"So, Ash, do you know who you're going to use for this gym battle?" Cynthia asked. "It's always interesting to see how people think about this kind of question."
"How did you do it?" Ash asked, curious.
"In my case, it was partly who on my team was most at a point where I felt they needed a little bit of a boost," Cynthia replied. "Extra morale, or a little kick to get them over a barrier. And partly it was who was feeling the most feisty."
"I guess both of those make sense," Ash replied. "And… yeah, I agree… I think my attitude really has changed over time. It used to be about getting the badge, usually with Pikachu because I was so comfortable defaulting to him so early."
The Pokémon-trainer looked embarrassed. "Even when it wasn't such a good idea…"
"Yeah," Pikachu said. "Still. Not so many of those now, right, Ash?"
"You're a great part of my team, Pikachu," Ash told Pikachu. "You really are. And… I really have to fight that idea to use Pikachu for all my problems, because he's so strong now and – don't get me wrong, he still has things to learn, but gym battles mostly aren't the place to do that."
"I guess that would only be when Pikachu is battling without electricity, right?" Latias asked.
"Yeah, maybe," Ash agreed. "That might be something to try, but, uh… probably not against Fantina, because I don't think Pikachu has a way to beat a Ghost-type without using electricity."
"Something to work on, maybe," Cynthia suggested. "But later. You were saying that your attitude's changed, and while I think I know how…"
"Yeah, it's more about growth," Ash confirmed. "Making sure that my Pokémon get stronger and learn to do more things. Giving them hard challenges, too, but not impossible ones… so I guess I really depends on if I have specific Pokémon in mind who need a challenge like that, and if I don't…"
He tossed his head in a shrug. "I guess it kind of works itself out? But it helps that Gym Leaders can pick and choose how strong a challenge they give, because that means I just need to get it within a range."
"Interesting," Cynthia said. "Because that means you've made the same kind of transition I did, and it's one I didn't recognize until a long time after it happened… you've stopped seeing gyms as challenges for you to overcome, and you've shifted to seeing them as challenges for your Pokémon to overcome."
"I guess that makes sense, yeah," Ash agreed. "Though… I was thinking of giving Koraidon a go, because she hasn't had much chance to battle Ghost types yet – except Zorua and Spiritomb, of course."
"Helping," Zorua said, happily.
"That is one nice thing about travelling with someone," Dawn pointed out. "It's easier to be able to test yourself as a trainer against someone else who's also a trainer… there's a lot you can do training your Pokémon against one another, but that kind of Pokémon-and-trainer synergy isn't easy to practice without someone to do it with."
"Oh, right!" Riolu realized. "Because that's what it was like when you were in Hisui… you were mostly by yourself, right? And you were training your Pokémon by yourself, too…"
His voice trailed off.
"That makes sense, right?" he checked, glancing at Ash and the others who could actually understand him.
"I think that's what Dawn means, yeah," Ash agreed, then stopped as they reached the Pokémon Centre. "Now I need to actually decide who to have with me… and who's going to watch, too. Zorua, what do you think?"
"Maybe," the little Ghost-type said, head tilting, then sat down and wagged his tail a bit – clearly thinking deeply.
Miraidon's eye tracked up to watch, and they smiled.
"If Koraidon's going to be involved, I want to watch too," they requested. "If there's space, anyway."
When they entered the Pokémon Centre, though, Nurse Joy looked up at the sight of them.
"Champion!" she said. "Is something wrong?"
"Not that I know of," Cynthia replied. "Actually, this last few months has been very educational. I do have a new Pokémon to check over, though, if that counts?"
"I should have you check over Sandshrew, as well," Ash decided. "Just in case. I don't think there's anything wrong with her, it's just to be sure."
"Oh, well, I know who you are as well, Mr. Ketchum," Joy smiled. "Partly because you came through before, of course! But if you're here for the gym challenge, you're out of luck."
Ash glanced at Latias, who shrugged.
Invisibly, as far as anyone else was concerned.
"I am?" he asked. "Why?"
"Fantina hasn't got back yet," Joy explained.
"That's a shame," Cynthia said, frowning. "Why has she been away so long?"
"If it helps, I've got a list of the other gym leaders in Sinnoh?" Joy suggested.
"I really do need to earn the Relic Badge," Ash said, frowning. "But I guess if she's not here, she's not here…"
The doors swished open again behind them, and someone gasped.
"Oh, my word!" she said. "Such a natural display of style!"
Ash turned, confused, and saw that a woman with red hair had just entered the Pokémon Centre with a Lopunny next to her.
"I recognize you, as well!" the woman said. "You were in the Tag Battle Tournament, weren't you? You had that Samurott with the unique style, and you are of course the Pokémon who's also a trainer and who was one half of the winning team! With such unusual Pokémon as well!"
She sighed. "But, alas, I must tell you that Fantina is still out of town."
"We know," Ash told her. "Nurse Joy just said."
"Ah, you must be so disappointed," the woman said. "But – well, allow me to introduce myself! I am Paris! A Pokémon stylist, and you may not know this but the Hearthome Collection is taking place soon! I think that some of you, perhaps all of you, should enter!"
She smiled. "This may not be the same as a gym battle, but it's still a nice consolation, is it not?"
"Oh, I didn't even think of that," Dawn admitted. "I assumed it must have been months ago. That sounds like it might be fun…"
Paris explained how the Hearthome Collection worked, for them, and Ash tried his best to think about how it worked.
It was hosted in the Contest Hall, though it wasn't a Contest, and it was all about the combination of the aesthetics from trainer and Pokémon, their clothing and accessories and the coordination between trainer and Pokémon in that respect, and displaying the charms of the Pokémon in the same way as a Contest.
"That sounds amazing," Riolu said. "Are you guys all going to take part?"
"You think everything is amazing," Pikachu observed, though without any sting in his voice.
"Well, yeah, because so many things are," Riolu replied. "Or, not everything is, but a lot of things are. Anyway, um, the point is… I had a point I think… right! This time it's because it doesn't involve Pokémon battle, but it's about a trainer and their Pokémon understanding one another. Right?"
"I guess that's a good point," Ash agreed. "Though I have a bit of trouble thinking about what to do, if I was going to enter."
He glanced up. "Uh… if someone registers and then they can't think of something, they can back out, right?"
"If necessary," Paris replied. "It's a little inconvenient but only for scheduling, as we need time to show everyone and if too many people register and then pull out it can mess up the scheduling a little… but the impact any one person has is quite small."
"I guess that's true," Ash admitted. "I'd rather do things properly there 'cause it's sort of what everyone should do, but if it's okay then I might do that…"
"Hmm," said Hermione, the other judge along with Paris, mid-Collection. "I certainly wasn't expecting Champion Cynthia to be here. She certainly has a unique style, and so does her Garchomp, but does this really… oh, I see it."
"Yes, it's a bit well hidden, isn't it?" Paris agreed. "Garchomp has a flower on her hammerhead, and Cynthia has one in her hair."
She frowned. "I'm actually not sure how to score this one. Cynthia has an unmistakeable and inimitable style, but does that count for something like this?"
"We certainly don't dock points for garishness, like we had to with many of those early entries," Hermione replied, a little tartly.
"Loop," Paris's Lopunny said, giggling and holding her paw up in front of her muzzle.
"Well, let's see how their performance goes?" Hermione suggested, then watched as Garchomp used Stone Edge to create a huge pillar of stone.
Then she hit it with a Dragon Claw, and blew it into a thousand tiny fragments.
"...well," Paris said. "That also had a certain panache, but I'm not really sure we can score it very highly?"
"I'm inclined to agree," Hermione replied. "It's a good effort, but it's not really a use of the accessories, and while understatement is certainly a thing where accessories are concerned you can have a bit too much."
Cynthia and her Garchomp bowed, then left the stage, and Dawn took their place along with her Samurott.
"Oh, my word," Hermione gasped. "That's a marvellous cohesive outfit! Look at it!"
"I am looking at it," Paris replied. "That's a recreation of the old Hisuian style to a degree I never thought I'd see – not just the outfit that Dawn is wearing, but combining it with what Samurott is wearing. In fact, it really does look like Samurott's dressed like an old warrior of… I think the Diamond clan specifically, yes, that colouration's more Diamond than Pearl. And Dawn, well, her outfit is aligned with that very well indeed – I believe it's a Survey Corps uniform. If I had a reference book I might even be able to pin down the decade…"
"Did you notice the symbol on her armband?" Hermione said. "That's a Pearl Clan symbol, while Samurott has a Diamond clan one."
Dawn called out for Samurott to attack, calling for a pair of Razor Shell attacks out to either side before switching them into a single Ceaseless Edge downwards. Fury Cutter attacks followed, in a combination that wove a stark pattern in the air, and Samurott finished with an attack right back at Dawn, and both fashion specialists gasped before seeing that Samurott's blades had crashed down either side of Dawn – leaving her unharmed, with the two blade arcs meeting about ten feet behind her.
"Symbolic!" Paris declared. "I like it!"
"I think that went well!" Ash said, giving Pikachu a rub. "Third place, huh?"
"Yeah, I have no idea where the whole jungle outfit idea came from, but they liked it," Pikachu agreed. "And working with Iron Tail was a big help, too."
"I have no idea how that worked," Samurott said, mostly to herself. "I'm not even a Contest Pokémon. I don't know how to look good and I don't want to try."
She glanced up at Dawn. "I'm not sure if I should have agreed in the first place."
Ash passed that on, and Dawn sat down next to the Water-type.
"I know," she said. "Even asking you was a hard decision, because I do know your opinion on that kind of thing. But I thought it was… I thought it would be helpful for you, and you're the only one who was really with me the whole time in Hisui."
She shrugged. "That's why I made it your choice, and… I'm grateful you agreed. I really am. And I'm grateful not just because it helped out in the show, but also for a different reason."
"Like what?" Samurott asked.
Dawn didn't need that translated, and she patted the transformed human on the shoulder.
"Because it means that you know you can do well at something that's less directly linked to violence," she said. "Something that's good, and clean, and… something to be proud of. If you want to be, even though you don't have to be."
Samurott groaned.
"That's actually kind of annoying, because it's so hard to argue with," she muttered. "But I don't really want to do any more of this… being on a magazine is going to be really annoying."
AN:
Sorry, no Ghost gym battle yet.