you something I believe to possess an equal worth."

Ash glanced down at the stone for real this time, blinking as he saw the outlines of an insect-like creature outlined. "A fossil? Then –"

"Yes, this is the fossil of an ancient Anorith, the same specimen which we used to obtain the DNA required for Steven's Armaldo!" Mr. Stone boomed suddenly, sounding like he could have voiced one of those commercials Ash used to watch on TV. "Through the use of advanced, patented Devon Corporation technology and decades of research and collaboration with the Cinnabar Institute, we will use the DNA preserved in this rock for millions of years to create you an Anorith of your own!"

"An Anorith…" Ash muttered, envisioning the small creature he'd seen in a few articles. It wasn't especially impressive on its own, but its evolution was supposed to be very well-suited for battle, though its rarity and the huge expense that went into developing one made them a little known presence on any field.

Yes, he could work with that. Not many would be ready for an Anorith and if he was traveling with Steven…

"I'll be more than happy to advise you on raising her," Steven said, reading Ash correctly. "She'll be a clone of my own, so I might be able to help you avoid some of the more…troublesome aspects of training an Anorith."

"Thanks," Ash grinned, though it fell into a frown a few moments later. "Don't I need a license? Or is my Elite Four status enough?"

"The Devon Corporation only allows fossil pokemon to be granted to trainers that pass a certification course or are accompanied by a respected individual who has previous experience with fossil pokemon," Mr. Stone recited. He smiled at Ash. "Steven is more than qualified to assist, so you don't need to worry about it. I'll send you a manual with important information in regards to fossil pokemon soon."

Ash nodded his appreciation. There was a lot of knowledge he'd need to learn – he'd picked up some basics from Lance and observing his interaction with Aerodactyl, but he knew next to nothing about actually training one of the ancient pokemon and the specific requirements of fossil pokemon.

They were very difficult to raise properly, with alien mindsets and instincts and plenty of complex dietary and medicinal needs. Modern fossils were in much better shape than the first experimental clones, but they still had to have a lot of help to survive the unfamiliar world they'd been brought into.

Overall they'd adapted well, especially with the advances in technology. Now they could survive in the wild on their own if they were released, although they were all made sterile so they couldn't breed if they somehow found another member of their kind.

Fossils didn't have the same mindset as most pokemon. While they were still sentient, they tended to be a bit less intelligent as a whole and far more savage, with a willingness to kill that far exceeded almost all other pokemon. They hadn't been tempered by interaction with humans and lacked much of the empathy modern pokemon had developed.

"Is Anorith ready now?" He asked curiously, breaking his train of thought. Ash needed to focus.

"No, development just started today," Mr. Stone shook his head. "Steven asked that I wait until the both of you had started your journey together before I begin. He wanted to give you time to adjust, I believe."

"Yes," Steven cut in. "Learning to take care of a fossil pokemon is a time intensive process, even with the help of someone who's done it before. For the first few months at least I'd like to focus on training and getting you up to Elite Four-level as soon as possible. We'll have time to work with Anorith. This will also give you the opportunity to learn what she'll need beforehand."

Ash nodded. That was fair. "How long, then?"

"Six months, I believe," Mr. Stone said. "We're going to work on the DNA sequence first. We've recovered more complete Anorith specimens since Steven's was created and we'll be repairing a few gaps in the DNA. After that it's just a matter of inserting an updated immune system and ensuring she develops correctly. We'll notify you once she's ready to be retrieved."

"Thank you," Ash grinned, ready to see his new friend as soon as possible. Steven was probably right, but that didn't mean he couldn't look forward to it. Anorith would be a totally new experience for him.

"You're more than welcome," Mr. Stone chuckled. He rose and extended his hand, which Ash took. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ketchum. I look forward to seeing you again. But I'm sure Steven is ready to leave, so I won't take any more of your time."

Ash nodded and exchanged his own farewells before Juliet appeared from nowhere, elegant frame perfectly straight. He followed Steven's previous instructions and allowed her to whisk the two of them away.

XX

Steven looked down at Ash from where he sat on Metagross. The hulking steel-type laid its scarlet eyes on the boy with a slight amount of interest, though it appeared overall unimpressed.

"This is a training ground used by my family for generations," he gestured to the clearing around them. Ash could tell it had seen a ton of use – there were deep gouges rent into the earth, a distinct lack of intact trees, and even spots where it looked like the dirt had fused into glass from some terribly powerful technique. "I expect us to be here for the next few weeks unless something unforeseen pops up."

"But we won't stay here for long," Steven said. "I plan on traveling around Hoenn to let you get a better look at the region and more experience with unfamiliar areas. There are several spots I've picked out where we will camp and spend some time on dedicated training, but I'd like to get most of our training done on the road."

Ash nodded and listened attentively. Most of this he'd already known – or at least suspected – but he never knew what else Steven might throw in.

"As you know, you're on loan to the Ever Grande League for the duration of your apprenticeship under me. We will be dispatched to assist the League in whatever situations arise with the Rocket situation or when they need us for whatever other reason."

"I've told Wallace that unless it is truly necessary not to ask us. We'll only be needed for truly important operations and I'll spend time during our training preparing you for official missions. Protocol isn't quite as important for you to know as a member of the Elite Four, but there will be specialized training for you and your team so that you'll be able to efficiently coordinate with traditional League forces."

Steven paused for a moment to catch his breath. "Any questions?"

"No," Ash shook his head. It seemed simple enough and he'd learn more about the training in time. He had an idea of what would go on thanks to the League manuals he'd been given as well as some of the documents he'd read in the archives.

"Good," his teacher's lips curled up into a smile. A moment later Steven slid off of Metagross and took up a position behind the metal behemoth. "Then I think it's time to see what you're made of."

Ash couldn't help the savage grin that came over his face and the Feather sent pulses of heat through his blood. His skin tingled as electricity emanated from the receptacle and he felt even a titanic presence shift in the back of his mind with interest.

He didn't care about a single one of them.

"We'll do a series of one-on-one trials," Steven called out as Ash turned to make some space, "if Metagross is beaten then I'll switch to another of my team."

Ash reached the point where he'd be safe and his friends would have plenty of time to maneuver without fear of hitting him.

He turned to look back at Steven, who had a look of fierce concentration on his face. Moments later Ash felt a shift in the air – the whole arena was energized and he could pick out vague distortions in the atmosphere around them. Shifting, mutable walls.

When he tried to focus on them they disappeared, but he was always aware of them in the corner of his eye or the hum in his ears.

"Ash!" Steven yelled. He laid his eyes upon his mentor, interested. Steven smiled. "Don't let your team hold back. If they don't come at Metagross with intent to kill then they won't even scratch him."

He nodded stiffly and released all of his team but Seeker – the sunlight wouldn't be good for her. They might only be fighting one at a time but that didn't mean that he had to release them in that order. This way they would at least be able to pick up on Metagross' general tactics.

"The rules are one-on-one," Ash began, meeting each of his family's eyes in turn. "Pick up what you can from the previous battles and use it. Don't hold back – fight like this is life-or-death. We have to if we want to stand a chance against Metagross."

Ash got a series of nods in turn. He smiled. "We can do this – this is what we've spent the last few months preparing for. Just give it your all."

"Nidoking, you're up first. Just be careful – your poison won't help against Metagross. It's a powerful psychic as well, so watch out."

His starter bared his fangs at him in a grin and nodded, ears standing straight up as he lumbered out into the devastated battlefield. It was plain earth, at least, so his Earthquake would be at its strongest.

"Go!" Steven shouted. Metagross simply stood silently and eerily still, like a robot without power. Only the blinking of its red eyes gave away the fact that it was anything but a statue.

"Triad," Ash murmured, trusting Nidoking's extremely sensitive ears to hear him. His friend quickly squared himself and a second later twin arcs of brilliant electricity and a jagged, arcing beam of white blasted across the field at Metagross, trailed by the slower Flamethrower that erupted from deep within Nidoking's throat. He wrinkled his nose at the noxious scent of the fire, poisonous fumes from Nidoking carried with it.

A layer of psychic barriers manifested directly in front of each, Metagross having opted for an incredibly precise array that blocked only the attacks instead of the wide, semispherical shields that every other psychic Ash had battled favored.

Each of the attacks were absorbed and Metagross allowed each of the barriers to independently dissolve into nothingness once they were unnecessary. First was the section that caught the Thunderbolt, then Ice Beam, then the Flamethrower that sputtered and died uselessly against the shield.

Nidoking didn't waste time being surprised. Instead he started to plod forward carefully, always wary of an attack from Metagross. Then, suddenly, he propelled himself up into the air with his powerful legs and when he landed an immense wave of force rippled throughout the earth, tearing it into fragments and leaving winding fissures in its wake.

Metagross simply held itself several inches above the ground, its body outlined in a brilliant blue shell of psychic energy. Those cold red eyes watched in with disinterest, though it blinked when a flurry of Shadow Balls shot forward from Nidoking's horn. Each was a full Shadow Ball rather than the smaller, weaker versions favored by Dazed for these situations.

His friend didn't let up the barrage for several more seconds, realizing that anything else would just be stopped by Metagross' impossibly skilled use of psychic powers.

All the while Nidoking advanced, trying to close ground so that he could possibly get close enough to leave his foe with less time to react to his attacks.

Unfortunately Metagross had the same idea. It had actually been forced to move thanks to the threat of the Shadow Balls – Ash doubted it would be as vulnerable to the ghostly energy as Grey's Beheeyem back in the Conference, but it seemed Metagross would still lose some mobility if it was struck.

Metagross stood still and didn't do a thing aside from blocking the series of Triads and individual Shadow Balls mixed in, allowing Nidoking to come to him – they both knew that at range Nidoking couldn't hope to hurt Metagross. Not when it was quick enough to dodge out of the way and impossibly agile.

Ash had read up a lot on Metagross, but seeing how flexible it was in person was almost disturbing. Something that huge and formidable shouldn't be able to rotate its legs almost a full three hundred and sixty degrees to dance out of the way of blows – the thinner portions that attached the powerful lower sections to the main body had a huge range of motion.

He frowned and focused. Now wasn't the time for that.

"Go now!" Ash shouted to Nidoking as Metagross was forced to dodge yet another flurry of Shadow Balls that shot past and pierced the psychic walls erected around this place. They rippled around the holes left in them by the ghostly power but slowly repaired themselves as they purged the alien energy away.

Nidoking roared and charge, building up to an impressive speed quickly to close the hundred feet between him and his foe. His horn glowed a fierce white as he activated Mega Horn and his left arm was shrouded in a black aura outlined by a glowing purple that shaped itself into a wickedly curved Shadow Claw.

Shadow Claw struck first, the ethereal arm striking forth to tear into Metagross' form. The hulking steel-type was forced to erect a pale green shield with Protect moments before the Shadow Claw reached it, though a few wisps of the dark attack managed to get in and touch the Metagross before it could escape.

Metagross rumbled then, a sound not unlike two tectonic plates crashing together. It moved, slower than before, as Nidoking finally neared with his glowing horn. The powerful creature's arms shone a fiery orange before it shot forth and smashed into Nidoking's side, the force behind it knocking him to the side and stunning him.

Nidoking roared in surprise as he stumbled, though he went silent as Metagross' eyes shifted to blue and Nidoking was surrounded in a shell of psychic energy. Ash could almost feel the force behind Nidoking's exertions to break free, but could do nothing but wince as Metagross casually hurled him all the way back to Ash several hundred feet away.

His friend smashed into the psychic barriers in front of Ash with crushing force, knocked out instantly.

Ash blinked as he stared at Nidoking's still body. He'd known Metagross was powerful, but it was unreal to see it in person. He doubted even Sabrina's Alakazam could have so easily picked up Nidoking's several hundred pounds and thrown him that far.

He frowned and returned his friend, granting him peace for now. "Good job, Nidoking. You did well."

"Plume, you're up."

His friend screamed her arrival to the heavens as she shot into the air, nearly knocking Ash over from the force. Only a steadying hand from Bruiser kept him from falling.

He didn't have to tell Plume what to do. She slipped into Super Speed immediately, becoming nothing but a blur as she raced around the arena. Metagross did nothing, content to let her come to him.

Plume didn't disappoint. She knew better than to get in close with Metagross lest she be forced to deal with another Protect. The Pidgeot knew better than to fall for that after what happened with Michael's Dragonite in the Conference.

Instead she circled behind Metagross, twisted in a display Ash could hardly believe was possible, and fired a Hyper Beam straight into its back. The blast flashed a bright white that hurt Ash's eyes to look at, though he had to hold back a groan when Metagross instantly manifested a shield to block it halfway before it reached him.

The resulting explosion rippled through the sky like fireworks and he winced as the shockwave hit his ears.

Plume didn't let that stop her, however, and she fired several more that all met a similar fate.

Metagross finally grew bored with the whole affair and took action. A silver ball of energy quickly shaped between its eyes and held there as Plume fired another Hyper Beam that Metagross casually absorbed.

Then, moments later, the silver ball that Ash recognized as a Flash Cannon transformed into a beam of beautiful silver light that shot forth straight into the tan blur that was his friend with accuracy Ash would have said was impossible.

He scowled – he'd thought that Plume was immune to beam-type attacks. She was so fast that such precision based techniques would almost always miss. He couldn't even remember the last time she'd been struck by one in Super Speed. The calculations required to aim it against her properly…that was impressive.

Thankfully, Plume wasn't quite finished. A small shield of silvery energy shaped itself in front of her and absorbed the Flash Cannon for several seconds before it shot back in a brilliant beam, though Metagross blocked it just in time.

Ash frowned, having hoped that Metagross would have been a bit more surprised. It wasn't too shocking that it was able to block one of its own attacks, but still. That was an excellent show from Plume, who didn't use Mirror Move that often. Why would she? Most attacks didn't even come close to touching her.

Metagross looked like it had had enough. Its eyes narrowed and flashed with a brief burst of psychic energy.

He buckled to one knee, most of his team following. Ash gasped as crushing force overwhelmed him, his muscles quivering with the effort to remain standing. He could scarcely breathe and the pumping of his heart slowed, every beat laborious.

His vision darkened. Only a strong hand and several vines kept him aloft.

Then it cleared as quickly as it began. Ash took in great heaving breaths, gasping in as much air as he could as the spots cleared from his eyes.

Ash quickly recalled Plume, who was held in a cocoon of Metagross' Psychic. She was clearly unconscious, her physiology being exceptionally vulnerable to the Gravity technique he'd just experienced.

"Torrent," he grit out, still feeling the technique's effect. Ash hoped that Torrent would be powerful enough to pierce Metagross' shields, or at least force the creature to exert enough energy blocking his attacks to be tired out.

The Kingdra dipped his great head and levitated past the psychic barrier. Red eyes met red eyes as Torrent and Metagross analyzed each other. Both recognized the raw ability of the other, despite the imbalance in this matchup.

"Draco Meteor!" Ash roared, wanting to start the battle off right. "Give it everything you've got, Torrent!"

Torrent rumbled his agreement before he fired a great ball of vibrant orange-gold power into the air, where it hung hundreds of feet above the earth for several seconds. As it primed, Torrent fired a series of Dragon Pulses and Ice Beams at Metagross. Though the steel-type easily blocked all of them it wasn't able to spend the time to nullify the Draco Meteor yet lest it be struck.

Finally, a series of golden comets fell from the sky as they departed the source of Draco Meteor. They whistled as they hammered into the earth around Metagross, several guided directly on top of the powerful warrior. Most were absorbed by the shields Metagross erected, but Ash saw a flash of light originate a bit lower than the others that gave him hope.

He smiled at that. Torrent really had gotten much better at controlling it, though he hadn't quite perfected it.

A low rumble rippled through the air and with a flash of light all of the smoke and debris kicked up by Draco Meteor was swept away. Metagross watched Torrent with new interest as the last Draco Meteor fell, though it was quickly forced to shield itself again as Torrent repeated the assault.

Ash wasn't a fan of using the same trick twice, but unfortunately that's all that could work in this situation. Metagross would have no problem cancelling out Ice Storm and Torrent was still too far away to make good use of it.

Unfortunately, Metagross proved its skill again. It was ready this time and shielded properly, though when the Draco Meteor – noticeably weaker this time – primed it simply manifested a sphere of psychic power around the Draco Meteors ready to fall.

He watched with wide eyes as both Ash and Torrent realized what was about to happen. Torrent knew he couldn't avoid it – he was much too slow on land to escape – and simply fired as many Dragon Pulses as he could, though he'd spent so much of his energy on the Draco Meteors that Metagross allowed the pale green blasts to harmlessly land against its heavy metal armor.

And then it hurled the Draco Meteor back at Torrent. Ash could feel the heat even through the psychic barriers as an explosion wracked the earth, tearing it asunder. There was a new crater where Torrent laid unconscious in the middle, his plates unable to block so much power.

"I'm proud of you – you landed a solid hit," Ash whispered to Torrent's pokeball as he returned his friend. "Dazed, I think it's a bit hurt. It's in good shape but nothing can shrug off a Draco Meteor."

I will attempt to take advantage of that, Friend-Trainer.

And with that she shuffled out to the field, deftly avoiding the crater just twenty feet in front of where Ash stood.

Dazed didn't wait long. She disappeared and materialized right behind Metagross, a Shadow Ball almost instantly in hand. It shot forward, though Metagross psychically propelled itself out of the way and struck out with a powerful leg.

She teleported again, farther away this time, and let loose a flurry of tiny Shadow Balls that covered an absolutely huge area. Metagross didn't bother trying to dodge and instead raised a leg, using Rock Tomb to erect a wall of stone that was torn apart a moment later.

Their dance continued for some time, Dazed attempting to wear it down and Metagross steadfastly defending. Finally she began to tire and teleported close to where she'd began the battle, her pendulum trembling.

Metagross took advantage of the lull to meet Dazed's eyes. Light poured from the psychics as they engaged a mental battle, each struggling to overwhelm the other's resolve and focus.

In the end it was an impossible challenge.

Dazed was still young and only an amateur in this style of combat. Though she had strength she lacked the experience of Metagross or its calculated focus and the raw might of the juggernaut.

She was surrounded by an aura of vibrant blue before she collapsed like a puppet with her strings cut. Ash smiled fondly at her pokeball once she was returned – her battle was the shortest, but she'd pressed Metagross. In the end it was her better but he knew that psychic battles were extremely taxing, especially against another powerful psychic.

He frowned as he considered his next avenue of attack. Ash had stuck with using his team in order of seniority up until now. It wasn't as if he expected a different order to make a real difference. Ash had needed to test Metagross' abilities from several different perspectives and found Metagross was a master in them all.

Not that he'd expected anything else from a Champion's cornerstone.

But now he knew what he was dealing with and didn't want to just throw more of his team away. No, he'd need to change the way he'd dealt with it.

"Sneasel, you're up," he said. His friend purred and unsheathed his claws, allowing tendrils of shadowy energy to crawl around them. Sneasel still eyed the massive Metagross with trepidation, but after his brutal training with Bruiser he no longer feared physical punishment. No, he was more interested in the challenge. "I need you to do everything you can to hurt its psychic abilities. Dark and ghost-type techniques when you can."

The dark-type nodded and loped over to the battlefield, claws ready to rend. He immediately took off in a blur, zigzagging over to Metagross so as to avoid any unexpected attacks.

Metagross was wary of Sneasel. It immediately fired off a Flash Cannon that Sneasel just barely dodged – it carved a deep line into the earth where it struck. Sneasel hurled a Shadow Ball that Metagross deftly avoided by propelling itself to the side with a burst of psychic power, though it was actually struck by the next.

Ash couldn't hold back a grin as Metagross, stumbled. It rumbled and loosed another Flash Cannon, which was again dodged. Sneasel was brushed by its edge, however, and lost his footing for a moment.

His foe took quick advantage of that. Its eyes flashed a bright blue and it used Rock Tomb again, though it simply pulled up a large stone that was broken into dozens of long, thin slivers with a concentrated effort of psychic power.

He groaned. "Sneasel, move! It's using Miracle Eye! Don't let those rocks hit you."

Sneasel snapped out of his dazed state and tried to run, but it was too late. Metagross had more trouble using psychic abilities after the Shadow Ball hit it but with its incredible focus and strength it was more of an inconvenience than anything.

It was too late, though. Metagross aimed several of the sharp shards and they shot forth at an incredible speed. Sneasel screamed – a high, keening noise that made Ash want to let Infernus melt Metagross into a puddle – as one of the thin slivers pierced the organ that kept the dark power he wielded circulating through his body.

Temporarily vulnerable – that shard was much too thin to do real damage, but the shock was enough to stop the flow – Metagross took advantage of Sneasel's state to wrap the dark-type up in a veneer of psychic power.

Sneasel hissed and struggled helplessly, eyes wide with fear as he experienced the terror of psychic power for the first time since New Island. He thrashed uselessly before Metagross casually tossed him back to Ash, though he was quick to return Sneasel before he could actually impact.

"Bruiser, its psychic abilities are weakened," he said quickly, "I want you to use a full Rampage. Hit it hard."

Bruiser thumped his chest, which Ash returned, and nodded. He took a moment to focus before every blood vessel in his body bulged. His muscles clenched so tightly Ash feared they would start cramping up and when his eyes opened they were almost entirely red.

He grunted, then leapt.

Ash could feel the energy released by his muscles as he shot through the air, landing a hundred feet away with a heavy thud. Bruiser met Metagross' eyes once, thumped his chest, then darted forward.

He marveled at his friend's speed – he wasn't as fast as Plume, but for a Machoke that was incredible. Bruiser was more than capable of matching Sneasel in a race once Rampage was entered.

Metagross was quick to stop the threat. Its eyes flashed and Bruiser was surrounded instantly in a psychic prison, so bright Ash doubted Bruiser could see a thing. But it shattered moments later and Bruiser's advance resumed, apparently not at all stymied.

Then Ash felt the horrible clutch around his heart that Gravity left. He buckled, collapsing in full this time, and couldn't help the groan that dripped from his mouth. His muscles were still weak from the last time and couldn't resist its overpowering force.

And a second later it released. Ash allowed Tangrowth's vines to guide him upward, supporting his weight with ease. He smiled at his friend before looking to the battlefield with fear.

He shouldn't have worried. It wasn't released because Bruiser had fallen unconscious – it released because it hadn't done a thing to stop Bruiser's incredible might.

Metagross rumbled in annoyance as Bruiser landed a hit, though its force was dampened greatly by the shield that popped into existence right as it struck. Bruiser landed several more before Metagross tired of the game and struck forth with a psychic lance that hurled Bruiser backwards.

That was one of the weaknesses of Rampage – it didn't anchor Bruiser to the ground. He had massive offensive power and could easily take hits that would normally stop him thanks to the state of mind he entered, but raw force was still a threat.

Bruiser landed heavily, stunned but not finished. He quickly shot at his foe again, blinded by his need to attack. Metagross folded its arms into the crevasses on its body and met the charge with one of its own.

Ash winced as Bruiser went flying again, unable to stop the ridiculous force that was Metagross as the steel-type propelled itself into his body like a cannonball. Bruiser hit the earth with a thud and though he struggled to rise again, Metagross wasn't about to give him another chance to hit it.

Metagross landed next to Bruiser's body, raised a powerful leg, and struck Bruiser with a Meteor Mash that kicked up dust all over the arena. Ash quickly returned him – Metagross hadn't hit Bruiser full on with the powerful attack but it would still be enough to do some serious harm.

He was proud of his friend, though. Bruiser had probably hurt Metagross the most so far – the steel titan wasn't moving nearly as quickly now and looked like it preferred to levitate itself rather than walk. Ash examined it closer and grinned when he saw that one leg was slightly misshapen, though he groaned when the dent was psychically smoothed out.

Regardless, Metagross was still weakened. Bruiser hit hard normally, but with Rampage he wasn't something else.

Looked like it was time to release the one that could conceivably push Metagross to the limit in this state.

"Infernus!" He shouted. Infernus stepped up with a grin, having taken a position farther away from the rest to avoid burning Ash. "You know what to do!"

The Magmortar nodded and practically skipped into the arena, the same smile plastered on as when he'd held the power of Fire and faced down the Birds.

Metagross watched Infernus, surprise in those scarlet eyes. There wasn't much else for Ash to identify emotions with. It was just a little hard to read a face that didn't move.

Then it blinked and Infernus teleported behind it in a great flash of light – Ash suspected that Infernus had long ago passed the point where he could have teleported with just a quick surge of brightness. He probably just enjoyed the spectacle a bit more.

Infernus grinned, raised his cannons to blast Metagross with fires hot enough to melt stone, and stopped.

His cannons reverted to claws and they clutched his throat, a silent roar on his lips. The fires surrounding him died in an instant, as though they'd never been there at all. If it weren't for the heat still rippling the air about twenty feet to the sides then Ash would have thought he'd lost his heat entirely.

Ash watched on, concerned. What was that? Metagross hadn't frozen the area somehow, obviously. No it was almost like –

Infernus appeared back in front of Ash, his fires reignited. His shoulders held tense as his hands shifted back into cannons and his roar was finally loosed as he stared hatefully at Metagross. The steel-type looked back, almost amused.

"Set up the lava," Ash said quickly, before Infernus could go on a furious rampage of his own. Thankfully his friend was still coherent enough to listen and focused just long enough to bring up a pool of magma. "Flamethrower. Test Metagross' defenses."

The Magmortar snarled his agreement, though it was soon drowned out by the great roar of flame that burst from his cannon. It spat out in a terrible gout that left the entire arena rippling with heat and smoke trailed up into the sky like a black serpent.

Metagross absorbed it all with a shield long before it could reach it.

Ash noticed that the shields fell apart the moment the last of the fire struck them – Metagross must actually be starting to tire, at least to the point that it felt the need to conserve energy.

"Those shields won't break under your normal attacks," Ash shouted. "You know what to do!"

He couldn't see Infernus' face at the moment, but he was fairly certain it was smiling.

Seconds later the air was so warped and indistinct he could hardly make out Infernus thirty feet in front of him. The dirt hissed and cracked. All the vegetation around them burst into flame, withering into blackened husks until there was nothing left to burn.

Even the psychic barriers around the arena wavered underneath the extreme heat, constantly in a state of flux as they did their utmost to hold the power of Infernus' preparation in.

And then Overheat released. The firestorm was blinding, exploding with the power of the sun itself as it devoured everything in its path. Infernus disappeared amongst the flames, his natural camouflage activating immediately.

When it was all said and done, Metagross stood unscathed.

That might be a bit dramatic. It looked tired, but the fact that it was still standing was a miracle in of itself. Ash had caught it forming a shield before Overheat released, but it had been around itself. Those shields hadn't caught the flame, they'd been there for the heat.

It wasn't until he picked out the relatively unscathed vegetation in Metagross' immediate vicinity that it clicked.

Metagross hadn't needed to worry about the actual flames…not really. No, the heat that had still managed to soften up its armor was the problem.

If Metagross had managed to do what he thought it had then Ash would be very, very impressed.

"It can stop your fires, but the heat still hurts it!" He shouted to Infernus, who had only just regained his posture. That had clearly taken a lot out of him. "Keep it up!"

Infernus charged forth with a snarl, unable to teleport thanks to how taxing the technique was. He leveled his cannons at Metagross and poured all of his effort into blasting it with fire. The combustible liquid that helped things along sputtered and died as it neared Metagross, but Ash knew the heat was what mattered.

It was a common problem with psychics and shields in general…they might block the attack, but convection was more easily forgotten about.

Unfortunately, Infernus found himself introduced with the ground a moment later as Metagross shot out of the way of the firestorm, held aloft by its psychic power alone. A single leg extended as Metagross propelled itself forward, and just like Pierce's Metagross had done Infernus was struck with Meteor Mash.

Ash recalled him immediately. Metagross hadn't used the technique at full power but it was still incredibly strong. It was better to get Infernus into stasis as soon as possible just to be safe.

"Tangrowth, get in there," he said. Tangrowth cheerfully danced into the battlefield, vines wriggling everywhere in excitement. Before Ash could even say anything several globes of magma were hurled at Metagross.

He rubbed his temples. It seemed Tangrowth's excitement had overwhelmed his sense.

Not that it really mattered. Metagross had easily caught them and placed them back in the magma pools left behind by Infernus. He needed to set the precedent with Tangrowth, though.

Tangrowth gurgled sadly when he realized what happened and ended up abandoning the lava plan after a short reprimand from Ash. Instead he went for the overwhelming force route.

Dozens of vines lashed out at Metagross, although they were all individually frozen in a psychic prison before they could make contact. Ash's eyes widened at the degree of control and calculation that must have taken, but changed into a groan when Metagross used another quick application of force to sever each of them.

That was just a distraction, though.

Metagross rumbled as several tons of dirt and stone were hurled at it – most were easily captured in psychic shells, but it was forced to destroy the heaviest of the bunch with a Flash Cannon that lit up the sky.

Tangrowth tried to get in another assault, but Metagross seemed more than willing to finish this quickly. It seemed that as it tired it grew more and more ruthless and less willing to give Ash's team an opportunity to show off.

A second Flash Cannon slammed into Tangrowth with a vicious explosion and hurled his friend to the ground. Ash checked to see if Tangrowth was moving, but his form was limp and his saucer-like eyes shut.

He returned his friend, smiling softly at the pokeball.

"Oz, looks like it's your turn," he said to the Electabuzz. She whirred and windmilled her arms a few times to build up power. "I think you know what you need to do – Metagross is too strong to beat directly."

She smiled and nodded. Ash grinned when she lightly tapped his shoulder with her tail before she walked out to meet her foe. Oz would be the last of his team to participate in this trial – Seeker wouldn't want to and Aron…well, Ash didn't think he needed to

Metagross didn't have a second to wait before Oz made her move. Ash grinned and ignored the sudden pain in his ears as Oz howled furiously and smashed her fists together to create an incredibly bright flash of light – if he didn't have his hat on he'd be blinded.

Oz didn't give it a second to recover. The moment she released some of her strength, she summoned a Lightning Bolt that actually managed to pierce the haphazard shield it created and struck Metagross itself, though the shield had stolen away just enough energy from the Lightning Bolt to leave it only a little damaged.

She charged forward then, windmilling all the while to build up the necessary power. Ash had to admit it looked a bit ridiculous, but tell that to any opponent that wasn't a one ton Metagross.

Metagross rumbled, then struck. It seemed to be tired of getting hit so much and didn't want to give Oz the opportunity to get close – it was probably much harder to block sprays of lightning than fire. With lightning Metagross had to calculate the trajectory and position of each bolt, which would slow down its shielding.

No, it had already been hit far earlier than it would like in this match and it was tired.

Oz was picked up by a psychic shell and hurled back to Ash. She landed heavily, but remained conscious just long enough to whir angrily and throw a few more bolts that were instantly blocked by Metagross before the hulking steel-type finished her off with a quick Flash Cannon, though it was much weaker than the one that had taken down Tangrowth.

Ash recalled her with a sigh – Oz had done well. She'd come a long way and he could truly see the signs of the powerful fighter she'd become. Well, she was already powerful. Against most pokemon she'd win without much real effort. But against the titans that could test his team she was still a bit behind.

Not far behind, but she need some more intensive training to catch up. He expected that she could probably have matched Infernus before he evolved, or at least come close. If she had a similar boost as he did from evolution then she'd be ready to take her place at the top of the team right beside her greatest rival.

But that was a ways away. For now he needed to make sure his team was safe and face his new teacher.

XX

Steven was sitting back on Metagross, legs folded and arms crossed. He looked at Ash measuredly. The younger trainer sat in front of him, his unconscious team arrayed around him as they were fed incredibly advanced potions to heal the damage done to them.

"You're sloppy," Steven said after an eternity. Ash jerked, not expecting that. "You're powerful, but your technique is rough. You're wasteful. I doubt you could've beaten Metagross no matter what at this stage, but I noticed many points where you could've taken a better route."

"You don't guide your team as much as you should. I understand letting them fight on their own, especially in close quarters, but you only step in when you're forced to," he said. "It's good that you trust your team, but it's your responsibility as their trainer to direct them and give them information they aren't able to obtain otherwise. You've done an excellent job of training them and building a bond stronger than almost any others I've seen, but you need refinement."

Ash opened his mouth to talk, but Steven raised his hand. The silver-haired man was quiet for a few moments, as though he were measuring his next words.

"I'll say that you're going to be something of an experiment for me, Ash," Steven admitted from his position atop Metagross' head. "I've given lessons and trained a few others, but I've never had a dedicated student before, especially one as young and inexperienced as you. While I'd rate you a bit under Master-level, you're years ahead of most."

Steven fell into his monologue for real now. As he leaned forward to listen raptly he idly wondered just how long his teacher had been working on it – Lance enjoyed hearing himself talk, but he didn't like planning enough to go on for this long.

"Lance did everything he could to maximize the benefits of your training over the month he had with you. His emphasis on battle experience, raw power, and physical and mental conditioning has done your team well – his mark on you is clear as day," Steven smiled. "He turned you from a highly talented trainer into a very powerful hammer."

The former Champion shifted himself atop Metagross, who had remained silent this entire time. "I'm going to hone you into a sword…all the power of a hammer with the speed and precision of a blade. With the power your team wields I daresay you could at least match most Masters for a time. But you're too wasteful to win. Clever, yes, but you have years before your team matures into their physical prime. You can't rely only on your raw strength in the highest levels of battle. Every other Master you'll meet will have years of experience on you at the least. Most will have decades."

"With that in mind, I'm going to take all of that strength and cleverness and focus it. You will waste nothing and use everything. Your team might not be mature or possess the experience to battle Masters on even terms, but you will have the guile, efficiency, and knowledge to fight on even ground."

Steven let that settle for a few seconds. He absentmindedly tapped his fingers across Metagross' metal body in a rhythmic motion.

"See, each of the three League Champions possess something that brought us to the top of the world – far beyond the standard requirements of a Master," Steven explained. "Lance has his power and more battles behind him than almost anyone else in the world – you exemplify that right now. He has a clever mind and brutal outlook that matches that of the dragons he's bonded to."

"Cynthia," here Steven smiled, "is a genius in every sense of the world. She has a tactical mind I've never seen the like of. Battling her is like trying to match a hurricane. She's overwhelming. She observes everything at once and develops it all into what she needs."

"I'm not as strong as Lance or smart as Cynthia," Steven admitted with a rueful shake of his head, "though I don't think myself a slouch in either of those areas. But I am skilled. My team makes every movement count. They know everything about the opponent the moment it appears and have such a variety of techniques that they can deal with it as efficiently as possible."

Steven stared straight at Ash now, trailing away from his ruminations. "That is what I will impart to you. Masters might have older pokemon and seen every trick in the book. What you lack in age and physical maturity you will make up in pure ability."

"It will be punishing," he continued. "I will not let you rest. You will be pushed just as hard as your pokemon. Harder, even. I will not accept anything less than perfection. I will not settle."

That stewed for a little while.

"So, Ash," Steven turned his slate eyes on the boy. He stretched out his hand. "Do you accept me as your teacher?"

Ash shook it with a smile on his face.

A/N: Well, here it is! I hope everyone enjoyed. It was supposed to be released a few days ago but I decided to include the match with Steven. Hopefully I'll have a similar update schedule to this – I'd like to release a chapter monthly if possible, though I probably won't keep that every month thanks to college.

Anyways, I hope everyone's enjoyed this chapter! As always, please review if you have any questions! I'm always happy to respond.

Thanks again!