Zorua Trainer

by FriTik

Trainers are everywhere in the world of Pokemon! But who said they were all human? Ash is a Zorua, but he's going to be a Pokemon Trainer too! With illusions to weave, friends to make, and challenges to conquer, Ash is going to pursue his dreams, wherever that takes him.

47. Chapter 47

I cast Scroll of Ballistic Missile.

---

"Something's different about you," Selene told Umbreon.

"I don't know what you could possibly mean," she answered, the picture of serenity.

Selene tapped her chin. "I got it! It's the necklace! You took it off."

"...technically correct."

"Alright." Pidgeotto wasn't in the mood for friendly banter. "We… that sucked."

"It sure did." Ash agreed. "Which is why it's not going to happen again."

Even Pikachu was a bit taken aback by the fire in his eyes. They'd removed themselves to Ash's room as soon as they'd left the Pokemon Center. It was planning time and Ash was taking the stage.

"You have a plan then?" Storm asked.

"Several!" Ash grinned a bit. "Still refining a few. But strategies are going to be taking a step back, at least for the next few days. We need more firepower."

"Yes!" Art was very excited. "More moves!"

"Not just moves." Ash corrected him. "I'm still working out the specifics but we need to work on what we already know too. Moves need to hit harder and be more adaptable to the situation. Some of us are better at that than others." He nodded to Storm and Selene as he said that.

"But all of us need to be good at adapting on the fly, and having the power to back it up. Blaine isn't going to make it easy for us so we need to go above and beyond everything we've done before. More powerful moves, more refined, new moves, and also just working on what we can already do. Pikachu you need to be faster, Pidgeotto you need to be more durable, that kind of stuff."

"If anyone has any concerns, say it now, because we're starting first thing tomorrow and we're going to keep going until we're ready to crush Blaine." Ash finished.

"You still have faith in us?" Selene asked after a moment.

He looked her in the eyes. "I never, ever, lost faith in you guys. I'm sorry I didn't prepare you enough."

"None of that," Pikachu told him. "We screwed up, all of us, not just one. If we're doing this as a team, we're taking responsibility as a team."

"Hear, hear!" Storm agreed. "Even if only half of us had to fight the living volcano."

"That reminds me, what the heck was that thing?" Pikachu asked.

"This is the Camerupt right?" Selene had been told what happened but didn't have the context of what it was actually like.

"I don't know what that was." Ash shook his head. "I feel like I've seen a picture of a Camerupt like that before? Maybe? I thought it was a regional variant."

Storm tapped her chin. "Before I got demolished I remember seeing that harness he was wearing. It had some sort of orb in the middle of it. I thought it looked familiar but I can't-"

She cut herself off and darted for Ash's bag. She dug through the top layers and pulled something out. "I knew it! It's the wrong color but it looked just like this!"

In her hand, she held a white orb, a blue spiral filled the center, and a slight hint of red shone from out from the pit.

"Oh, those things!" Art remembered. "We found a bunch of them!"

"But what are they?" Umbreon stepped closer and inspected the object. "And how were Blaine and Camerupt able to use it? He had a stone at the end of his cane that lit up too."

"Maybe we could ask him?" Selene suggested.

Pikachu opened his mouth but reconsidered. "...he is the innkeeper, so we'll have the chance."

"I'll add it to the list of things for tomorrow." Ash eyed the odd stone. It didn't look like it was a naturally occurring crystal, but he had no clue what it could be. "We have a lot to do, this is just one more thing."

Pidgeotto shook her feathers out. "We better get a good night's sleep then?"

"Sleep is important." Umbreon nodded. "If we're too tired to train properly then why train at all?"

"Fair enough." She sighed. "I just don't like feeling like a failure."

"We're all failures," Umbreon told her. "Let's work until we're winners."

"Not the best way to put it." Storm winced.

Umbreon huffed. "I'm trying here, doesn't help that my brain chemistry is all out of whack."

"Also, and this might not be for all of you, but I want to get you thinking about it." Ash got their attention back. "Like with Sunny's Everstone, you can take some items into battle. If you think of anything that might help let me know and I'll see what we can get."

"Like a Rawst Berry," Pikachu suggested, remembering his experience with Will O'Wisp.

"Exactly." Ash nodded.

They started prepping for bed but as they tucked in Selene had a thought occur to her. "I think I have an item I'd like you to get me."

"Sure, what is it?" He wondered what she'd thought of.

"A Moonstone."

---

"So, uh…" Misty glanced at Blaine, back in his spot "meditating" on top of the check-in desk. His wig was back on and if she didn't know better she'd say nothing had changed. "Where'd Ash and his team go?"

"Good question," Brock admitted. "I saw them off this morning, he asked me for some leftovers and they booked it for the forest."

"I guess he has a plan then?" Karen wondered.

"I think?" Brock shrugged. "They seemed really motivated."

Part of Misty was relieved to hear that. She'd been worried, this was the first time Ash seemed to take a loss badly. Or rather take it this badly. It had been hard to miss him demolishing boulders in the backyard last night.

"Business as usual then?" Karen joked.

"Not quite." Brock took a sip of juice. "Eevee evolved."

"What?" Misty perked up. "When did that happen?!"

"Must have been last night." Karen frowned. "What did she evolve into?"

"Umbreon."

Karen opened her mouth and closed it frowning. Clearly, she wasn't sure how to feel about that development. The fact she was missing her own Umbreon clearly showed.

"Interesting choice." Misty admitted, "I mean if it was up to me I would have gone for Vaporeon."

"Way to branch out." Karen got over her stupor.

"Hey! I have a dragon-type!" The younger girl fired back but felt the steam run out after.

Last night after the battle Misty had really thought about what it meant to be a gym leader, seeing Blaine and Ash's battle had put some things in perspective about what a final badge challenge should look like.

Even with all her training and improvements she wouldn't have been able to do something like that. Blaine had judged Ash's skill level and abilities and then decided it wasn't good enough. He told Ash that he wouldn't win and followed through.

Misty wasn't sure she'd be able to do the same in that situation, whether she and her team had the skill to do something like that.

It was a bit of a wake-up call for her, although not in the same way it had been for Ash. Despite the fact she desperately wanted to reclaim her gym one day, she hadn't been training nearly hard enough.

Thinking about Dratini just reminded her how little she'd worked with the young dragon-type since catching her. Even with doing some training the past few days, they hadn't improved nearly as much as they could have.

Something had to change.

"Can I train with you?" Misty's question probably seemed a bit out of the blue from an outside perspective.

"What?" Karen's eyebrows shot up. "Why do you want to train with me?"

"Because I feel like I've been slacking off." She explained. "I've been training but I don't feel like I've been getting stronger. As much as I'm sure it will feed your ego, you're pretty strong. I bet it would be good for my team to train with your Pokemon."

Karen put her fork down and tapped the table, thinking about it. "Well, with Ash completely focused on his training I guess I could use your help for a problem of my own. We could help each other I help you out with training, and you give me a hand with my… issue."

"What issue is that?" Brock asked her, possibly wondering why she didn't need his help.

"I've started Riolu's training and it's just…" She waved her hand looking for the word. "Bad."

Brock and Misty exchanged a look. "How bad?"

"Mixed bad." the other trained admitted. "Sometimes he listens to me and works on what I tell him or takes my tips, other times he just flat out ignores me and does his own thing. It's hard to build a fighting style with him when he's only following directions sometimes."

"Which is why you wanted Ash." Brock nodded. "You need someone who can translate him."

"Exactly, and while it won't be quite as direct, I can get that from you too." She explained, gesturing to Misty.

"Fair enough." The water-type specialist nodded. "What's the saying, you scratch my back, I scratch yours? You help us get stronger, and Staryu and I can help with Riolu."

"Far out man." They jumped and Misty stared at Blaine sitting next to her, she hadn't even seen him sit down. "Talking to your team is a wild skill."

"Why are you still talking like that?" Misty narrowed her eyes, still feeling a bit offended by his mocking yesterday.

Blaine stared at her and tilted his head. "Man, what are you talking about? I just sound like myself dudette."

"How many problems would it cause if I killed him?" Karen whispered to Brock.

"More than any of us could fix."

---

"How are we doing this?" Misty asked Karen. "Should we do a full battle or just set everyone else up for spars while we work with Riolu?"

"No offense but I don't think a full battle would go well for you." Karen couldn't quite keep the smirk off her face. "Even as out of practice as most of us are."

Graveler grumbled something and Karen patted the rock-type. "I owe you guys a lot of time."

"I don't see myself making any new catches for a while." Misty mused to herself as she watched.

"What?" Karen seemed confused.

"Sorry, just thinking about how you and Ash have been dealing with having more than six teammates." She explained her thought process.

"Ah, yeah it can get a bit messy, and I haven't been doing a good job recently," Karen admitted. "But to the point, we can set up some of our Pokemon sparring with each other while you, me, Riolu, and Staryu get started."

They left Absol and Starmie in charge of the others, figuring they were the most mature out of all of them. They gave a few pointers for how to pair off but left the Pokemon to their own devices for the most part.

"Where is the illusionist?" Staryu wondered as they stepped away from the others. "I thought his endeavor to improve took place here?"

Good question. Misty hummed and searched for recent signs of Ash's band of maniacs. Other than the decimated rock formations there was no sign of them. "I don't know, maybe they wanted to train somewhere away from Blaine?"

"Ash?" Karen guessed and she nodded. "Probably, even if Blaine isn't taking notes on what they're working on I wouldn't blame them for being a bit more cautious around him."

Neither of them had the same concerns and got to work.

"Alright, so in case it wasn't obvious, I can't understand you," Karen told Riolu.

Riolu barked something and Misty looked at Staryu. "He says that such a thing is impossible."

"He doesn't believe you."

"What do you-" Karen pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, believe it or not, this only goes one way, I'm trying to figure it out but haven't had much luck, which is why these two brats are here."

"Hey!" Misty protested and Riolu made a declaration of his own.

"He says we have not faced the appropriate trials."

"He doesn't like us yet."

"Please just work with me." Karen's desperation was more obvious than she would have preferred. "I just need to understand what your issues have been, you haven't been listening at all during training and ignore my advice."

Riolu frowned and looked thoughtful for a brief moment. "Riu! Rio Ri lu!" He barked and waved his arms about.

"He believes your training techniques to be dishonorable and insufficient for his purposes."

"He doesn't like the way you're teaching him." Misty paused, "Staryu says because it's "dishonorable" so I think he just doesn't like your normal underhanded tactics."

Karen's eye twitched. "You're not even a week old, how do you already have a concept of honor?"

"Riou! Riou rilu!" He thumped his chest.

"Honor is not a mere concept, it is duty and religion both! A purpose that must be striven to!"

"He says it's obvious." Misty finalized.

Riolu's trainer frowned, "Give me a second I need to think about how to word this."

As Karen paced mulling it over, Misty turned her attention to Riolu. "So, what do you think of this crazy world you stumbled into?"

The fighting-type narrowed his eyes at her, then did the same to Staryu. That was about all the warning they had before he socked Staryu right in the gemstone and caught Misty on the side of her ribs as she moved to stop him.

Both trainer and starter groaned in pain on the ground, but Riolu seemed satisfied. "Rolu!"

"If you wish to initiate conflict… please make a formal request," Staryu grunted.

"Right then." Karen finished thinking things through just as Misty and Staryu managed to pick themselves up. "Listen up, I'm going to be pretty direct about this."

Karen crouched down so she was at eye-level with Riolu. "Honor does not matter."

He didn't like this and opened his mouth but she held up a hand. "Let me finish! Honor does not matter in a battle. You are fighting to win, all bets are off, take whatever path you have to take. If the battle does have rules follow them to the letter and not a step further. If it's a brawl all bets are off. I am a dark-type specialist, I can teach you to outmaneuver and outsmart opponents dozens of times stronger than you are. "Honor" has no place in my skillset."

Misty felt she shouldn't weigh in right now but she would argue there was some place for, if not honor, at least mutual respect. There was a reason she avoided the psychic bubble strategy these days.

Riolu had some thoughts of his own and went into a tangent. Staryu tried speaking up a few times but the pup just kept going.

When he finally finished Staryu provided a translation with his usual additions. "Riolu knows what's wrong and what's right, as a true hero should, why should he debase himself to perform foul trickery when a straightforward and fair approach would be more to the benefit of both his image and the respect of his opponents?"

"Riolu just thinks it's wrong, he thinks it's unfair to be tricky in a fight and he'd rather go for the direct approach." Misty parroted.

"Because that's not how I do things," Karen said. "I warned you when we started I didn't think you were a good fit, this is why. I know how Riolu and Lucario fight most of the time, but I'm not going to teach you that. I'm going to teach you how to be better. If you don't want to train with me that's your choice, but if you listen and follow through I guarantee you'll be the greatest Lucario."

The certainty with which Karen said that surprised Misty. It was one thing to tell a partner they'd be one of the best. But Karen was promising Riolu something a bit grander than that.

Riolu glared at Karen, then at the ground, he kicked at it and grumbled something Staryu wasn't able to catch. "RI!" He finally shouted, sticking his head straight up and bellowing loud enough for Karen to stumble back.

"While he remains skeptical, the young squire shall endeavor to follow the lady of darkness's regime to the letter!"

Misty highly doubted he said all that. "Fine."

Karen breathed a sigh. "Good, then let's get to it."

---

"So let me get this straight, you'll help us deal with Rhydon. The Rhydon. The one who kicked us out of our homes, who attacks anyone who goes into "his" territory, the one who changes what his territory constitutes every other day. You'll help us fight that Rhydon?"

"Yeah! We deal with stuff like this all the time."

"Look, I'm not complaining about the help I'm just confused at the risk and reward."

"Are we asking too much?"

"You're asking for Rawst Berries and training tips for Grass Knot."

"Sorry, we can leave out the berries."

"That's really not the problem."

---

Brock knew he was missing something.

He'd figured that out a while ago, but he was embarrassed by how long it had taken him to properly diagnose the problem.

When he had lost to Joy and Latias he hadn't felt disappointed or even ashamed, he just felt numb.

Then of course his father had somehow managed to pull off the win, which meant they got to hold onto the gym. Except Brock was no longer qualified to be the leader, but he could still help out at home.

But they'd encouraged him to go on a journey, all of them, his siblings and father alike. So he'd done so, somewhat reluctantly at first. The more time he spent traveling the more time he found he enjoyed it.

Which led to his problem. What was he journeying toward?

The symptoms had begun to appear even before he'd joined with the others at Rota. He'd caught Zubat and done some training with his Pokemon but they hadn't achieved much. The tournament had been an effort to give himself something to focus on and that had worked for a bit.

Quickly he'd found lots of things to focus on and keep himself busy while traveling with the others. It was one of the reasons he'd wanted to continue traveling with them (admittedly Karen was a major reason as well). When he was with them it let him continue traveling, gave him companionship, and most importantly let him feel needed.

And that was the crux of it all. He didn't have anything he was aiming toward. He came along to help others achieve their goals. He was missing the same drive that they had.

Brock hadn't even realized it at first, it hadn't occurred to him that the others were improving more through training than he was because he was just going through the motions, not striving for new heights.

After talking with Karen about his issues with his parents Brock had felt a bit of a load come off his shoulders. He had done it to help her out with her situation but being able to talk about it with someone who could understand on some level had helped him as well.

Once he'd let it all out though he'd watched her plow ahead with a goal, it was inspiring. Maybe not the fact she was going to beat the snot out of people but that she was so focused and determined on becoming a masterful trainer.

Then watching Ash train and lose, now watching Karen and Misty train with their own newfound determination… Brock realized what he had lacked this whole time.

He didn't have any goals.

He was just Brock, he liked helping others and felt like he had to. That was about it.

Now this realization didn't mean much at first, just a confirmation of the vague feeling of missing something.

And it wasn't as though he were unhappy, helping people was fulfilling for him, he enjoyed feeling useful and like he was contributing to something. Not to mention his newfound relationship with Karen.

But there was still a nagging voice telling him he should be moving towards something. That he needed to find something to reach for.

Maybe he should take a page out of Misty's book and dedicate himself to reclaiming his position as Gym Leader. The numbness had long since passed and now there was a part of him that did feel ashamed at his failure.

It didn't bother him as much as he would have thought though.

What else could he do? What should he be striving for? Maybe he could dedicate himself more to caring for Pokemon? There were plenty of professions that focused themselves on that. The question then became where would he even start?

The former Gym Leader didn't have the answers. The more he asked himself these questions though, the more he felt his composure beginning to break apart.

He may have been extremely stressed and had no time for himself back home but he never had to question his place, he knew what he needed to do and how to do it.

Now he could just try and do the best he could for his friends, and try to figure out where he stood alongside these future champions.

---

"How is it even worse?" Misty asked as they waited at the Pokemon Center. "This is getting ridiculous."

"Same issue, just getting bigger." Karen shrugged. "More trainers getting funneled here, and too few moving on."

"We just need to have Squirtle's leg and Snover's arm looked at!" Misty was still annoyed. "The point of having a Pokemon Center nearby is being able to use it for this kind of thing!"

"You're welcome to just use a potion." Karen remained nonplussed.

"Stop acting like you're not annoyed." Misty pleaded.

"I'm very annoyed, but it's funny how easy it is to rile you up." Pseudo-sadism wrapped her words.

Misty looked ahead and judged the line, "Ugh, forget it, Squirtle are you okay if we just use a potion?"

"I'd probably feel better a lot sooner." He agreed. "Let's get out of here, the noise is getting on my nerves."

Karen seemed content to wait and remained behind as Misty fled.

"You'd think more of them would figure out where the gym is by now." She muttered. "It only took Ash a few days."

"They would still need to defeat the foul lord of the flaming mountain." Staryu reminded them.

"Maybe some of them have figured it out and just aren't telling," Squirtle added, enjoying being carried around.

"That could be, b-" A tan and pink blur shot past them at dizzying speeds. "What was that?"

"It was an unknown entity moving at great speeds," Staryu announced.

"Obviously but what-" It shot past again, going in a different direction. "Hang on, I think I recognized it."

"Really?" Misty had no such luck. "What did it look like?"

"It's two Pokemon and I think-" One last time it flew past, banking and rocketing down an alleyway. "…correction, I know it's Pidgeotto and Selene."

"Why are they flying around like that?" The trainer asked. "Is Pidgeotto just showing off?"

"Possibly, her speed is rivaled only by her pride." Staryu acknowledged.

Squirtle frowned as he saw the other Pokemon fly through an intersection a few streets down. "I think they're looking for something?"

"Like what?"

"How should I know? Ask them if they slow down."

---

"This is a volcanic island, how are there no stores that sell rocks?"

"Hang on, I think we just passed a jeweler, maybe they'll have them?"

---

"I take it training went well?" Brock asked Karen and Misty that night.

"Well enough, no sign of Ash and his team though," Karen claimed.

"I think we saw Pidgeotto and Selene flying around," Misty admitted. "But no sign of the others."

"It would be nice if he explained his plan to us before he ran off to do it," Karen grumbled. "No idea what he's up to."

"He didn't take losing well," Brock observed. "But in the right way."

"Weird way to put it."

"Sorry, not sure how else to describe it." He shrugged. "He's angry and frustrated that he lost, and he's determined not to let it happen again."

"I wish it was that simple." Karen chuckled. "Oh, shoot I lost? Let me fix that. No more losing!"

"It would rob battle of its thrill," Staryu mentioned and Misty nodded.

"If you never had to worry about losing why would you battle?" Misty asked.

"I don't know, to achieve something?" Karen didn't seem to take her meaning.

Before they could get into it someone kicked the door open. The sudden bang caught their attention and Misty half-expected it to be Blaine doing something else completely ridiculous. Instead, they saw a familiar boy.

Not Ash, but another Pallet Town native.

Gary's eyes trailed over them, barely acknowledging their presence. But they focused on Blaine, sitting atop his desk as per usual. He stormed toward the desk and slapped a piece of paper on it, next to the sitting innkeeper.

"Tell me this is the right inn."

"You're in the right, my man."

"FINALLY!" Gary's relief was palpable. "Do you have any idea how many innsare on this island?"

"We're on an island?" Blaine seemed utterly baffled by this information.

"Just tell me where the gym is!" The boy snapped, clearly having no patience left.

"…I can't do that dude."

"WHY?" the boy demanded. "Did I take too long after getting the riddle?! It took me two days to figure it out and then I have been going door to door trying to find every inn because it turns out not all the inns are marked on the map!"

"But this one is." The man nodded. "It was important so I told that nice Ditto running the Pokemon Center to mark it."

Gary was taken aback by that. "What Ditto?"

"She says her name is Nurse Joy." Blaine nodded sagely, then leaned in to whisper conspiratorially to Gary. "But I know the truth man, don't let them trick you into drinking freshwater. Saltwater only man!"

"…just tell me where the gym is."

"Like I told ya my dude, I can't!" Blaine repeated. "But I can give you the next riddle!"

"…next riddle?"

"Yeah! It's a whole quest! The last one will lead you to the gym!" He held his arms wide.

Gary took a deep breath and put his hands together. "First, I want you to know that I hate you."

"Hate leads to the water-slide young one."

"Second, give me the next riddle please."

Blaine handed Gary another piece of paper.

"Third, I still hate you."

"Bummer dude."

"Fourth, goodbye forever."

Gary strode out, head high, but as soon as the door closed behind him they heard a shriek of despair echo through the night.

"You know, now that I've seen it happen to someone else, I get it now," Karen claimed.

"Did he say Nurse Joy was a Ditto?" Brock asked.

"He also acted like he didn't know we were on an island." Misty reminded him.

"Okay, true, but maybe it's just hanging around with Ash that it doesn't seem unrealistic."

"That's fair." Misty looked at Blaine and frowned. "Right, I want some answers." She got up and walked up to the disguised Gym Leader.

"Good luck," Karen muttered behind her.

"What can I do for you, man?" Blaine asked her as she approached.

"I'm not a man," Misty told him.

"Nonsense, you're a young wo-man!" He grinned. "Are you having a problem with your room?"

"It's a little drafty but not the reason I'm here." Misty debated whether this was worth trying. "How did you get so good?"

"It's a complicated dish dude," Blaine said. "Time and experience are key parts, but you need a strong flavor to build off. You'll need to make it a lot of times before you have it perfected, but by then you'll be one of the best chefs on the battlefield."

"No actual tips then?" Misty bemoaned.

He shrugged. "Patience, you gotta learn the fun of watching grass grow. Otherwise, you'll be too caught up smelling roses to notice the cold air."

"Patient?" That was a new one. "What does patience have to do with battling?"

"A lot actually. The winner isn't always decided before the match. Sometimes you need to watch and wait, then the roller coaster to victory becomes obvious." He told her.

"Right…" That almost made sense. "What was that thing with Camerupt?"

Blaine's expression shifted, dropping its serenity for a moment and morphing into a smirk. His tone remained the same though. "Sometimes you can find a way to go beyond the natural order and achieve what it takes to be Mega amazing."

She frowned at him, wondering what he meant. "Thanks, I guess."

Misty turned to leave. "Remember this dudette. If you're patient and focused, sometimes certain things can come back. Like gyms!"

She paused but decided against trying to continue the conversation. With that she gathered her team and started settling in for the night.

---

"I think this was a pretty good first day!"

"If you ignore all the damage to the local ecosystem."

"We beat Rhydon though, so it should even out, right?"

"I'm pretty sure he was a part of the local ecosystem, so that might have made things worse actually."

---

Staryu hadn't decided what to make of Dratini yet.

The young dragon was a welcome addition to the team, but she had a few personality quirks that made her a bit difficult to get along with.

Case in point, her vanity.

"No, no, no!" Dratini glared at herself in the mirror. "My blush is all wrong! It makes my nose look too big! It's big enough as is, it doesn't need help!"

"The Lady does not carry such artificial nicknacks." Staryu wondered where she got the makeup from. "Where did you find this?"

"Blue-haired girl. It's amazing what the peasantry doesn't nail down." Dratini finished dunking her head in the water and tried again.

Huh, not the first time she'd referred to humans as peasants. "I don't think the Dark Lady would enjoy being referred to in such a crass manner."

Dratini tilted her head at him. "She's a human, ergo, she's a lower class, ergo, she's a peasant."

"You'd get along with Pikachu," Staryu muttered.

"What?"

"Do you think our glorious commanding royal is among the lower class?" Staryu asked, obviously referring to Misty. It was one thing to insult Karen, it was something else entirely to insult the best person in the world.

The dragon-type thought about it. "Well, she's clearly lower than me but higher than most of the usual filth. Upper Middle Class, she quite frankly has an intelligence not normally witnessed amongst humanity."

"I do not enjoy you insulting our wonderful Mistress of Water." Staryu glowered at her.

"Insulting?" Dratini sounded offended. "I would never! She's a wonderful human, it's just very obvious she's not a dragon."

"She's a noble lady."

"What is a lady to a dragon?" Dratini stuck her head high.

The water-type considered this. "I am not of draconic origin. What does that make me?"

"Not a dragon to start."

"Staryu! Dratini!" Misty's voice called from down the hall. "Where are you two?"

Their trainer opened the door and took in the scene. "Is that Karen's makeup?"

"Not anymore." Dratini scratched her nose with her tail.

"It would be best not to investigate." Staryu insisted.

"…alright." Misty nodded in agreement. "Anyway, let's get started."

The others were already training in the yard, Brock was taking part too this time, no Onix but Rhyhorn, Zubat, and Geodude were active.

Karen hadn't gone anywhere either but there was still a noticeable absence. "The illusionist is still absent?"

Misty shook her head. "I don't know where he is or what he's up to. Brock said he grabbed some Pokemon Chow and ran out before any of us got up again."

"What a weirdo." Dratini summarized; Staryu found himself in agreement this time. Ash was pretty weird.

"The Dark Lady does not require our translation efforts on this day, does she?" Staryu checked.

"Not today," Misty confirmed. "Which gives us time to get to work, gather around gang, I'm going to make a rousing speech."

"Want me to do it?" Squirtle asked. "I'm pretty good at those."

"Ehhh." Goldeen was making use of Aqua Ring to join them on dry land for once. "I've heard better."

"That's because you haven't heard many!" Squirtle's answer didn't quite make sense.

"Not so loud please," Psyduck complained, lying on his back with his eyes closed.

"Alright, now we've all been working pretty hard and we have gotten better! Our attacks are hitting harder and with more accuracy and our strategies are much more refined." Misty started with the good news.

"Thank you dearie." Starmie appreciated her words.

"You're welcome." Misty nodded at her. Staryu and Starmie shared a look but Misty continued on, apparently not realizing. "But while we're getting better, and I'd wager a bet we could absolutely beat Latias if we fought her again… we aren't improving as quickly as we did."

"What do you mean?" Squirtle asked.

"Before we lost the gym," Misty looked like it hurt to say that. "We were constantly developing new techniques and moves to help win battles. That leads right up to the battle itself, in those days right before the fight we got so much stronger! But I feel like we haven't had the same growth since."

"It makes sense." Starmie mused. "We had a deadline and a clear goal. It motivated us more than a distant goal could do, however important it may seem."

"You're right." Their trainer confirmed, still missing the obvious. "We are going to get the gym back, someday, but that could be months or… years away."

Misty clearly didn't like the concept of it taking years and Staryu gave her a comforting pat. She smiled appreciation at him. "So I've been thinking of smaller goals we could try and set for ourselves. Mastering a new move or designing a new strategy by the end of the week, stuff like that."

The team nodded along, seeing her plan unfold. "However, while I think that this will work in the short term, we need to design a better long-term goal to get stronger."

"How long term?" Squirtle raised a brow.

"At least ten months," Misty claimed. "It's one thing to get stronger in a vacuum, but look at what happened with Ash and Blaine the other day. He lost pretty badly and it motivated him and his team to push to new heights."

"I know you're not saying we need to lose." Dratini sounded offended by the notion.

"Of course not… I hope." Squirtle waved her off.

Misty looked between them, shrugging it off and continuing, "For the next few months we'll be setting weekly goals and trying to achieve them. But we need to push ourselves harder. Like with Joy and Latias, we need an opponent to overcome. Fortunately for us, there's a regionwide challenge for doing just that."

The words sunk in and a few of them understood. "Wait, are you suggesting we undertake…" Staryu trailed off.

"Not this season, it's a bit too late for that. I don't think we're even allowed to register this late." Misty acknowledged. "But next season? We're going to do the gym challenge."

---

"Owwwwww."

"What have we learned?"

"My head is not as hard as you think it is."

"I was going to say Volt Tackle isn't as easy as we thought but yeah that too."

---

After lunch that day Misty had decided to find a relatively deserted beach for training purposes. Most of her Pokemon were water-types and it would do them good to train in and near a large body of water.

Karen had also decided to take the afternoon off. She said she hadn't had much of a chance to explore the city, besides that she said she needed to replace the make-up kit she'd lost somewhere between Fuchsia and Cinnabar.

Brock was going to tell her he hadn't even noticed she'd lost it (because she looked beautiful either way) but something held him back. If she wanted to wear make-up she was allowed.

She did suggest they meet up somewhere for dinner which he eagerly agreed to. That did leave him on his own for the rest of the day though.

Well, alone with Blaine.

He'd heard of Blaine of course, and possibly met him at a few meetings that required attendance from Gym Leaders, but always at a distance, he'd never been properly introduced. He knew by reputation the man was a bit eccentric but nothing could have ever prepared him for actually meeting him.

To be honest, Brock was somewhat reluctant to talk to the gym leader, mostly because it seemed impossible to have a real conversation with him. From Brock's point of view, Blaine treated everything like a show, picking an approach and chewing the scenery as much as possible.

Despite this, he couldn't help but be a little impressed by Blaine. He ran his gym the way he chose to and was arguably one of if not the best battler Brock had ever seen. There hadn't been a single moment in his battle with Ash where he was on the back foot, even as Ash pulled out tricks to gain an edge, Blaine rolled with them and despite taking losses it never felt like he lost control.

Which made it all the weirder when he committed to the absent-minded innkeeper bit.

"You know man you don't have to cook." Blaine's head poked out from under the table as he cleaned up. "It's supposed to be my thing."

Days of dealing with him meant his surprise appearances didn't always make Brock jump out of his skin now. "I know I could just let you do it, but I enjoy cooking. Also, I'm not sure I trust you not to do something terrifying to the food to mess with us."

"Woah dude!" Blaine gasped at him. "That's taking things too far out! Food is a passion, and you don't mess with passions like that?"

"You don't strike as the type to have passions like that," Brock noted.

The disguised gym leader popped out from under the table and clapped Brock's shoulder. "My main man every dude, dudette, and dudever has passions, including yours truly."

"So food is one of your passions." Brock did his best to remain unflappable. "What other things are you passionate about?"

"All sorts of things!" Blaine pulled Brock closer and waved his hand in a grand gesture. "The world is a wonderous place! So much to admire! Food, acting, fire, the Late Show with Diantha Carne, riddles, and rocks!"

The last one caught Brock's attention, "Rocks?"

"One does not live in the shadow of Cinnabar without learning to love its children!" Blaine explained. "I can name just about every naturally occurring rock on here!"

Not quite against his will, but against his better judgment, Brock allowed himself to be coerced into conversation. "I know a bit about geology myself, I'm a rock-type trainer."

Mostly at least, Zubat wasn't a rock-type but his other Pokemon were.

"Wow man, me too!" Brock opened his mouth to protest but closed it. Blaine had at the very least a Rhydon, maybe he had other rock-types too.

"We should hang out my dude." Blaine jabbed Brock in the chest, "and I know just how to do it!"

"Rock climbing?" Brock guessed.

"Filling in the holes in my backyard!"

The teenager paused, "What holes?"

Blaine dragged him outside and handed him a shovel. Sure enough, dotted around the yard were a series of holes, as though a group of Diglett had popped in, looked around, and left.

"Where did these come from?" Brock asked, they certainly hadn't been there before lunch. Sure the terrain got a bit messy from training but apart from Ash's efforts to demolish a boulder they hadn't done much damage.

"No idea!" Blaine claimed. "We can use the fragments of the igneous boulder to fill them in!"

"Ahh." Now he could pretend to understand why Blaine said this was a good way to hang out and talk about rocks.

They spent a half hour working, and Blaine proved surprisingly knowledgeable about geology in a broader sense. After Brock got past the weird phrasing and artificial accent Brock found himself enjoying the conversation.

It was… nice to talk about something he found interesting. Brock would have never described his interest in geology as a passion but it was hard to live in Pewter City without picking up on something about it.

The conversation didn't provide solutions to any of his concerns, but it was a pleasant distraction, just talking about a topic he enjoyed.

Bit by bit the pair carved away the afternoon until there were about five holes left. Then a new one appeared.

Both current gym leader and former gym leader stopped and saw the culprit reveal their face.

"Umbreon?" Brock blinked. He hadn't had much time to observe Ash's teammate after her evolution but he was pretty sure it was her. The unusual blue eyes that matched her trainer's gave it away.

She nodded at him and looked around. "Bree!" She called down into the hole.

A moment later another patch of dirt shifted, and another Pokemon popped out.

Pikachu looked around, "Pika!" He cried to Umbreon.

"Um eon." She rolled her eyes.

Pikachu shook his head and turned to the humans. "Pika-Chu!" He waved at Brock, but his gaze turned grumpier when he saw Blaine. The electric-type stuck his tongue out at the gym leader and both Pokemon ducked back underground.

"That solves the mystery I guess," Brock concluded. He wondered if Ash's teammates had consciously decided to target Blaine's yard as a sort of petty revenge.

"Those were the weirdest Diglett I've ever seen." Blaine shook his head.

---

"I have no idea where we're going!"

"That's obvious!"

"Evolving has only made you ruder!"

"I can't see a thing either!"

"Look you two just need to know which way is up."

---

Things roughly continued in the same vein for the next several days. Ash and his team would disappear early in the morning and crash sometime late at night. His friends barely saw him for more than a few minutes at a time.

Misty had woken up early with Brock one more just to get a brief conversation in. He had stopped to talk for a bit but still rushed out before the sun got too far above the horizon line.

In a way, it was a bit concerning.

"I'm worried they're going to burn themselves out," Brock told Karen and Misty on the seventh day after Ash and Blaine's battle.

"They've been going nonstop for a week." Misty agreed. "That can't be healthy."

"Not to mention the weird little incidents that keep happening…" Karen muttered.

Several times over the past few days they'd spotted members of Ash's team, all caught up in some sort of odd training. At one point Misty had spotted Art ripping tree branches down with Psychic and waving them around before tossing them away.

"We can talk to him tomorrow morning," Misty suggested. "Tell them to take a break. I can't imagine Ash forcing his team to train no matter how hard he took a loss."

"Definitely not." Karen agreed. "Odds are they're all just as motivated as he is, which means none of them are stepping back and saying "we need to slow down.""

"Guess we're having an intervention." Brock mused. "Maybe I could do something special for breakfast? There's the jelly donut recipe I've been meaning to try…"

"That sounds good." Misty's eyes wandered around the room. "...where's Blaine?"

The others turned and saw him missing from his usual meditation position. "I'll check the floorboards." Squirtle sighed and started knocking on them, checking for trapdoors.

"Maybe someone else finally finished the riddle trail?" Karen guessed. They'd had a few more people come through after Gary, looking for the next step of the puzzle. It wasn't impossible another challenger had finished and they just missed it, they'd been busy themselves.

Brock opened his mouth but hesitated. "Do you hear that?"

The others stayed quiet for a moment, Misty wasn't sure quite what he meant, the only thing she could hear was the wind howling outside…

Wait, "What's with the wind?"

No sooner had she asked that when the backdoor slammed open and shuddered, a blast of wind blew over them, carrying a change in humidity.

"Shoot, is there a storm?" Karen got to her feet. "I don't want to be caught on an island in the middle of a tropical storm."

The windows started to rattle while Brock and Misty ran for the door. Blaine was standing in the yard looking over the forests of Cinnabar. His arms crossed and a neutral expression on his face.

"What's happening?" Misty shouted over the wind.

He turned with a quirked brow. "Something you don't see every day."

Brock looked up and frowned, the sky was colored by the twilight but was mostly clear, just a few lonely clouds drifting by. Blaine turned back to the woods and they followed his gaze.

About a mile away pitch black clouds coated a portion of the island. Even from this distance, they could see bursts of golden lightning flash and distant thunder rolled over them. From the way the trees writhed the wind was clearly coming from the miniature thunderstorm.

"Not bad." Blaine nodded. "My bed is calling me dudes. I'm gonna need a loooong nap."

Misty and Brock shared a confused look as Blaine passed them without another word.

They could only turn back to the strange weather phenomena and wonder about it. Misty felt a creeping suspicion about what was causing it but wanted to dismiss it out of hand. It seemed silly.

Ash's team couldn't be doing that.

Right?

---

The storm dissipated before bedtime. Whatever the cause behind it, Ash's friends still planned to talk to him the next morning about training too hard.

Unfortunately, Ash wasn't cooperating, because he didn't get up early for once.

"It figures, the one day we all get up early because that's the only time to talk to him he decides to sleep in," Karen complained, she was not fond of early mornings.

"I think it's ironic," Misty admitted. "The day we decide to get up early to talk to him back getting up too early he doesn't get up early."

"You're simplifying it."

"Tell me I'm wrong."

"You two could go back to bed if you'd like," Brock told them as he worked on breakfast.

Misty glanced at what he was doing and frowned. "Are you making riceballs?"

"No, these are jelly donuts." Despite his words, he frowned too. "That happen to look like riceballs… let me double-check the recipe."

Ash finally got up two hours later, oddly the only member of his team with him was Pikachu.

"Wow, you guys are up early." He seemed surprised.

"We were waiting for you," Karen grumbled. "We wanted to talk to you about pushing yourself and your team too hard."

Pikachu snickered and Ash gave him the stink eye. "It wasn't my idea."

"Really?" Misty checked.

"The first few days it was but I've been saying we needed a break day for four days. They outvoted me." Ash crossed his arms and huffed.

Karen grinned, "that's hilarious actually. Speaking of funny, I hear you have an Umbreon too now?"

"Yeah, Eve decided to evolve in Umbreon." Ash nodded and sat down. "Are those jelly donuts?"

"Maybe." Brock shrugged.

"You mean Eevee?" Misty checked.

"Err." Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Technically? So a couple of days after evolving Eve decided she didn't like being called Umbreon and kind of missed her old name, so Art suggested she just keep calling herself Eevee."

"Pi ka. Pikapi." Pikachu commented and Ash nodded.

"But the rest of us agreed that could get confusing so it got shortened down to Eve." He explained.

"You've missed an opportunity to have Eve the Eevee," Karen told him.

"Huh, I guess we did. But Eve didn't want a nickname back then."

"So since you're not back out there I'm guessing you finally convinced your team to take a break?" Misty asked as they dug into breakfast.

"Nope! We're fighting Blaine today." The others started choking on their food.

"Are you serious!?" Karen demanded.

"Yeah, we trained really, really hard! We think we're ready to give it another shot! Even if we don't win we want to beat that Camerupt and see what else he has in store." Ash explained.

"Man going into a battle expecting to lose is a bad plan." Blaine leaned in from behind Ash.

"We're not expecting to lose, we're expecting to do our best." Ash had flinched at his appearance but resisted screaming.

"Ah, you should always do your best." He nodded. "But overestimating the best can lead to you being underestimated Magic Vulpix."

"You do know I'm not a Vulpix right?"

Blaine stared at him blankly for about ten seconds.

Ash decided not to push the point, "You can battle today right? You're not busy?"

"Man, I don't know what you mean I don't battle!" He told Ash. "But the Gym Leader probably has time today! You can head up whenever!"

"Oh that's good, I have a question though, what was that crystal Camerupt has?" Misty sighed, recalling her own attempt at asking.

"Camerupt has a crystal?" Blaine seemed taken aback by wonder. "Far out man."

"Well, it's just we kind of want to know what it was. Cause I don't know what to do with them." As Ash spoke he dug around in his bag and then poured six similar-looking crystal balls onto the table in front of him.

Blaine's sunglasses fell off. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF MOLTRES'S CRISPY TAIL FEATHERS?!"

"By the tower, you broke him." Karen stared.

The gym leader snatched one up and inspected it. "How is this possible?" He breathed and suddenly chucked it at the floor. It clacked but remained undamaged as Ash grabbed it.

"Hey! What was that for?!" The Zorua demanded, clutching it protectively.

"Real ones wouldn't break from that." Blaine explained his attempt. "I had to make sure."

"I guess they're a big deal?" Ash asked, exchanging a glance with Pikachu.

Pikachu was knocked to the floor as Blaine grabbed him by the shoulders. "Where? How? Do you have any idea what you have?!"

"No!" Ash pushed him off. "That's why I'm asking."

He paced and ran a hand through his wig, muttering to himself. "Alright, I will explain, because I need you to understand the gravity of the situation."

Ash listened intently, marveling at the fact he was talking normally.

Blaine picked up one of the orbs, "This, is a Mega Stone. No one knows where they come from, but they are extremely rare and incredibly valuable. You have six. Just in your bag. You have literally been carrying around the equivalent value of a small town on your back."

"He has?" Misty was just as surprised.

"The one I have for Camerupt is the only one I have, and it wasn't easy to get. I repeat myself, where did you get these?"

"My team found them in the Crystal Caverns," Ash answered truthfully. "There was a whole room full of them."

"The Crystal- A whole room-" Blaine seemed to lose the ability to speak as he short-circuited.

"Suddenly everything he has put us through is worth it." Karen grinned with sheer delight.

"We'll get back to that." He decided. "Right, Mega Stones are unique to different Pokemon, you can't just take… this one for instance." He grabbed a purple one. "And give it to Camerupt. At least, not if you wanted to achieve anything. A Mega Stone is a key piece of a process called Mega Evolution."

Karen frowned as she mouthed the words and Blaine continued. "It's only part of the puzzle, you also need a keystone and a strong bond with your Pokemon. Mega Evolution allows a Pokemon to temporarily evolve past their normal limits. They devolve after being defeated or after resting long enough."

"Wow." Ash looked at the crystals with newfound interest. "I wonder which Pokemon these are for."

"I couldn't tell you. I'm not sure who could either." Blaine admitted. "As far as I know I'm the only Gym Leader in Kanto who has the means to do it, and it's something I keep close to my chest, I only pull it out for eighth badge challenges."

Blaine got on Ash's level and looked him in the eye. "I don't know what right I have asking this, but I need you to swear that you will not tell anyone else about this. If the wrong person heard you were carrying these you would be a target for more organizations and hunters than I can count."

"Not tell anyone?" Ash seemed disturbed at the notion. "What about my friends or Professor Oak?"

"Well they're here for this, but no other friends." Blaine gestured at the others in the room. "As for Professor Oak…"

He frowned and considered. "Fine, I'd say he's the only person outside this room you should tell. Sam might be one of the few people who could help you identify these, or at the very least find someone who can identify them."

"I guess I'll keep it quiet then." Ash agreed. "I think I'm good at keeping secrets."

"HA!" Blaine barked a laugh. "Sure "Magic Talking Vulpix," whatever you say."

The gym leader picked up his sunglasses. "If you were trying to throw me off my game you certainly succeeded. I need to collect myself. Best of luck with your challenge, but don't bet on winning."

After he left the group looked at Ash's Mega Stone collection with a new light. "You found an entire room of these in the Tomb?" Karen checked.

"Not me, Storm, Sunny, Art, and Starmie found it," Ash explained.

"And it was full of them?"

"That's what they said!" Ash nodded.

"...I know I said I never wanted to go back there but I want to go back there." Karen decided.

"No." Brock grabbed her arm and pulled her back down as she tried to leave.

"Later." She insisted.

---

It was still a bit of a trek to the volcano, but they knew the road this time. As they hiked, Ash found himself nervous, more so than he normally was before a battle.

"I want to win this time," he admitted. "I'm worried though, we trained as hard as we could and I think we have a good chance. But I can't help…" He trailed off, falling into thought.

"Why don't you wait a bit longer?" Misty asked. "You could rest today and then train for a bit longer."

Ash shook his head. "After we lost, we set goals to work toward. Moves, strategies all sorts of stuff. We've got what we set out to do done, and we're ready to try again. If this doesn't work, we'll do it again."

The trainer glared up at the mountain. "He said come back again and again, and we plan to."

"I'd still rather only do it once," Pikachu admitted.

"Obviously." Ash nodded.

"I've been meaning to ask, is there a reason your team is in their Pokeballs?" Karen asked. "It seems a bit unusual for you."

"Just trying to keep Blaine guessing," Ash claimed. "Pikachu still doesn't want to but the others think it could help if he doesn't know who I'm sending out until we're ready. Not to mention… never mind."

"He already saw Umbre- sorry, Eve when she was training Dig with Pikachu," Brock warned him.

"He did?" Ash hadn't known about that part. He glared at Pikachu.

"It was sort of a blink-and-you-miss-it thing. I stuck my tongue out at him," Pikachu explained and Ash sighed.

"Well, that's one surprise gone," Ash grumbled as they entered the tunnel leading to the heart of Cinnabar.

"We got this," Pikachu told him as the red light appeared at the end of the tunnel.

Ash took a deep breath, "Yeah we do."

The drums started again.

"Welcome back to the show!" Blaine announced as they entered the central cave. "The bout's about to begin! The lights are on, the music's playing, the only thing missing is you! Step into position and make your stand!"

Once again the innkeeper had vanished, replaced with a smartly dressed showman. Magmar still stood by his side.

The Zorua and Pikachu got into position on their side of the arena and the podiums rose into the air again.

"We're gonna go for the spectator seating now." Karen decided. "Better than waiting for things to get even hotter."

"Also it has air conditioning." Misty agreed.

"He built air conditioning into a volcano?" Pikachu asked as they left the ramparts.

"Does that really surprise you at this point?" Ash asked him.

Blaine tapped his cane and drummed his fingers on the edge of his podium. The green circles appeared over their heads once more. "Welcome back to the show Mr. Talking Vulpix, may I call you Magic?"

"You can call me Zorua." Ash huffed.

"Alright Magic, you know the rules, and so do I! Shall we start things the same as last time or mix it up?" He wagged his brows at Ash.

"Send out who you want, we have a plan." Ash declared.

"Oh! Giving me free rein?" Blaine cackled. "Alright then! GO GROUDON!"

Ash gasped and gripped the sides of his box. Nothing happened and Blaine burst into laughter.

"Of course, I don't have Groudon! But could you imagine?" He kept snickering to himself. "Alright Ninetales, take the stage and break a leg! As many as you need until they give up!"

"Eve!" Ash through the Umbreon's Pokeball and she entered a true battle for the first time in her new form.

---

"So you already have a bit of experience with dark-type moves." Ash mused as he set out her training regime. "But Dark Pulse is a bit more… intense."

"I'm not sure how well this will go," Umbreon admitted. "You already know I'm not particularly in tune with my emotions."

"But you do feel them!" Ash reminded her. "You get happy and excited about things you're interested in, and you do get upset. Like how you get annoyed at Pikachu!"

"That's how I use Bite, I think about being annoyed with Pikachu." She claimed.

"Huh." She hadn't mentioned that before. "Anyway, I have an idea that will let you use Dark Pulse, and might get you some other moves too!"

"What's that?" Umbreon seemed doubtful.

"Swift! Shadow Ball! Double Team! Last Resort!" He listed off moves. "You're gonna work on all of them!"

"...that's a lot." She admitted. "I'm not sure I can learn all those."

Ash grinned. "Exactly!"

---

As soon as Eve saw Ninetales she dug into the bridge. They hadn't been sure if Blaine would use her as an opener again but they had a plan if he did.

Ninetales was fast and precise, which made her incredibly dangerous if she caught an opponent in the open.

But from what they had seen she didn't have many highly destructive moves. It could be she just hadn't needed them but she didn't seem the type to overwhelm with raw power.

So they had to work around her speed, and they had ways of doing that.

Ash had given Eve several moves to work on, but he insisted she learn Swift first. The homing attack was crucial against an opponent as fast as Ninetales.

Speaking of, she should be in position by now!

Eve turned left and burst out of the wall of the cavern, Ninetales had moved, standing on one of the spires, eyes searching the walls for her. They found her and Ninetales's eyes glowed red for a moment.

In response, the Umbreon fired Swift and watched the stars fly.

Well, she watched them fly but immediately got back to digging. She kept up this act, digging around and popping out to fire Swift at Ninetales. Blaine shouted something but she only caught the tail end of it.

"-like pyrotechnics!"

That didn't sound good!

"Eve get out!" She heard Ash shout and something roared in the tunnel behind her. She jumped from the hole, aiming for one of the rock spires (which were no longer flat interestingly).

Behind her, and from every other spot she'd burst from, a plume of fire exploded, Ninetales was on the bridge with her mouth in the hole Eve had dug at the beginning. No doubt filling the entire thing with fire.

"Now's your chance!" Ash cried. "Double Team and Dark Pulse!"

"Oh, this is going to be fun." She grinned. A part of her wondered if she was a bit more sadistic after evolving, possibly a result of her dark-type nature.

Or maybe this was just catharsis.

Double Team had given her the most trouble over the past week. It was hard to move quickly enough to make it work and correctly leave the images behind her. But if she did this right…

In a few moments to all appearances, there was now an Umbreon on every rock spire in the room.

"Tricks and tricks!" Blaine shouted as Ninetales found herself surrounded. "Seriously! I thought we went over this, you need more than just a sneaky scheme to win!"

"Correct!" Eve agreed and used Dark Pulse.

Ash had been right about needing to dig into negative emotions to use it, which was why he had given her a diverse set of moves to work on, so she would get so frustrated she could use the frustration as fuel for Dark Pulse.

Was it the most effective fuel? Probably not, but Ash had told her he didn't want to traumatize her.

Which she appreciated.

The first couple of Dark Pulses missed, but Eve was moving between spires quick enough that they seemed like multiple were firing at once, eventually one managed to hit and then another. Ninetales was beginning to feel the pain and Eve hadn't even taken any damage!

"BURN THEM ALL AWAY!" Blaine roared. "WE SURE STARTED THIS FIRE! FLAME WHEEL!"

A spinning loop of fire whirled around the columns, wiping away most of the duplicates and catching Eve on her side, it hurt but not as much as she expected. She did lose her footing and barely managed to recover.

"Flame Charge!" Ninetales was on her in an instant and Eve was hurtling toward the wall.

Making use of Dig again she carved her way back inside and started a new tunnel. At first, she tried to give the illusion she was using the same strategy as before, occasionally poking out to fire a Swift at the increasingly weary Ninetales. But the other Pokemon was already unleashing some Will O'Wisps toward her holes to hunt her down in the walls.

Which meant this wouldn't hold and Eve needed to mix things up. Taking a page out of Pikachu's book, she went high above before bursting out above Ninetales, a shower of rocks falling around the fire-type.

It got her attention and she looked up just in time to take another Dark Pulse to the face.

She stumbled and nearly fell off her rock spire. Eve briefly touched down on a nearby one and used Quick Attack to properly herself into the fire-type and knock her off her pedestal.

As Ninetales fell a beam of light came from Blaine's side of the field, returning her.

Blaine hummed and tapped his cane. Eve took the chance to regain her footing. So far so good, Ninetales was down, Pikachu was still ready for battle and Eve could keep going. She hadn't even been burned, no need to munch on her berry.

Not yet at least.

"I didn't see your Eevee take center stage so I can't make a proper judgment on her growth into Umbreon… that said, you didn't lose any Pokemon to Ninetales! Kudos! Let's see how many you lose to Rhydon this time…" His smile turned dark and he sent out his next Pokemon.

Repeating the same order then? Maybe. It depends on if Camerupt came out next. Still, Eve could fight Rhydon for a bit.

Again.

Well, that was a different Rhydon.

"You good Eve?" Ash called as Rhydon roared his challenge once again.

She tested her footing before nodding. "Let's do this! We're going to be the best!"

"Yeah, we are!" Ash thumped the railing with his fist. "Dark Pulse on the bridge!"

"Come on Magic!" Blaine complained as Eve began doing her best to take the bridge out from under Rhydon. Fortunately, her Dig had already weakened its structure so it didn't take too much effort for her to finish the job.

Rhydon cried in frustration as the rock crumbled beneath him and he swung his arms, hurtling some of the debris straight for Eve.

She did her best to brace herself but it still hurt to be peppered by the stones. Better to do it with something under her feet than caught in midair though.

"Stone Edge!" Blaine called as Rhydon fell. A column of rock rose from the magma below and Rhydon stood atop its precipice.

"Break." He demanded and used Rock Slide.

The top of the column crumbled instantly, an avalanche of stone flowed toward Eve and she jumped away to avoid being caught up in it.

Rock spires broke and fell, collapsing into each other like dominoes.

"You have to go for him, Eve!" Ash shouted to her. "Defense won't work here!"

She took a deep breath and looked up at Rhydon, menacingly riding down his wave of stone. With tactical instinct she rocketed up the avalanche, picking the sturdiest chunks she could as she closed in on Rhydon, using Quick Attack as needed to boost her speed.

Rhydon seemed taken aback by her charging up the Rock Slide. But not enough for him to hesitate. He wound up an arm and it glowed with power as she approached. Before she reached him she blinked and gave the cutest look she could.

The Baby-Doll Eyes caught him full force, and then his attack caught Eve full force and she tumbled back down. She bounced off rocks and saw Ash moving to return her before she was buried.

Determined to get one good hit in she did her best to fire off a Swift. Then the world vanished as she lost consciousness and was returned.

Eve's last strike hadn't been properly executed, rather than the stars targeting Rhydon they homed in on a chunk of the ceiling, bringing even more boulders raining into the arena.

"You love to make a mess of my volcano don't you?" Blaine complained as Rhydon shrugged off the falling rocks. "And still, I can't say I'm impressed. Yes that was a very interesting strategy for Ninetales and it seemed to pay off but where the power? You're still lacking!" He struck the metal with his cane to accent his point.

Ash's grin turned foxlike and Pikachu copied him. "Firepower incoming!" He declared and Sunny the Charmander took the field, his remade necklace twinkling in the firelight.

---

"You want me to do the Gym Battle?" Sunny seemed surprised, he'd been expecting to miss out on this gym.

"It's in a volcano," Ash told him. "It's perfect for you!"

"But all his Pokemon will be fire-types!" The Charmander protested, doubting his chances.

"And so are you!" Art encouraged him. "So it will be an even playing field."

"Also he has a Rhydon." Pidgeotto added.

"What about you?" Sunny pressed the Ralts.

Art sulked a bit. "Dash and I talked… I won't be ready for a rematch."

"Art has a lot of things we need to work on," Ash admitted. "And I need to work on some stuff with you too, but I think we can master what you need sooner than Art can master what he needs."

"You have more experience." Art bravely admitted. "...also I need a new stick."

Sunny took a deep breath. "Alright Dad, what are we doing?"

---

Sunny looked up at Rhydon and felt a wild cocktail of emotions.

The monster of a rock-type looked pretty intimidating, but despite that, Sunny felt a wild thrill. He was going to be fighting this giant, and the crazy part? He could probably win.

Besides that, as soon as he entered the boiling atmosphere of the volcano he felt a comfort he hadn't felt since he was young, before Damian. The heat and pressure of the mountain made him feel at home. He understood what Dad had meant about it being a good choice for him.

"A Charmander!" Blaine announced. "This little salamander is known as the Lizard Pokemon, it's a fire-type, and also very small."

Rhydon agreed and surged down the rockpile toward Sunny.

The fire-type held his ground and waited until he saw the red of Rhydon's eyes before unleashing Dragonbreath point blank.

The rock-type screamed in agony as the dragon-type move washed over him. It wasn't the type of fire Sunny was used to unleashing but it still brought him the same satisfaction.

Despite the strength of Sunny's Dragonbreath Rhydon still managed to lash out and kick Sunny away. The Charmander spiraled through the air and thought.

One thing Dad had been intent on working with him on was his ability to adapt. He pointed out Sunny had trouble switching gears without direction, and that he needed to be ready to try something else before Dad gave the direction.

So as the cave wall rapidly approached Sunny recalled his lessons with Eve and Pikachu, and used Dig.

He followed Eve's path up the cave wall and to the top of the cavern. Once there, instead of just dropping down on Rhydon's head, he used the last move they'd worked on.

Rock Tomb.

It wasn't quite perfect, he hadn't mastered it yet, but the structural damage gave him a lot to work with and he absolutely buried Rhydon in a mountain of rock. He heard the larger Pokemon howl with rage.

As he did so, Sunny bathed the makeshift tomb with Flamethrower, cooking Rhydon inside. It might not do much damage but it would make him sweat.

Chunks of the tomb burst as Rhydon tore his way out, Sunny adjusted his aim so his attack bathed Rhydon. He paused, taking a breath and as Rhydon continued to march forward he switched back to Dragonbreath.

Rhydon almost reached Sunny, and he lunged forward, but Dad warned him to jump back, as he did, Rhydon's lunge turned into a collapse and the rock-type was knocked out.

Blaine actually clapped. "That's more like it! I won't take back what I said about Charmander being small but that's a massive amount of power in a small package!"

"Bit of a shame," Pikachu muttered to Ash. "The whole reason Selene and I learned Grass Knot was because of him."

"There'll be other uses," Ash whispered back.

"But!" He wagged a finger at him. "I remain unconvinced. One Pokemon who can unleash a bit of power isn't enough! I still have a wall for you to get through, so let's try again!"

"Get ready Sunny!" Dad shouted and Sunny thumped his paws together.

"Bring it on!" Sunny stood his ground as Camerupt returned to the arena.

The living volcano twisted his head, bones cracking as he flexed. He pounded the crumbling terrain with a leg and his Mega Stone gleamed in the dwindling light.

Blaine raised his cane and once more it shined with brilliant white light. Camerupt was wrapped in energy and the dark sphere shattered, Mega Camerupt once again announcing his arrival and heating things up.

Sunny felt the temperature skyrocket and noticed the change. While before the volcano had felt hot in a comforting way, now there was a menace to it, it was as if the air around him was an extension of Camerupt's will.

He hoped he could do something like that someday. It sounded cool. Or well, hot.

Same difference.

"Bulldoze him! We need to remodel anyway!" Blaine shouted and Camerupt rocketed forward at a terrifying speed.

Sunny dived back underground, the tumbling rocks making it more difficult for him to maneuver. He realized it wouldn't work and shot back for the surface.

It was a good thing too, as soon as he broke out higher on the rock pile Blaine called for Earthquake. If Sunny had been underground it wouldn't have gone much better for him than it had for Eve the other day.

Dad shouted over the sound. "Sunny use Smokescreen! Take away his vision!"

"How rude!" Blaine cackled as Sunny spat out black clouds around Camerupt, obscuring the monster from view. For good measure, as he caught Camerupt's eyes one last time before he was enveloped he used Leer.

"Crunch as soon as-" Whatever Dad was about to say was cut off as Camerupt Erupted from the smoke, lava, and smoke smothering the darkness and coating the rockpile, reigniting the heat.

Sunny found out he was more lava-proof than he had assumed, but also found out molten rock was just as heavy as regular rock. He pushed himself up from under it as Camerupt loomed over him and used Rock Slide.

The rock piled came apart and flattened a bit, just about the entire cavern was covered up now, the original lava pool completely buried by the rubble. That didn't mean it was dark, Camerupt continued the spew fire and lava, coating the new battlefield with burning lights.

But Sunny was down for the count.

Ash returned him. "You did awesome Sunny," he whispered to the ball. He grabbed his next teammate. "You ready?"

The Moon Ball shivered a little in his hand. It felt like it came from anticipation rather than fear.

"Go Selene!"

---

Selene stared at the full moon. She'd kept track of the phases and knew it would be tonight. It wasn't quite the same, but she wanted to at least have the moon full when she did this.

"Are you ready?" Ash asked her.

She took a deep breath. "I'm ready. I'm not afraid, I just wish we could do this at Mount Moon."

"We-" The newly named Eve opened her mouth but Selene shook her head.

"It's alright, being with my family is enough." She reached out and grabbed the Moon Stone.

---

"Hello." Selene greeted Camerupt. "We didn't meet last time. I'm Selene and I'll be stopping you."

"Another evolution!" Blaine cheered as he saw the Clefable. "I guess you were listening more than I thought!"

"Stop me?" Sparks and smoke poured from Camerupt's mouth as he spoke. "Unlikely."

"I don't think you understand." Selene held out both arms, both glowing with light, slightly different in each hand. "I will stop you."

As she spoke, she used both Reflect and Light Screen, pushing back the fire and lava, Camerupt coughed as a glob of molten rock flew down his mouth and Selene began to attack.

"Body Slam!" Ash called. "Dislodge that lava before it turns into armor again!"

"Throwing yourself at a volcano is rarely a wise decision!" Blaine warned, shaking his cane at Ash.

Selene crashed into Camerupt but didn't stop there. She bounced off and then glowed and used Psychic. One of the things Ash had insisted they work on was getting her more ranged attacks, Psychic was one of them.

The other was about to follow.

Camerupt lunged but Selene used Defense Curl and rolled away. As soon as she came to a stop she raised her hands. An overwhelming column of fire had followed her and she redirected it back toward Camerupt using Psychic with one hand and then as the fire began to weaken she used her other to launch Camerupt into the opposite side of the arena.

As he pulled himself out of the dent he'd made, she called upon the moon.

It was silly to say she thought the moon was alive, at least, not in the sense that most living things were. But it was a constant. A promise. Something that had existed since before living memory and would continue to past it.

Through her thoughts and her belief, she conjured an image. A silver sphere glowed high above the center of the cavern. Selene opened her eyes and silver light poured out of them.

"Moon smite you!" The Clefable cried as she used Moonblast in battle for the first time.

Camerupt roared in pain and used Earthquake, shaking the cavern. But Selene held her ground as best she could even as pain shot up her legs.

She would not be moved.

They continued their dance. Camerupt unable to get close but unleashing his fury on the environment in order to hurt Selene, as she peppered him with Moonblast and Psychic from afar.

Eventually, something had to give though.

While Selene fought hard and was much stronger than she'd been before evolving, Camerupt was stronger still. Her barriers had helped even the playing field at the start of the match, and Blaine had realized this.

As soon as they shimmered out he cried for Camerupt to use Hyper Beam.

Light erupted from Camerupt's mouth and surged toward Selene. She tried to manage a Protect but was unused to the amount of energy she'd expended to fight the Mega Evolved Pokemon. It started to form but shattered under the force of Hyper Beam.

The war of attrition finally came to an end as Selene went down.

Ash returned her with a heavy heart, she'd done well, and it was obvious just from looking at him that Mega Camerupt had taken damage, but it wasn't over yet. Ash reached for his next Pokemon but Blaine unexpectedly returned Camerupt.

Annoyance filled Ash and he glared at the gym leader. "I suggest we move," Blaine said before Ash could demand an explanation.

That gave him pause and Pikachu shrugged at him. "Why?"

As soon as the word left his mouth, columns of lava erupted from under the rubble arena and the ceiling began collapsing. Ash and Pikachu shrieked and clutched each other as a boulder bigger than a Rhyhorn landed barely a foot from them.

"Personal preference," Blaine admitted.

---

It took a bit of maneuvering around the collapsing cavern but Blaine led Ash to the top of the volcano. His friends joined them as they traveled through shaking tunnels.

"I must say this show has been quite extreme! If every eighth badge battle goes like this I may need a new island!" Blaine chuckled to himself as they exited a staircase onto the rim of the caldera.

The cauldron of the volcano was filled with lava. Ash wasn't sure if this was a recent occurrence due to their battle below or if this had always been here. The fact that they may have been battling with a lake of lava over their heads, as well as one below their feet, was a little disconcerting.

Regardless, Blaine sent Camerupt back out, the fire-type still in his Mega Evolved state. "Now then, back to it!"

"Right." Ash nodded. He had two Pokemon left, he already knew which ones to use. But they had to get past Camerupt.

"You've increased your strength, you've lasted longer, and made Camerupt work harder, but you have a long way to go before you can achieve victory. Can you tell me how long?" Blaine smirked.

"Let me phone a friend." Ash sent out Storm.

Storm hadn't been as complicated as some of the others, her fighting style was pretty good as it was. Evolution was a possibility but as she had noted herself, it was unlikely she'd evolve so soon after evolving in Wartortle.

That said, there were other ways to increase her strength, and that was what they had worked on the past few days.

"Huh." Storm looked around the new battlefield. "Out of the microwave and into the frying pan I guess."

Camerupt snorted but didn't rise to the bait.

"You look like you've seen better days." Storm grinned at him. "Let's see if we can make this one worse."

"Cool things down!" Ash shouted as Camerupt began Erupting once again.

Storm fired a Water Pulse into the air, the globe exploded and rained down over the caldera. She had tried learning Rain Dance from Pikachu over the past week but despite her effort, she hadn't been able to get the movements right.

It was to be expected, it took Pikachu about a month to master the move.

Water Pulse was the next best thing.

As the water rained down and Camerupt began stomping on the ground, shaking the mountain, Storm began rocketing around the arena using Water Gun to propel herself from platform to platform, on each platform she would spin and use Ice Beam on the surrounding area.

"You've got to be kidding me," Blaine complained as he watched Storm work and avoid Camerupts attacks. "Are you actually trying to put out my volcano?"

"Just cool it down." Ash insisted as Storm fired another Water Pulse into the air and Camerupt road a wave of lava toward her.

As it rained down this time Storm took a deep breath and breathed out an icy wind.

The raining water turned to sleet and the wind picked up and turned chilly. As the lava wave bore down on her it froze solid and Camerupt fell from his perch and into the lava.

Ice and snow battered the arena and Storm unleashed a continuous barrage of Water Pulses onto the semi-submerged Camerupt.

In their last battle, Camerupt had been so hot that Water Pulse had evaporated before reaching him, this time the goal was to cool him down enough that it would land.

He charged across the lava to Storm and crashed into her even as ice and snow battered his boiling heat. Storm held position and continued blasting him with water, possibly managing the Hydro Pump they'd been practicing but was too focused on putting out her opponent's flame.

Camerupt began to slow.

Storm used Protect to place a barrier between them and once again used Water Gun to put distance between them. Camerupt shook himself, not used to the cold actually managing to fight his heat.

The Wartortle took the chance to put up her own versions of Light Screen and Reflect. Then she went back to work.

She charged Camerupt, fired as Ice Beam to cool the air, it fizzled out before reaching him but the Hydro Pump that followed struck him and completely soaked him.

At long last the Mega Evolved Pokemon tumbled to his side. His transformation regressed and a regular Camerupt slumped on the rocks.

Blaine clapped slowly. "Well, well, you broke through my wall. Unfortunately, that just leaves me sitting here… WITH MY CANNONS!"

He threw the next ball and another Pokemon emerged onto the field, thumping their chest.

Emboar snorted smoke much like her predecessor in the match. "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING SISTER! YOU AIN'T NO SANDSLASH!"

"...No I'm a Wartortle."

"Flame Charge!" Blaine cried and Emboar practically flew across the battlefield. She collided with Storm's Reflect and it buffered her, but she pushed through, her attack still landing despite being held back.

Storm had felt better, but she'd also felt worse. She could hopefully get a few good hits in.

She got to work, continuing to use Water Gun as a propellant and attacking properly with Water Pulse.

Emboar had an interesting strategy for dealing with her attacks, she'd kick up a splash of lava and let it take the attack, and then she'd crash through and chuck some of the debris toward Storm. Only a few pieces had hit but they sure hurt when they did.

Eventually Storm realized she wasn't making much headway and knew what she had to do. "COME AND GET ME YOU UGLY GRUMPIG WANNABE!"

That certainly hit a nerve and Emboar charged straight for her, fists wrapped in flame, intent on pounding her into the ground.

As the fire-type's fist came down, Storm used one last Hydro Pump, dousing the larger Pokemon in a powerful torrent of water even as things went dark.

---

"I… am very tired…" Pikachu admitted as the clouds dissipated over their heads.

"Volt Tackle, Dig, Thunder, and Grass Knot." Pidgeotto listed off. "You've been busier than the rest of us."

"Still," He grinned and flexed, ignoring his screaming muscles. "I feel unstoppable."

Eve pushed him lightly and he toppled to the ground. "Ow."

"If we ever get into a tag team match that is going to be awesome by the way," Pidgeotto noted. "Hurricane is a heck of a move."

"We've all gotten a lot stronger." Selene agreed, still marveling at the strength she had as a Clefable.

"I'd prefer it if HYDRO PUMP COULD HIT SOMETHING!" Storm complained.

"You just have to wait for the right moment," Ash told her. "Now then, we have Rawst Berries for Umbreon and Selene, and for the rest of you, I have something else."

He set down a trio of blue rocks. They'd been lucky they'd managed to get even this many, but considering only five of them could participate, and Eve and Selene had evolved, it worked out.

"I never thought I'd wish there were more men like Flint." Pidgeotto admitted, thinking of her and Selene's hunt for a store that sold rocks.

"How does this work?" Sunny asked as he picked up the Eviolite.

"I'm not 100% sure." Eve admitted, semi-reluctantly. "But if you have that on you, you'll be able to fight through attacks that should have put you down for the count."

"Useful." He admitted. "Dad, can I have my necklace back? I'm gonna replace the Everstone."

"Uhh." Eve looked shifty. "I may owe you a new necklace. Sorry."

"What?" Sunny looked confused and a little hurt. "Why?"

As she explained it to him and he insisted she could have just taken it off Pidgeotto sighed.

"Next gym then?" She joked, knowing this was the last.

"I mean we might not win." Storm reluctantly acknowledged. "But we'll all get plenty of action in the league."

"True." She acknowledged and Storm tucked her Eviolite into her shell.

Pikachu looked at his and tried to figure out a way he could hold onto without wearing a necklace like Sunny. "It's not about the necklace, I'm worried it will fall off or something…"

His expression lit up. "I got it!"

Before anyone could stop him he shoved the stone in his mouth.

Ash panicked. "Pikachu no!" He and Storm moved to try getting Pikachu to spit it out.

But Kangaskhan hadn't raised a quitter and Pikachu choked and gasped for air as he forced the solid rock down. He hunched over breathing heavily. "That wasn't so bad."

"WHY?!" Ash demanded.

"What? This way I have it and can't lose it!" Pikachu defended himself.

"We could have gotten you a harness!"

---

As Pikachu took the field as Ash's final choice, Pidgeotto emerged from her ball and squinted in the sunlight. She didn't want to miss the final battle and there was no need to keep Blaine guessing at this point.

"Okay, that's just not fair." She complained. "I have to fight inside a burning hole in the ground, now Pikachu gets to fight on top of a mountain, this is literally perfect for me."

"To be fair Pikachu had to fight in there too last time." Ash reminded her.

"You're big." Pikachu acknowledged as he looked at Emboar.

"AND YOU'RE NOT!" She laughed, her default volume being loud.

"I've beat bigger." Pikachu grinned and started dancing.

Emboar was on the attack as soon as he started, and he was hard-pressed to finish his dance with appropriate moves while also avoiding her assault, but clouds gathered and rain began to drizzle down.

"What do you think this is, a funeral?" Blaine whined as Pikachu gathered his energy.

"I've fought a lot of Pokemon over this journey, and you know what?" Pikachu asked his opponent.

"WHAT?!" Emboar demanded and charged him. She barely took a step before stumbling, she looked at her legs and saw them tangled in a Grass Knot… She burned them away but her chance to strike was lost.

"You're the easiest." Pikachu used Thunder.

Thunder was a stronger move than Thunderbolt, but it was also harder to aim, and normally required some sort of overcast to be used effectively.

Since Pikachu knew how to call the rain on demand, it only made sense he should add Thunder to his moveset. Thunderbolt was still his favorite. But the sheer thrill of power he got from using Thunder was certainly satisfying.

Blaine whistled. "Now that's what I'm talking about! Power! Haha! You got something figured out! Let's finish this right!"

Both Ash and Pikachu tensed, waiting for Blaine to send out his last Pokemon which was almost certainly the Magmar that had remained by… his… side…

There was a moment of shared alarm as Ash and his remaining teammates realized Magmar wasn't standing with Blaine anymore, in fact, now that Ash thought about it, he wasn't sure he saw Magmar come up to the caldera with them.

"The moment is now!" Blaine shouted, cane held center in front of him. "It's the sight of one more fight! The last one to thrive! Are you ready to take a dive?!"

In the center of the caldera, the hardened obsidian began to crack as lava bubbled up beneath it. It exploded and a column of fire and lava shot into the air, carving a hole into Pikachu's rainstorm.

The lava rained down, and Pikachu used Dig to get some cover and keep from being burned. He missed Magmar coming down in a superhero landing, rising slowly in dramatic fashion.

"Let's stop the show rat." Magmar raised an arm and snapped his claws.

Everything exploded.

The rain was completely wiped out as the volcano erupted. Giant bubbles of lava and obsidian exploded and spewed smoke and fire into the air. Ash's friends yelped and got close together as lava poured over the sides of the mountain. Down below sirens began to echo.

Ash clutched at his head. "ARE YOU INSANE?!" He screamed as rivers of lava cascaded on either side of him. Was Blaine really going to destroy the entire island for the sake of a battle?!

"INSANE?!" Blaine cackled. "INSANE?! No actually." He calmed down and looked over the edge of the mountain.

Far below, stone walls erupted around the base of Cinnabar, tall enough to halt any lava flow from damaging the city or forest.

"Anyway, you're one to talk Mr. "Blizzard on top of a Volcano"." Blaine shrugged. "Magic you are quite possibly the most ridiculous opponent I've fought. I can't wait to see what Mina has in store for me. She was the one I was expecting to pull this stuff."

Ash debated commenting about knowing Mina but decided now was not the time. "Pikachu, are you alright?"

"Little toasty, but I'll live." His partner claimed, emerging from his hidey hole. "Is it worth trying to dance again?"

"Go for it but not off that bat." Ash decided, "We got another surprise."

"Right!" Pikachu beat the ground with his tail and scraped with his hind legs as he got on all fours. "I am speed!"

Golden light enveloped him and he rocketed across the eruption sight, blasting through the smoke and into Magmar with Volt Tackle. The fire-type dug his heels in and caught Pikachu, the unstoppable force pushing against the immovable object.

Switching things up, Pikachu's golden aura vanished and he swung Iron Tail across Magmar's face. The other Pokemon lurched back and swung down with Fire Punch.

The two titans of power dueled on top of the erupting volcano. Pikachu small and fast while Magmar was a sturdy yet flowing master of combat. Iron Tail bounced off Protect and Low Kick swept under Quick Attack.

Flamethrower carved a path through the smoke and Lightning Bolt split the plume apart. But Ash began to grow worried as the fight continued. Magmar had more experience than Pikachu, and the longer things went on the more it would fall into his favor.

"Mix it up Pikachu!" Ash called to his friend.

Pikachu jumped back, then slammed forward with Volt Tackle again but used Quick Attack to jump away when Magmar caught him again. As Magmar stumbled forward, not expecting Pikachu to slip away, the electric-type began to dance again.

Rain poured down once more and Magmar hissed and steamed as the drops fizzled. The darkness of the storm and the smoke left the only lights the battlefield itself and the two battlers.

Pikachu wrapped himself in lightning and charged forward. "LET'S GO!"

Magmar had enough of catching Pikachu and charged forward himself. "YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO HOME!" Fire wrapped him as he used Flame Charge. "BUT YOU CAN'T STAY HERE!"

The two collided in a dizzying burst of red and yellow. A column of golden lightning fell from the sky while a surge of lava erupted from below.

Both trainers as well as the spectators had to cover their eyes from the light.

Slowly the lighting returned to normal, most of the smoke blasted away along with the rain clouds once again. Pikachu and Magmar were both collapsed, twitching painfully.

Then Pikachu got back up.

And Magmar didn't.

"Attention Cinnabar Volcano!" Blaine shouted. "We have a victor!"

---

Misty and her team immediately went to work stopping the lava rivers. Blaine remained unconcerned.

"Trust me, this mountain doesn't have enough lava left to wipe out the island." He insisted.

"There are literal rivers of lava flowing down, how are you not concerned!" She demanded, reaching for her sword.

"Experience, and patience." He pulled down his glasses to wink at her and she scowled.

"As for you!" You pointed his cane at Ash and turned to follow it. "Congratulations! You powered up your Pokemon but didn't abandon strategy and tactics to do it! A lot of people get that part wrong."

"Thanks I think?" Ash accepted the congratulations.

"Is it too much to ask that we spend a week in the arctic?" Pikachu requested now that he'd been given a dose of Potion. "I am very warm."

"Your Badge Mr. Talking Vulpix," Blaine presented him a red badge with what looked like either horns or flames coming out the top.

"Talking Zorua." Ash corrected with a sigh.

"Wait you're a Zorua?" Blaine gaped at him. "Why didn't my producers tell me!? I am so sorry Magic Talking Zorua!"

"Please stop."

"Despite getting benched for that," Pidgeotto noted a bit passive-aggressively. "I'd say that went well! All eight badges!"

"Heck yeah!" Pikachu cheered. "League! Here we come! Next stop! Champions!"

"I think we have to fight through the confer-" Pidgeotto was cut off mid-sentence as a boom echoed across the island.

The entire group winced and covered their ears. "What was that?" Misty demanded.

"I think it was a Sonic Boom," Blaine noted and searched the sky.

The others quickly joined him. It took a moment before they saw a distant shape circling lower and scanning the terrain of the island.

"That's a Pidgeot," Pidgeotto claimed, having the best eyesight. She squinted and then her eyes went wide. "Wait, I think that's-"

She didn't finish and just stared as the Pidgeot seemed to spot them. With a beat of their wings, they rocketed toward the top of the volcano. A second beat hurled a gust of wind over them while he banked to a halt.

He was a magnificent specimen, his feathers were sleek and well-groomed. The beat of his wings as he came to land spoke of incredible muscular strength. As he landed, it became obvious he had a passenger.

"It made you easier to find but why are you on top of a volcano?" The Pidgeot asked them.

"Why are you here?" Pidgeotto was still staring, her tone seemed a mix of different emotions.

"Is that any way to talk to your father?" He asked.

Ash's jaw dropped. "Wait… Arnold?"

"Oui!" The rider spoke up and Pix the Clefairy jumped down. "You should answer your phone Baby Brother!"

"I'm still not calling him that," Arnold told his teammate.

"Arnold, my beloved companion, you are, how do you say, a stick in the mud." Pix scolded him.

"My phone?" Ash pulled out his Pokegear, he hadn't had a signal while inside the volcano, but now that they stood at its peak a series of missed call notifications appeared. He must have not heard the beeps with the noise of the battle.

And you know, the erupting volcano.

All of them were from Professor Oak.

"What's going on?" Pikachu asked. "And why are you here?"

He directed this question at Arnold who glared down at the little rodent.

"I forgot how mouthy you were." The flying-type sneered at him. "You're lucky we have more important things to do than discipline you."

"Should I-" Ash was about to suggest calling Professor Oak but Pix waved him down.

"No need, we will fill you in. And hurry! This is an emergency!" The Clefairy insisted.

"We just finished a gym battle!" Ash claimed. "We need to recover still!"

"Are you serious?" Arnold's frustration bled into his words. "We don't have time for that!"

"We will have to make time." Pix asserted. "Would you rather have him at full strength or at a handicap?"

"I'd rather get to it." The Pidgeot grumbled.

"I can't help but notice that neither of you have actually explained why you're here." Pikachu was growing impatient.

"We will fly you down to the Pokemon Center." Pix told them. "Quickly, we need to find her."

Ash felt a jagged blade of ice in his chest. "...find who?"

Arnold and Pix exchanged a glance, the flying-type tilted his head, egging the fairy-type to speak.

Pix took a deep breath. "Mademoiselle Delia has still not returned from her travel. Earlier today Professeur Oak received a message from Team Rocket. You are to surrender yourself to them, or she will pay for your transgressions."

---

Ash sure has been busy the last few chapters huh?

Things are starting to look up. Well apart from his Mom being kidnapped by people who want to "erase" him. But well, they're gonna learn he's drawn in pen.

Might leave that banter out next chapter.

Anyway, Volcano Badge get! Ash is now eligible for the league and quite a trip to get there!

This was interesting because going into it I didn't want it to just be an Ash is training chapter, that could get boring. So we focus on his companions for the first half and get peaks of what the training is looking like!

I think I got some interesting stuff with them. I'm not sure Brock's first section is exactly what I wanted but I'm not sure how else to do it and it serves the purpose of getting his thoughts on things across.

Also Misty translating Staryu translating Riolu was fun.

And giving Dratini a bit of screen time, with all the Pokemon it's been hard to give some of them attention. And yes! I finally get to announce my plan for Misty, I've been plotting this for awhile, she's going to be doing her own gym challenge!

Gary is having a great time.

Congrats to Ash managing to break Blaine, having half a dozen Mega Stones just in his bag will do that.

And then the battle. This is Ash's team breaking their boundaries and reaching some new heights and thye can still go higher.

Before I started writing I sat down and wrote the fighting styles and movesets for Ash's entire team. Then I asked, okay, how would they improve? Big thing, stronger attacks, most of them are lacking in that department. Next, who needs to change their fighting style? Who needs to develop more?

Lastly, Pikachu needs to eat an Eviolite.

This was very important.

(I'm kidding it's not that important, they'll get it out somehow if he needs another item)

Selene evolved! Not quite how she wanted but she's enjoying her newfound strength! Sadly she was fighting against a Mega Evolution right after evolving, that said she did pretty well against them!

Umbreon (now named Eve) has taken to being a dark-type fairly well, picking up a bit of Ash's style of fighting. Sunny is learning to adapt more and is thriving.

Art has some stuff to work on, we'll get a bit more of what he was working on next chapter.

Pidgeotto knows at least Hurricane and a bit more we'll find out about. Storm was more focused on just increasing her overall strength with a few hard-hitting moves to help give her some extra punch.

And Pikachu has become the Storm God he was born to be!

Team Rocket is going to wish they had left Delia alone.

This is sadly just about the last we'll see of Blaine for… possibly ever. He was fun but as he himself would say, "The show must go on!"

So it shall.

Reviews!

LEGOBRICK13: Ash really hasn't had a brutal loss in this fic. Normally it's pretty close or comes down to the wire when he loses. And like you said there have been a lot of group efforts against stronger opponents, although I will point out Pikachu beat the Giant Dugtrio on his own by breaking the type-chart. Eve is now tankier and stronger, also a bit of that dark type style is leaking into her. Cranidos is coming still, I got a plan for him. Also I said it in discord but that is the exact reaction I was hoping for when it came to Petrel.

Strike Wyvern: What doesn't kill you makes you really hecking mad! As for Delia's Pokemon I decided to give her some of the Mon's Ash would have caught in the first leg of journey and also Spearow. It seemed fitting to me. As for Petrel…

The one who reads and writes: I will be brief. The difference between calling for advice and calling for money or a kidney is so extreme it's not even comparable. You don't need to pretend to like Karen when you keep complaining about her in reviews. While your concern is appreciated, I am not worried about burning out.

PenguinBandit523: Yeah, I wouldn't say things have been easy for Ash but he it's rarely come down to flat out not being strong enough. That was what Blaine was doing there. He wants to see Ash and his team get stronger, so he's not going to give them a choice. Eevee's evolution was interesting because a lot of people think a lot about team composition and type advantages but my response has been, they care about friendship more than typing, but not Eve! She decided to sit down and think about which made the most sense. Blaine is just having a good time.

Carrot on a bike: Yum! Oreos!

Vulpixtales: Petrel is in danger. Also I'm not sure I understand the end of your review.

Lolistarkiller: Don't worry about it! I appreciate reviews whenever they come! Evolution is an interesting concept, you've done a good job of elaborating on the watsonian reasoning but the doylist reasoning is that I just haven't felt like it was the right time until recently. Despite how the games work it seemed wrong to have Pokemon started to reach their final evolutions halfway through the region, evolution is something that should take time. But as the league draws closer and most of Ash's team haven't evolved it was time to start stepping things up. Both challenge wise and character wise. And the thing is cleverness shouldn't be completely disregarded. As Blaine said this chapter, he needs power and he needs the smarts to use that power.

That about does it! I'll see you guys next weekend! Yes! Next weekend! Assuming nothing continues to go wrong!

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~FriTik

R&R