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.

46. Show Time For Gym Eight!

I don't like sand.

---

"As acting team leader, I'd like to bring this post-loss meeting to order," Pikachu announced.

Eevee wasn't having it. "Who made you acting team leader?" She was still sore in places, not even Nurse Joy had been able to completely heal her from being crushed by an Earthquake underground.

"I miss Ash." Pidgeotto lamented.

"He was so young." Storm wiped a tear from her eye.

"I'm right here you know." Ash reminded everyone. "Just because I can't use my illusion for the next day doesn't mean I stop existing."

"Quiet Dash, can't you see we're mourning your loss!" Art hissed at him.

The aftermath of the Rhydon chase had been complicated to say the very least. Ash had passed out and needed to be rushed back to the Pokemon Center, Riolu had continued trying to escape to challenge a powerful opponent to "prove himself," and they still needed to find somewhere to spend the night.

The humans had stepped into action at least, Ash and Riolu were left with Nurse Joy, Brock and Karen then went hunting for a place to stay while Misty waited for their teams to recover so she could fill them in.

Now that it was evening they were holed up in an old inn near the edge of the city. It wasn't exactly cheap, nor was it glamorous, but it was available. Which was better than any of their other options.

The old man running the place was a little weird though. Ash hadn't spoken with him, but he had heard him talking, he had a weird flow to him and would drag out sentences. Also, his hair didn't match his mustache.

But now that everyone was (mostly) recovered they had a chance to talk and to plan.

"First order of business!" Pikachu chose to ignore the dissenters to his new leadership. "Ash, seriously? We left you alone for five minutes!"

"It's not my fault Riolu decided to hatch!" He insisted.

"You managed to overwork your ability to the point you can't use it!" Pikachu reiterated.

"I can still use it!" Ash stood up and Selene tackled him back into his blanket pile.

"No, you can't!" She scolded him. "One day to rest it! You overdid things!"

He grumbled but sat back down.

"Now, since our trainer can't be trusted on his own, we will be assigning the new bodyguard duty to watch him and keep him out of trouble," Pikachu announced.

"I'll do it!" Art jumped up. "I'd be a great bodyguard!"

"I don't need a bodyguard!"

"Tell that to Rhydon." Pidgeotto poked him.

"Rhydon didn't even hit me!"

"I mean we can make the case for why Ash should never be left alone again later," Eevee suggested. "Sunny will probably want to weigh in too. And Delia I bet!"

Ash continued to grumble under his breath.

Pikachu crossed his arms. "Fine, we can wait to assign a bodyguard. Or maybe we can contract it out to Misty. I guess we really should talk about the second order of business anyways…"

The humor at the previous topic faded as most of the team went into serious mode. "That could have gone better." Storm summarized. "As it is, I think we did pretty well."

"But not well enough." Eevee groaned. "Jerk was right, evolution makes Pokemon stronger, it's a fact. We can certainly get strong without evolving, but it's a lot harder."

"I wanted to wait," Selene spoke up. "But I recently I don't feel like I've become much stronger."

"That's not entirely true," Pidgeotto told her. "Well, sort of. You're more refined, you're using the strength you have better and you are hitting harder."

"And I could be hitting even harder." Selene pointed out. "The thing is I wouldn't be able to do it the way I wanted to. I'm not old enough to undertake the ritual, even if I was we'd have to go all the way back to Mount Moon."

"Ritual?" Art tilted his head.

"There's a tradition when a Clefairy evolves into a Clefable back home," Selene explained. "I wanted to wait."

"You still can." Ash reminded her. "I've said it before, no one has to evolve if you don't want to. I would never force you to!"

"You're not forcing any of us," Eevee told him. "We're just realizing that if we want to reach for the top, we need to make some changes…"

She trailed off, looking at Ash's backpack. No doubt thinking of the evolution stones they'd collected in the Crystal Caverns.

"It's not the same for all of us." Storm brought the point around. "I just managed to evolve, not all of us have the magic rock option. The rest of us have to keep throwing ourselves into battle and hope we build up enough strength to do it."

"That's not quite all there is to it." Eevee lashed her tail as she thought. "We talked about it a few months ago, getting stronger is part of it, but there is an element of age and mental maturity. But that's not everything, there are records of Pokemon over the age of seventy who never evolved."

Art looked horrified. "I can't wait that long!"

"You probably won't have to." Eevee comforted. "The exact metric is hard to quantify, and it's different depending on the species and even the individual, but essentially the more battles you win, the more likely you are to evolve."

"That's odd." Pidgeotto acknowledged. "I suppose I did win quite a few battles before I evolved."

"Again, not the only variable." Eevee sighed. "I wish I had some references on me, I'm doing all this by memory alone."

"Weird question, but could we "cheat the system" so to speak?" Storm asked. "What if we just kept squaring off for battles and knocking each other out until we evolved? I wouldn't recommend it obviously, but theoretically."

"Maybe?" Eevee shrugged.

Ash thought over everything he'd heard. "I don't think any of us should try evolving tonight."

"Obviously." Pikachu nodded, not having heard anything to convince him that evolving was his only choice.

"Let's talk about it tomorrow while we're training. I can talk to Brock and Karen to see if they have suggestions too. I may not be forcing you, but I don't want any of you to feel like you have to evolve either." Ash admitted.

Everyone had mixed thoughts on the day's events, and sleep did arrive but it certainly came easier to some than others.

---

"Alright… you." Karen stood out of Riolu's punching range. "Ash said you actually want to be my Pokemon, which I think is a bad idea."

Riolu's eyes started watering and Karen's silently screamed with frustration. "Your first reaction to me was to hit me, and then run away. You are not the first Riolu to do that, and frankly, I'd rather not have that happen ever again."

The rest of her team watched this back and forth, Absol was watching perhaps a tad more intently than the others. Considering she'd be the one able to warn Karen if Riolu was going to hit her again, she appreciated it.

Riolu barked something. She looked at Umbreon, but her starter just shrugged. Karen might have become a bit spoiled by Ash's translations. "I am willing," she spoke haltingly, "to give this a shot. I know to you it looks like I have a lot of aura, but I can't use it. There are trainers who'd be much better for you. Heck, we just met a kid who specializes with fighting-types."

Maybe, she knew Mac had a Machoke and he wore some sort of martial arts outfit. That meant he was a fighting-type trainer right?

Riolu put his foot down and barked determinedly at her. "Right, I take it that means you're staying. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Now she'd need to work out who was dropping from the team while she got started with Riolu. Which kind of messed with her current regimes and strategies. Great. She'd have to figure out the details of that in the morning.

Once Riolu was officially caught and registered she flopped down on the futon and screamed into the pillow. Screaming was truly the best way to deal with her emotions.

Umbreon nudged her head. "Bre." He stared intently at her when she looked up.

There was a suggestion there. "No."

"Umbreon." He elaborated.

"I refuse. I am not calling them." She insisted.

Absol nudged her arm and she glared at her. "Stop ganging up on me. You don't even know what they're like!"

Neither of them said anything, just fixing her with their gazes.

She closed her eyes, if she couldn't see them, they couldn't bother her.

For a moment she had peace, and then Umbreon stepped onto her back and started making biscuits.

"Right!" She shot up, knocking her traitorous starter down. "Fine! I'll call them!"

Her Pokemon looked content, and she sneered at them. "Tomorrow, I'll call them tomorrow. I am not dealing with them tonight."

They seemed to accept her condition and finally let her lie down in peace. Ugh, maybe she should have shared a room with Brock. He would let her complain and then wrap her in those big strong arms of his…

Huh, that was an unexpected thought. Something else to worry about tomorrow!

Honestly, she'd rather think about that than the call her Pokemon had just pressured her into making.

Karen really did not want to talk to her family. Especially not her father.

---

"I forgot to ask last night, but how did you get my room?" Ash asked the following morning.

"The normal way." Karen shrugged, poking at her food. "We paid for four rooms, you took one."

"He was okay renting out to a Pokemon?" He perked up.

"I honestly don't think he cares," Misty admitted, glancing at the man who ran the inn. He was currently sitting cross-legged on the check-in counter, humming with his eyes closed.

"Do you think the hair or the mustache is fake?" Pikachu asked. "My bet is on the hair."

"Agreed, if he were to get a fake mustache why would he get a gray one?" Storm pointed out.

"He's been there since I woke up," Brock told them. "And I've been up for three hours."

"Thanks for breakfast by the way." Misty munched her food. "I don't think I could go back to the stuff we used to live on."

"We were getting better." Pikachu defended his own cooking.

"So, I'm stuck like this for the day." Ash gestured at his undisguised shape. "Which limits where we can go for training, and the gym challenge."

"I mean, this would be your last chance, for a while at least, to prank the gym leader." Misty reminded him.

"She makes a good point." Pidgeotto nodded. "What do you think they'd do if a Pokemon walked in and challenged them to a fight?"

"But that's what he does normally." Selene frowned.

"Without the disguise though."

"Ohhh…"

Ash considered it and then decided he'd continue considering it. "I'll think about it, it would be funny."

"There's also the matter of whatever the pre-gym trial is," Brock recalled Mac's words. "Maybe it would be worth looking at the gym today, at least to try to figure out what's going on."

"It's the tourists, man." The innkeeper interjected and the entire group leaped out of their seats.

"Awagaga when did you move?!" Karen made a series of chopping motions to defend herself.

"I'm always moving with the flow… gal." He said serenely.

"Right…" Misty narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean about the tourists."

"The gym leader is a real prideful guy, my little dudes." The innkeeper elaborated. "He's been real annoyed at all the tourists that used to be trainers, challenging him. They haven't been on the level."

Ash really wasn't sure if he should talk in front of this guy or not. "Uhh…" He opened his mouth and debated.

"Don't worry weird magic Vulpix." The innkeeper ruffled his head. "No one believes me when I tell them about the talking Pokemon."

Oh, that was a relief. "So how do you challenge the gym then?"

"You gotta follow the riddles!" He waved his arms dramatically. "Follow the clues, and your challenge awaits!" He continued waving his arms as he backed away and out the front door.

"Okay, but that was weird right?" Pikachu said after a solid thirty seconds of silence. "Like, that wasn't normal?"

"No. Not even a little bit." Storm shook her head.

"I suppose we're paying for the atmosphere too," Brock commented and was rewarded with snorts of amusement.

"I guess I need to find and follow the riddles," Ash said. "And of course, we need to do some training, this is going to be our toughest gym battle!"

"Well, I'm not here for the gym battle." Misty finished downing her orange juice. "Which puts me in the tourist category. We're going to visit the beaches!"

Part of Ash wanted to go to the beach too, he'd never actually been on a beach trip despite seeing the ocean numerous times. "I think I'll wait until after the gym battle for that." He decided. "I need to figure out what Human-Ash looks like in a swimsuit anyway."

"Wouldn't that just be you with a swimsuit?" Karen asked drily.

"But what if I gave him some cool scars!?" Ash suggested. "Or maybe some tattoos?"

"Maybe a burn you got while fighting a dragon!" Art egged him on.

"You have fun figuring that out." Karen sighed and rose with a groan. "I have to make a phone call. I've put it off long enough."

"To whom?" Brock asked.

"No one I want to talk to, but someone I need to talk to if Riolu is sticking around." She stalked back to her room, clearly wanting some privacy.

"Based purely on personal experience she's going to make a call home." Misty theorized.

"Ah…" Brock frowned. "I suppose I should do that myself, see how things are going."

As he left Misty and Ash parted ways. "Good luck with training and riddles and whatever else is thrown your way." She waved goodbye.

"Have fun at the beach." He nodded back and gathered his team together. "Right, we can't go to the Pokemon Center training yard, and it's probably full anyway. Any ideas?"

"I have a backyard you could use." The innkeeper's head popped out of a trapdoor and the Pokemon started screaming again.

---

*Ring*

Maybe he won't pick up?

*Ring*

Yeah! Heck, he might have changed numbers too!

*Ring*

Oh well, I tried, I guess I'll have to get help from somewhere else!

*Rin- *click* "Hello?"

Aw, Dusknoir's Crispy Tongue. "Hi…"

The voice on the other end went silent before, "Daughter."

"Father." She acknowledged.

Neither said anything for a moment and Karen did not need to understand Pokemon to know Umbreon said, "This is awkward."

"How's… life?" He finally asked.

"I am alive." Last she checked at least.

"Good, good." She got the impression of him nodding, "So…"

"So." She repeated.

"Have you finally reconsidered?" Oh of course.

"Here we go." She rolled her eyes. "Why would I have any other reason to call?"

"You seemed fairly certain that we would never speak again, and you've done a good job of it for the last five years." He answered.

"Like you're one to talk!" She snapped. "Did you even notice I came 2nd in the Johto League?"

"Of course, I did! I was very proud!" He raised his voice.

"Thank you!" She responded just as aggressively.

"You're welcome! I wish your mother could have seen it!"

"Well so do I! Now can we talk about why I called?"

"You want to finally learn to use your powers?" Something snapped and Karen lost all semblance of decorum.

"We. Have. Been. Over. This. I! DO! NOT! HAVE! POWERS!" She screamed into the receiver.

"YES, YOU DO! IF YOU STOPPED DENYING IT-"

"I TRIED YOU IGNORANT MEATHEAD!" She hoped the walls were thick enough to muffle this. "I SPENT YEARS TRYING ALL THOSE STUPID TRAININGS YOU AND YOUR SISTERS THREW AT ME! AND ALL I GOT WAS BRUISES AND A COMPLEX!"

She got a few deep breaths and then, "That's because your heart wasn't in it, if you just believed-"

"I BELIEVED YOU!" Karen fired into the receiver. "At first at least! I thought I'd be able to do everything you told me I could and it never went anywhere! Do you even know how many nights I cried myself to sleep because I thought I was a failure? And your stupid insistence is exactly why I took Umbreon and never looked back!"

Neither of them said anything else for a moment, emotions running high. "Why are you calling then?"

Here we go. "Because I've been caring for an egg for the past week or so." She started. "And it hatched… into Riolu."

Her father said nothing, thinking. "Did-?"

"Yes, he hit me and ran away."

"Right, that's still happening then." Yeah, thanks for the reminder of the last half-dozen times it happened.

"Well, not quite the end of it. One of my… friends, convinced me to go running after him. We found him picking a fight with a Rhydon to… prove himself? Or something, it was a bit vague. Now he seems to actually want to stay with me and be trained."

"That's progress!" He sounded far too pleased with that outcome.

"Let me be clear." She enunciated. "I do not want "aura training" or some sort of "believe in yourself" speech. I just want advice for caring for a young Riolu."

"You should already know- right never mind." Trying to help care for young Riolu was difficult in practice when they kept hitting her. "You might want to write this down…"

She grabbed a piece of paper and jotted notes as he elaborated on the more eccentric conditions of raising an aura-sensitive Pokemon. Riolu, especially very young Riolu, made almost all their decisions based on perceived aura.

The problem was they didn't always understand what aura meant. Sometimes it could be helpful, typically those with ill intentions had darker auras. But this rule was far from universal, and sometimes Riolu could mistake friend for foe. Or they might be so confused by an aura they didn't know how to react.

This whole aura perception thing could be a problem for Karen, all the Pokemon with her (except for Gloom) were dark-types. Even if Riolu was focused on her, he would have trouble not only working with but also trusting the rest of her team.

Just another reason she was really not a good fit to be Riolu's trainer!

Not helping matters was the enthusiasm with which her estranged father was explaining all this to her. She could practically see the gears turning in his head, he thought this was the key to unlocking her "potential."

Freaking one track-minded meathead.

Still, he knew what he was talking about, and Karen would be foolish to disregard the useful information out of spite. That didn't stop the desire to get one last jab in once she finished.

"It's a good thing you know more about raising Riolu than raising children." She almost ended the call right there, but part of her desperately wanted a reaction.

She waited and finally, "You would have been the best."

Karen snapped her Pokegear shut and nearly threw it at the wall. A sharp cry from Absol stopped her, she wasn't sure if the dark-type was sensing an actual disaster, or was just using common sense but she was still grateful for it.

"The best." She sneered at the closed device and tossed it on the table. "The best what? Aura Guardian? Yeah, right. Never gave a second thought to what I wanted. I bet he was trying to comfort me there you know?" She looked at Umbreon who looked thoughtful before nodding in agreement.

"I'm already going to be the best, I'll be standing as grand champion someday." The image flashed in her mind, her standing triumphantly over Lance. Maybe not him specifically but certainly some reigning champion. It was only a matter of time.

"But seriously, can you believe him?" She wasn't quite finished complaining yet. "I bet that as soon as he heard I caught Riolu he had all sorts of thoughts about how I was going to completely flip and become everything he wanted me to be!"

It took a few deep breaths before she was able to refocus herself. "New plan, we're going to go to the Pokemon Center and pick some fights. With how packed it is there's bound to be some trainers who want to battle. I need to let off some steam and we should do a last hoorah before I have to mess with the team composition."

Riolu needed to be on the team, for the next few months at least. And he needed to slowly be acclimatized to the dark-types, putting him on a team full of them might not be the best way to start things off. That wasn't the worst thing in the world at least, she had been neglecting some of her other Pokemon, it was as good a time as any to make sure everyone was still in shape.

Her mind made up she grabbed everything she needed and wrenched the door open to leave. This is where she found Brock standing there, hand raised to knock on the door she'd stolen from his reach.

Perhaps it was unjustified but a creeping bit of suspicion filled her. "How much of that did you hear?"

"A little bit of the yelling." He put his hand down. "The walls are way too thin."

Of course they were, that was her luck. "Do you have anything to say?"

That was a little terse but to be fair she was in a very bad mood right now and just wanted to go and destroy some people with her Pokemon. Heck, maybe she should try and figure out how to challenge this Blaine guy, just because she wasn't going for the league didn't mean she wasn't allowed to challenge a gym.

He'd probably put up a better fight than most of the other trainers here.

"Just that I don't know everything that happened with you and your dad… but I can understand it when parents disappoint you." There was no judgment in his voice, nor pity, just a sense of comradery she wasn't expecting.

Karen mentally ran down what she knew about Brock's home life. "Your dad was a deadbeat for a while right?"

"Something like that." Brock glanced up and down the hall. "Mind if I come in?"

"Might as well, but we've already established the walls aren't good for much except set dressing." She stepped aside and closed the door behind him.

"Fair enough," he sat down on one of the cushions and she flopped down onto the futon. "So, my dad, he was around when I was younger."

"Given the number of siblings, he had to be," Karen noted.

Brock frowned but didn't address it. "Mom decided she had more interesting things to do than stay home and raise us. I remember her less than Dad, but she was always kind of… scatterbrain. She was able to run the gym too but it was never her priority. She seemed to move from one thing to the next, whatever happened to be important at the time."

"For a little while that was us, me and my brothers and sisters I mean." He clarified. "But one day, maybe a year before I turned ten, she decided she had other things to do."

"Your mom bailed on you?" Karen wasn't sure whether that was worse than just having a dead mom. Probably better not to compare.

"Bail implies she just walked out one day. No, she made plans, talked about all the places she was going to go, spent time collecting everything she needed, then she had a party and left." Brock elaborated.

"…what the heck."

"Dad got a bit detached after that." He continued. "He was doing all the gym challenges and he got me Onix for my tenth birthday but he spread thin. When I turned twelve he decided to do the gym challenge."

"Really, at his age?" That surprised Karen a bit.

"He had a plan, at least so he told me." Brock sighed. "He didn't feel like he was doing a good job as both a father and a gym leader so he thought he could do the league, become champion, and then give us better lives."

The dark-type trainer quirked an eye. "How was he planning to do that?"

"Well, if he became a champion a lot of opportunities come with it, he wouldn't need to give the gym as much attention and as long as he didn't become grand champion or an Elite 4 member he'd have a lot more time." Brock paused after that, as though he had changed his mind.

"Considering I don't remember him from when I was doing Kanto back then, he didn't win?" Karen asked.

"I could handle watching the gym and caring for all my brothers and sisters for six months." Brock gripped his knees and Karen saw his knuckles whiten. "I thought the plan would work, dad would be a champion, we'd have more money, more time, maybe even a bigger house!"

"But he didn't win. And he didn't come back." Brock ran a hand through his hair. "Except he did, he came back and watched. But he was "too ashamed" to actually come home and help!"

"He was ashamed of losing the league?" Karen scoffed a bit. "Does he not realize how many people compete?"

"That's my point." Brock's tension started to leave. "I didn't care that he hadn't become champion, I didn't care if his plan failed, I would have been fine with that. Sure I was disappointed but I didn't blame him. I blame him for letting his shame and embarrassment get the better of him. For putting his pride over the rest of us and only getting over himself when I confronted him."

Karen stayed quiet, thinking about his words for a minute. "So what's the lesson here? Or at least which one do you want me to take away?"

"Who said there's a lesson?" Brock asked.

"Don't play coy pretty boy." She rhymed. "Is the lesson that parents are idiots? Or is it that parents sometimes need to be confronted for things to get better?"

"Neither." He shrugged. "I could just be distracting you from your own issues by telling you about mine."

"You could be and it's working," Karen smirked. "But come on."

"Alright, alright." He grinned a bit. "Parents are humans. For good and bad. They make mistakes, they make bad choices, they screw up. Sometimes you can look up to them and respect them but that pedestal can crumble."

"Despite everything with my dad, I don't doubt he loved us. He screwed up massively and I don't think I'm ready to forgive him yet, but I know he's trying to be better now." Brock told her. "Mom on the other hand? I have no idea what I'd do if I saw her again. I might ignore her or I might punch her."

"Wow, never thought you'd admit to wanting to hit a girl." Karen teased.

"You're lucky you're cute when you're teasing." Brock shot back.

"You're lucky I think you're cute enough to tease." She leaned forward.

Brock fought back a blush. "So, yeah, I don't know exactly what's going on with your father. I don't know the specifics or what's going on with the rest of your family, but I know it's complicated, and if my story has convinced you of anything, it's that I know how messy family can be and I'm here if you want to talk about it."

Karen leaned back, mulling it over. That was the question, wasn't it. Did she want to talk about it? What was there to talk about really? Karen liked to say she never looked back, but then the last few months had rolled around, and she'd found herself looking back constantly. Never really felt any regret for how things had turned out, but definitely felt bitter about it.

"I'll consider it." She told him, getting to her feet. "I'd rather not think or talk about my family ever again, and you're definitely right about parents being messy."

"I've spent a lot of time raising my siblings. It can be hard to tell where Brock the Gym Leader ends, where Brock the Older Brother begins, and how Brock the Human fits into it all." Brock got up to. "And some parents never figure out how to balance it all and come out as a good role model."

"Hmm." She hummed in agreement. "Well, I'm still going to the Pokemon Center, our conversation helped but I still feel the urge to beat as many trainers as possible into mush."

"More power to ya!" Brock laughed.

"But Brock?" She paused before she left and turned back to him. "Thanks, for coming by. And just talking. It meant a lot."

With that, she leaned in, pecked him on the cheek, winked and took off. He gaped in the doorway but she paid him no mind. Umbreon and Absol stepped in pace with her. They had some spirits to crush and some adrenaline to ride.

---

"Fancy seeing you here," Storm told Eevee as she took a break from her training.

Eevee waved her tail in greeting but didn't respond, apparently deep in thought.

They had set up shop in the backyard of the inn. It wasn't a traditional training field by any metric but they had to make do with what they had available. At the very least they had the space to themselves.

Everyone had thrown themselves into training with a passion. Ash was jumping between, offering tips and advice, occasionally sparring or acting using his attacks to test defenses.

For the moment though, Storm needed to take a breather, they'd been at it for hours now, and seeing Eevee off to the side she'd come to sit down by her.

"I don't suppose you've worked out an unbeatable strategy that will carry us from Blaine to the league?" Storm asked after a few minutes.

"What?" Eevee perked up. "No, sorry just debating what to evolve into."

That caught her interest. "You've decided to do it then?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Within the next few days at least. Better to do it sooner than later, I'd need to get used to the new shape and typing. The longer before the league the better."

"Makes sense." She nodded. "But you still can't pick?"

"I've been nervous about making the wrong choice." She said. "I've said as much before. So I'm taking my emotions out of the equation."

"Really now?" Storm's amusement showed. "And how have you done that?"

"It's a simple question, what choice would be the most useful to the team?" Eevee asked. "But I've run into a problem there."

"And what's that?"

"Think about the types we have, and while some Pokemon might insist typing isn't everything, having coverage for everything is the best strategy." Eevee pointed out. "We have water, psychic, fairy, electric, flying, normal, and fire."

"Not counting Diglet of course."

"Of course." She agreed. "Now we're missing quite a few there, but most of what we're missing I can't evolve into."

"No rock-types or dragon-types." Storm rattled off the first two to come to mind.

"Perhaps someday an Eevee will discover a new evolution, but I doubt it'll be me." She looked saddened by this. "But anyway, based on our composition that rules out some choices, no need for Flareon, Jolteon, Vaporeon, Espeon, or Sylveon."

Wartortle nodded, following so far. "Which leaves you with three."

"And thus my problem. Leafeon or Glaceon would fill a few holes, but would the pros outweigh the cons?"

"Well, what are the cons?" Storm offered, she hoped talking through all this would help her teammate out.

"The most immediate one is the fire-type weakness," Eevee admitted. "If I evolved before the gym then I'd be useless during the battle."

"Not useless." Storm reminded her. "But definitely at a disadvantage."

"Semantics." Eevee waved her off. "And it does go further, ice-type doesn't actually give us a real advantage we didn't have already. Selene and Art can cover dragon-types, you can cover ground-types, Pidgeotto and Sunny can deal with grass-types, and Pikachu can deal with flying types."

"That rules Glaceon out then?" Storm prompted. "Leafeon?"

Eevee's face twisted. "Not useful offensively, defensively however I'd have resistances that we couldn't cover already. But the trade-off is having a lot of other weaknesses that just make it nonviable."

"Sounds like neither of them are a good fit then," Storm noted.

"That was the result I was coming to." She sighed. "There is a third option, and it would be perfect, but…"

"But you couldn't use a stone," Storm concluded. "Would Umbreon really be the best choice? We do have Ash."

"He can't battle most of the time." Eevee insisted. "Sure there might be a special circumstance but that leaves us without a dark-type most of the time. And honestly? It's the best choice, it gives us coverage against both ghosts and psychics, something we're definitely missing right now."

"So let's say you pick Umbreon then." Storm followed the hypothetical. "But you can't use one of the stones to do it."

"Nope," Eevee said simply.

"How would you evolve into Umbreon then?" Storm asked. "I don't know now that I think about it."

"Supposedly, to evolve into Umbreon or Espeon a Pokemon needs to like their trainer." Eevee sighed. "I'm not sure how true that is, people used to think the only way for Eevee to evolve into Sylveon was if they loved their trainer but then it turned out that if they knew a fairy-type move…"

Storm shrugged. "Well, do you like Ash?"

"Of course I do!" Eevee perked up. "What's not to like? He's brave, strong, determined, he may not always be the smartest but he can be clever and creative. Not to mention he sometimes has nuggets of wisdom, and I'd trust him with my life, and-"

As Eevee started rattling off all the things she liked about Ash she started to glow. Storm's eyes went wide, not having expected this outcome in the slightest. She took a few steps back and the others paused their training, noticing what was happening.

Then, the glow stuttered out and Eevee (and she was still Eevee) pitched forward huffing and coughing. "WHAT THE HECK?!"

"I think you just started evolving," Storm told her. "Congrats, you know how to evolve into Espeon or Umbreon now."

"Eevee's evolving?!" Art immediately closed in. "You don't look different."

Eevee was still hyperventilating. "I- that was- I think I stopped it?"

"You can stop evolving?" Pidgeotto asked, the idea had never occurred to her. "I thought you needed an Everstone for that?"

"Apparently?" Pikachu shrugged. "I was shooting a lot of lightning at the time, it all kind of blurred to me. I had no idea I could have just stopped."

"Yes." Eevee was starting to calm down. "You can yourself from evolving if you realize what's happening. But! It's not something you should keep doing! If you don't want to evolve an Everstone will prevent it without you accidentally damaging something."

"I'm still a bit confused about what happened," Ash admitted. "I saw you taking a break and then suddenly Eevee started glowing."

"We were talking about what she should evolve into," Storm explained. "And we started talking about how she could evolve into Umbreon without a stone, and uh, I guess we figured it out?"

"I wouldn't have evolved into Umbreon." Eevee glanced up at the sky. "It's too early. I would have been an Espeon, that's why I panicked and stopped it."

Ash blinked. "Oh! You've picked Umbreon then? How come?"

"It's the most useful for the team." She explained simply.

He seemed less than impressed with the reasoning. "So you don't want to evolve into Umbreon?"

"I couldn't pick based on preference so I'm picking based on logic." She elaborated. "I can't think of a personal reason to pick any of them, so I thought about our team and which one would make the most sense. Glaceon and Leafeon were also options but there's some problems there."

Her trainer nodded, understanding a bit better. "Alright, you pick Umbreon then?"

"…yes. I think." Eevee frowned. "I don't know. Why is this so hard? Umbreon makes the most sense. I theoretically know how to do it now. Why does it fill me with so much dread?"

None of them had an immediate answer until Pikachu spoke up. "Because it will be different, and scary and you don't know how much you'll still be yourself. Because the only Umbreon we know is kind of a grouch. Because you know there's no going back."

Eevee looked at him, surprise and doubt evident. "Weird of you to try and make a good point."

"Yeah well, I've thought enough about evolving." He hopped over to Ash's bag and fished something out. "And you, despite all the time you spend staring off into space, clearly haven't thought enough yet."

With that, he dropped the necklace attached to Sunny's Everstone around her neck. "So think some more until you don't dread it."

Eevee stared at him, her expression confused and conflicted. "Right…"

"That goes for the rest of you too!" Pikachu snapped to it. "If you have any doubts about evolving, don't. Because that's it! No going back!"

He looked at each of them, Art just looked confused about the situation. Storm nodded respectfully, Pidgeotto remained aloof, and Selene looked thoughtful as she took his words to heart. His gaze lingered for a moment on Ash and the friends nodded to each other.

"Let's spend a little bit more time training," Ash announced. "Then tonight we can investigate the gym and see about these riddles. I should be able to use my illusion by then."

He glanced at Selene as he said this and she gave consent. "Oh good, it feels wrong not being allowed to use my illusions. Like I'm missing my tail."

"Don't you lose your tail when you use your illusion?" Pidgeotto asked.

"Exactly."

---

"I don't think I get riddles." Art decided.

"Not everyone does," Storm told him. "There's an element of wordplay to them that goes over some people's heads. And it's not uncommon for them to turn out too easy or too difficult."

"I like wordplay," Selene admitted. "But this doesn't make sense."

"It's going over my head too," Pidgeotto admitted. "Eevee?"

The team looked at her and could practically hear the dial-up noises as she computed the riddle.

As planned they'd gone to the gym after training, Ash relished in using his illusions once again and since everyone else was pretty tired he found himself once again acting as the method of transportation. Storm had taken Sunny's usual spot on his back and Art had taken her spot in his arms next to Selene. He was slightly less awkward to hold.

The gym itself was right where it was supposed to be, the problem was it was completely rundown and looked like it hadn't been used in years. The only thing of note was the note pinned to the door.

It read as such: "Outside is not the solution, if you want to sleep on your side, you'll need the other side."

"I mean is it just the opposite on outside?" Pikachu took a shot in the dark. "Because that's inside. Maybe the gym is still running and it just looks bad on the outside?"

Ash perked up a bit. "Hey, that's a good idea! We should check it out!"

He had to struggle with the door a bit, which wasn't a good sign, but they managed to get in. Unfortunately, the inside didn't look much better than the outside. Disappointed but not surprised they turned and found another note.

"Good guess, but you're thinking too flat."

"Okay, what the heck does that one mean?" Ash complained.

"Maybe we need to be there or be square?" Selene asked. "Cause squares have flat sides."

"Where is there?" Pidgeotto pressed.

"Not here obviously."

"What if it's a trick?!" Art jumped up. "The note in here is tricking us! I bet the real gym is under the floorboards!"

With that declaration he pointed his stick and started using Psychic to rip up the old floor, exposing the foundation. As his powers tore apart the interior the building began to shake and Ash scooped him up.

"Art I don't think there's anything in here." He told the younger Pokemon. "So, let's not bring the whole place down? At least not while we're inside…"

"Can I do it from the outside?" Art asked as they stepped back out. Eevee was still standing in the same spot.

"No, we talked about this. Outside is not the answer." Pikachu jokingly replied.

"But also no, don't tear the building down." Storm lectured.

Ash shook his head. "We need to think about it some more I guess. Let's go back to the inn and meet up with the others. Maybe they'll have some ideas?"

"The more heads th-" Pidgeotto started but Eevee cut her off.

"Got it! Follow me!" She turned and jogged off.

"Uh, never mind I guess. Follow Eevee!" Ash changed plans.

As the normal-type led the way, it quickly became obvious that plans hadn't changed as much as they thought. This became a certainty when they found themselves back at the inn.

"I don't understand." Selene summarized.

Eevee snatched the note from Ash and marched into the inn and up to the front desk. She jumped on top and dropped the letter in front of the innkeeper.

He looked at the paper and then at Eevee. "You know dude, you're not supposed to take it? Like other people need to read it too."

"…we did not think of that," Eevee admitted.

"But still, far out! You solved the first part! Here's part two. Good luck!" He gave Ash a confused look. "Do you need a room man?"

"What? No, I already have a room." He held up the key.

"That room's already taken though." The innkeeper crossed his arms. "And I'm pretty sure it wasn't you."

The words registered and Ash dropped his illusion.

"Oh, Magic Vulpix! How's it going? Some weirdo just tried to take your room. Don't worry, I stood up for you. And Eevee, good luck with your riddle!" He waved them off.

"I literally do not know what to make of that man," Pidgeotto stated as they went looking for the rest of their traveling companions.

"Try not to think about it." Selene comforted her.

"Speaking of thinking, what the heck was up with the riddle?" Storm asked Eevee.

"It's not outside, so inside, and sleep on your side. The answer is an Inn, and since he was the one who told us about the riddles in the first place, I figured this was the correct in." She mused. "Honestly I probably wouldn't have thought of it if you hadn't mentioned coming back."

"Huh, good thing I said "inn" out loud." Ash blinked. "What's the next riddle?"

"I hope there isn't a long trail of these things…" Pikachu grumbled.

"Beaches, peaches, find me where the screamers don't stomp upon the ground." Eevee read the riddle.

"That one sounds simple." Storm considered. "A peach tree on the beach."

"Lot of beaches on this island." Pidgeotto reminded them. "I could do a fly-by and see if I spot anything."

"Missing the obvious, it's one of the beaches that doesn't have tourists." Eevee clarified. "Which narrows it down a bit."

"We'll check it out tomorrow, by the time we get anywhere it's going to be dark." Ash decided.

"I could make it." Pidgeotto huffed.

"You also can't read." Ash reminded her. "And I guess he's right, we probably shouldn't take the notes."

Dinner was an interesting affair. Mostly because Riolu was now out and about, beyond that, Karen had switched out several members of her team. Absol was the only member who stayed, that fact she switched out Umbreon surprised the others the most.

"Believe me, he's the first one I'm switching back in." Karen clarified. "But with Riolu I'd rather have Absol around for… obvious reasons."

"Why did you switch them all out?" Misty asked her.

"Riolu will need time to get used to dark-types." She explained. "And yes, Gloom technically isn't a dark-type."

"But he's Gloom." Ash summarized.

"Exactly. Don't want him converting the new kid to nihilism."

"The beach was fun," Misty mentioned. "Crowded though. I did get to do a proper water battle, in the ocean!"

"Oh cool!" Ash perked up. "Did you win?"

"Who do you take me for? Of course, we did!"

"So many colors…" Riolu kept looking between everyone. "I don't know who to test first!"

"When you say test…" Pidgeotto trailed off.

"Yes." Absol nodded. "He will punch you."

"But now that you've warned us he won't right?" Pikachu asked Absol, the Disaster Pokemon just gave him a look of pity.

"So Karen's made a bunch of new friends." Graveler noted, "I'm a bit confused about the Zorua trainer situation though."

"Why does everyone get confused about it?" Art asked. "Dash is our trainer and he's a Zorua, it's not complicated!"

"Wait I thought his name was Ash?" Snover asked.

"I combined Dad and Ash." Art clarified. "All the best things are combinations."

"Like your name?" Pidgeotto asked.

"Duh!"

"You're on the riddle trail then?" Brock asked Ash.

"Apparently?" The Zorua shrugged. "I don't know how many riddles there will be, or how long they'll take to figure out. I guess I'll let you guys know when I finally make it to the gym!"

"Good luck, especially balancing that with the training," Karen told him. "I've got some training to do myself, making sure everyone is in shape and working with Riolu."

"I might join you, I have been slacking a little bit." Misty decided. "If I ever want my gym back I need to get stronger."

"Everyone's got the training bug then?" Brock chuckled. "And Ash I have a suggestion, maybe you should split your focus? Train in the mornings and work on the riddles in the afternoon?"

Ash glanced at Pikachu and Storm, the others were distracted with Karen's team. "What do you think?"

"I say we check out the beaches first tomorrow and then train after." Storm planned. "That way if the riddle is a tough one we have more time to figure it out."

"Yeah, since we just need to find the tree I say we find it and then train, then we can do more riddle-solving after." Pikachu nodded along.

"Makes sense to me!" Ash agreed with his team. "By the time we get to the gym, we'll be more than ready!"

---

It took three days to get to the last riddle.

The chase took them all over the island, from finding the tallest tree in the forest to the smallest boat at the dock. Honestly, some of the riddles were more creative than others but their creator certainly seemed to enjoy making them.

When at last they found the last riddle on the underside of a sewer cover (ew) they were beginning to run out of steam. Thankfully for them, the writer (who was probably Blaine the Gym Leader) clarified this was the last riddle. Hopefully so anyone who made it this far would prepare before actually challenging him and not just wander up expecting another riddle.

"This is the end! Challenger prepare! Go to the place where the rocks start to bend. And follow the road where heat cooks the air. The cauldron awaits past the dark place."

"Aha! Last riddle!" Art cheered as Ash read it out loud and put the drain cover back. He was getting a few odd looks from bystanders.

"After the one about Spearow in a nest this one is nothing." Eevee shrugged. "At least if I'm right."

With those words, she looked past the buildings of the city and at the pillar of stone that dominated the island.

Pikachu took her meaning. "Are you serious? The volcano?! Who would put a gym challenge in a volcano?!"

"A fire-type gym leader." Ash reminded him.

"That's still pretty extreme." The electric-type insisted.

On the way back to the inn the discussion turned to when they should go for it. They could do it tonight or wait until tomorrow.

"We should wait." Eevee decided. "We can do a bit more training tonight, just a bit more refinement and then we can do the challenge tomorrow."

"Gives us a bit of time to psyche ourselves up too," Storm muttered. "Maybe we should switch Sunny in. He'd be better in a volcano than most of us."

"But I'd be next up and I'm not missing this," Eevee claimed. "Beyond this being the final gym… I also want to see what the inside of a volcano looks like."

"Of course."

Their friends had mixed reactions to the news that the battle would be taking place in the volcano.

"I think you guys might want to spend this in your balls," Misty told her Pokemon.

"Agreed." Squirtle was blunt.

"When did he move it to the volcano?!" Karen asked, leaning on the table with wide eyes. "It was not in a volcano when I fought him!"

"Oh right, you've fought Blaine before, how was it?" Ash hoped for a bit of advice.

"Don't get your hopes up, he was my third badge, and while he was tough it's probably nothing like what you'll have to deal with," Karen warned him.

"I wonder how many challengers he's getting?" Brock asked. "Ash, did you see anyone else while you were solving the riddles?"

"We saw lots of people, but no we didn't see anyone else solving them," Ash admitted. "I guess we'll have to find the way into the volcano tomorrow."

As he finished his sentence a cracking sound came from above and the innkeeper landed on their table, flat on his back. He didn't cry out in pain or look hurt, he just turned to Ash. "I know how to get into the volcano."

"…what were you doing up there?"

"I was sweeping the ceiling, there's not enough time to do it most days my dudes." As he spoke a broom cluttered to the floor nearby.

"Why do you know how to get into the volcano?" Karen asked him doubtfully.

"The gym leader and I go way back gal!" He sat up straight. "It's been ages since I've seen the guy though, I miss my main fiery man."

"Oh is that why your inn is part of the riddle?" Ash asked him.

"It's the oldest riddle!" The innkeeper told him. "We were doing it before the red lady with the red dragon showed up and red all over the place."

"…you mean Joy and Latias?"

"Them yeah!" He nodded.

"What does red all over the place mean?" Art whispered to Eevee.

"I don't think it means anything." She hissed back.

"But yeah, that last riddle can be a bit of a bummer. Rocks bend all over the place!" He waved his arms. "So I can show you where they bend right! Since you already figured out it was the volcano anyway. If you thought it was the kitchen then I wouldn't be allowed to show you."

"Is that why there's a cauldron in the kitchen?" Brock asked.

"Nah, that's just for emergencies, man."

Brock blanched and shuddered but Ash felt his excitement grow. "Alright! We'll be going tomorrow! Do you need us to leave at a specific time?"

"Time is an illusion dude, don't sweat it. We can leave whenever the sun's in the sky." The innkeeper ruffled his head. "Make sure Magic Vulpix knows, since he's the challenger though."

"We'll tell him." Misty deadpanned.

---

The Innkeeper led them up the trail the next morning, they'd slept in a little bit and had a good breakfast, but the whole team was eager for this. It was their last gym battle, next up was the league!

They could hardly wait.

"We're gonna be so cool!" Art squealed as they hiked up the ridge outside of the city. "Eight gym badges! Most people don't get that right?"

"Nope!" Storm agreed. "My last trainer sure didn't!"

"You had a trainer before Dash?" Art looked surprised.

"Yeah, but he was a real jerk." Storm looked a bit wistful. "At least he turned into one. Ash is better in pretty much every way."

"Course he is! He's Dash!"

After about an hour of hiking, they reached a large opening in the rockface, the stone seemed to flow around the cave entrance, almost as though it was bent.

"Rocks bend. I get it." Pidgeotto muttered and glowered at the hole. "Always underground, why can't there be a gym in the sky?"

"Alright gang, everyone who can't take the heat should duck out now." The innkeeper warned them. "Mother Nature can be very hot when she wants to be."

Misty returned her Pokemon and Ash returned Storm and Pidgeotto, he'd release them if they were going to battle. Karen returned Snover and Wooper while Brock sent out Zubat.

"Just in case." He told the others.

The tunnel was relatively cool… at first. About thirty yards in the temperature started to climb, then it got dark. For a little while they didn't have any light and Ash understood why Brock had sent out Zubat.

Despite this, their guide didn't falter and kept leading them in.

Eventually, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel, a deep red glow that bathed them in color.

It was farther away than it first appeared, and as they walked a sound started to echo.

*Bum* *Bum* *Bum*

"What's that?" Karen asked.

"It sounds like…drums?" Brock guessed.

*Bum* *Bum* *BOOM* *Bum* *Bum*

They jumped at the booming drumbeat. As it sounded the light vanished for a second before washing over them once more. Misty shuddered.

"Drums… drums in the deep." She muttered.

The drumming continued and as it did they noticed a change begin to come over their guide.

*Bum* *Bum* *BOOM*

The light flickered and his wig was gone.

*Bum* *Bum* *BOOM*

Again and he no longer slouched his shoulder, now standing proud.

*Bum* *Bum* *BOOM*

The smaller beats became louder and more numerous, a chorus accented by the thooming.

*Bum* *Bum* *BOOM*

The innkeeper now wore a clean white suit.

*Bum* *Bum* *BOOM*

A matching fedora covered his bald head.

*Bum* *Bum* *BOOM*

They walked throw the glowing door and into the heart of the volcano.

*Bum* *Bum* *BOOM*

A massive cavern, nowhere near as large as the crystal cavern but far larger than most gym arenas awaited them. Bubbling magma pulsed below them and wafted the entire room with light. Manmade ramparts wrapped the edges and podiums were stationed opposite each other.

*Bum* *Bum* *BOOM*

Rock spired jutted out of the fiery cauldron below and a stone bridge spanned the center of the space. Atop one of the spires was a Magmar, apparently sleeping but he roused as they approached.

*Bum* *Bum* *BOOM*

Their guide stepped forward in a sweeping motion. Magmar tossed him something and he caught it. A black cane tipped with a white orb of some sort. "Ladies and gents this is the moment you've waited for." His words were spoken with such a different effect it was hard to believe they came from the same person.

*Bum* *Bum* *BOOM*

"Welcome to the final gym!" He rounded as he raised his voice. The drums beat along to his words. "Are you ready for the final fight? Do you think you can beat me tonight? Well, what are you waiting for? Face Blaine, the Blaze of Cinnabar!"

---

"I'm worried about Spearow." Delia confided in Shelldon as they sat down for lunch. "She's a lot more…"

Spearow ripped apart her food with reckless abandon and destroyed the dish.

"…excitable, than I'm used to."

Shelldon leveled a deadpan stare at her. "Toise."

"I mean she already joined the team! I'm not going to kick her out! Mankey and Caterpie are settling in just fine!"

It was true! After Mankey had calmed down a bit she'd been a dear, even helping out with food preparation! And Caterpie was a sweet boy. He hadn't even battled them, just started following them until she caught him.

"Blastoise." Shelldon shrugged and went back to his own food.

"See if I ask for your help ever again," Delia muttered, not really meaning it.

So far, this had been a successful trip! She'd caught three more Pokemon! Now she just had to get back to regular training. It might be a bit tricky to balance it with the diner but Shelldon would be a big help, and Professor Oak had offered to do what he could too.

True she hadn't managed to catch a full team like she'd planned to, but she was running out of time. She'd only made preparations to be gone for five days and they were halfway through the fourth.

They were already making their way back actually. Right now they were on the outskirts of Viridian again. They'd be back home in Pallet Town by tomorrow night if Shelldon's calculations were correct.

It had been decided when she was ten that Shelldon was the one who did directions. Or Arnold if Shelldon was unavailable, Pix in an emergency, and Delia when all hope was lost.

She wasn't that bad. Really.

Except for that one time they'd ended up on the Sevii Islands while walking to Lavender Town but that didn't count.

Delia was so caught up in memories of her first journey that she didn't notice the approaching visitor until Caterpie let out a squeak of alarm.

"Whoops! Sorry, didn't mean to startle ya!" An oddly androgynous voice apologized.

She jumped and looked up at their guest and saw a familiar-looking man with black hair and reddish-brown eyes. She nearly fell backward.

"R-" She stared and shook herself. No, he was regions away last she heard. Besides, this man carried himself wrong and didn't sound anything like her old friend.

What would Ash's first trainer be doing here anyway?

"I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that Miss..?" The question was obvious.

"Sorry, you just look like someone I know." She apologized for her stutter.

"Ah! You know, it's funny how often I hear that." He shook his head. "Sorry, what was your name?"

Delia." She introduced herself. "Delia Ketchum."

"From Delia's Diner?" His eyebrows went up. "What an honor!"

"You've heard of me?" She found herself disarmed by his charm and friendliness.

"I've had your cooking!" He laughed. "It was a while ago, I live here in Viridian, just on a bit of a walkabout, it's good to get enough exercise."

"Certainly." She agreed. "Where are my manners? Would you like to sit down for lunch?"

Shelldon made a rumbling noise and sent her a look. Delia frowned, something about this man was putting Shelldon on edge but she couldn't see it.

Still, she trusted her starter's instincts. She'd be a bit more guarded, but whether there was something off or not, it was better to keep him in sight.

"I'd love to!" He seemed delighted by the prospect, either not noticing or choosing to ignore Shelldon's discomfort. "If you don't mind me asking what are you doing over in my neck of the woods?"

Based on her starter's feeling she gave him a semi-truthful answer. "Well, recently I've been getting a bit of wanderlust. I decided to relive a bit of my youth and go on a short little journey."

"Relive your youth?" He seemed surprised by her words. "But you don't look a day over twenty-five!"

"I'm twenty-nine actually." Shelldon rolled his eyes and she withheld a wince. Wow, she was terrible at this whole being guarded thing, wasn't she?

"Still! You're younger than me." He accepted a plate of food. "Delicious! Just like I remembered! I bet you can't leave your diner without you for long though."

"I've made preparations." She didn't specify any time. "I'm sorry I never caught your name?"

"Now where are my manners!" He put a hand to his chest in mock shame. "A lot of people call me a lot of different things. But I suppose you can call me Petrel."

---

Ash was still picking his jaw up off the floor as Blaine clapped. "Come on then, do you want a gym battle or not?"

"You were the innkeeper the whole time?" Brock stared.

"Obviously." Blaine's glasses flashed. "I've become something of a showman in my old age. Pretty convincing huh? She's even battled me before and she didn't notice!"

He pointed at Karen and she flushed. "I was a bit distracted!"

"Yes, I'm sure." He waved off. "Now then Magic Talking Vulpix, take your place! It's an eight-badge challenge! I haven't had a proper fight in weeks!"

Blaine hopped to and gestured to Magmar who followed along to the opposite podium. Ash realized that Blaine was just as excited for this battle as he was, possibly more so. He grinned and rushed to his place. "Hope you're ready to lose!"

"HA!" Blaine barked. "Not even close. Look bud, credit where it's due. You have a good work ethic and connection with your Pokemon, course you have a bit of an unfair advantage there. BUT!" His tone dropped. "You won't win."

Ash narrowed his eyes. "We'll show you."

"I'm the one running the show here!" Blaine declared and struck the steel base with his cane. The podiums lifted above the ramparts and gave bother trainers a full view of the battlefield. "I think you'll find the house is always right!"

"That's not how it goes!" Karen complained.

A giant red X appeared over Blaine's head. "Wrong little missy! In this place, my word is law! I am the God of the Mountain and it's time for church! NOW CHALLENGER!" His voice thundered. "SEND OUT YOUR FIRST POKEMON!"

Above Blaine's head, below where the X had appeared, five green circles flashed to life. Ash glanced up and saw the same lights over his own head. Five versus five match then.

"You ready for this Pikachu?" Ash asked his partner.

Pikachu grinned back. "Born ready. Let's do this!" He jumped down and onto the rocky bridge.

"And the electric-rat takes the field!" Blaine crowed. "Facing him down, sleek as a sunbeam and almost as fast! Ninetales!"

He sent out his own Pokemon, and Ninetale's well-groomed coat practically glowed in the light of the volcano. "Let the games begin." She smirked at Pikachu.

"Bring it, I've spent years fighting a fox." Pikachu sparked with power.

"Flamethrower! Let's put his speed to the test!" Blaine cried to Ninetales.

"Dodge it and use Thunderbolt! Show them we mean business!" Ash yelled to Pikachu.

Pikachu rolled back, narrowly avoiding the fire attack, and unleashed his own at Ninetales.

Except Ninetales wasn't there anymore.

"Too slow." She whispered behind him and suddenly Pikachu was airborne. He barely understood what attack was just used but the oncoming magma certainly helped bind him to reality.

Thinking fast, he used Iron Tail to lodge himself onto one of the rock spikes. Ninetales wasn't on the bridge anymore, she was on a spike opposite him and smirking once more.

He really wanted to wipe that look off her face.

"Quick Attack Pikachu!" Ash called. "Don't let her know what you're planning! Get ready to strike!"

Pikachu lunged to her column but Ninetales had moved on, again and again, they danced and Pikachu realized he was out of his depth in speed. He couldn't fathom how but this fire-type was faster than even Pidgeotto.

This was obviously a problem, most of his arsenal relied on speed. If that wasn't going to work they'd need a different approach.

Blaine watched the battle intently, his eyes hidden behind his glasses. He tutted. "Fast but not fast enough. I may have been wrong, maybe you don't have as good a chance as I thought."

"Don't count us out!" Ash shouted. "Pikachu! Flatten the spires!"

Pikachu's tail shimmered and with a spin he cut the top of his rock spire off, leaving a proper platform, leaping forward he repeated the action, again and again.

It was satisfying when he saw Ninetales stumble, she was used to the spires being shaped a certain way and took an extra second to regain her footing on the new surface.

That second was all Pikachu needed.

Propelling himself with a mix of Iron Tail and Quick Attack he landed under Ninetales's feet, he had a moment to appreciate the look of surprise on her face before he unleashed a Discharge point blank.

Thunderbolt might have been a bit more powerful but considering how quick she seemed to be he didn't want to risk missing again.

"Aha! There is a bit of power to ya!" Blaine applauded. "But is it enough? Ninetales Fire Spin and Will O'Wisp! Let's see how they do with nowhere to stand!"

Pikachu cried in pain as the fire seared his fur. He tried to angle himself to land on another column but felt searing heat as soon as he landed. Once again abusing Iron Tail he went over the side and used it to anchor himself.

All the rock spires, and even the bridge, had dancing orbs of fire covering them. Fire Spin must have propelled them around the room. Blaine hadn't been kidding about nowhere to stand.

For him at least, Ninetales had no such concerns and stood menacingly with orbs of flame dancing around her, shadows silhouetted her features in disturbing, alien ways.

"The walls!" Ash cried to Pikachu. "The walls are safe! Use them!"

Sure, Ash, he'd just run along the walls. Pikachu wanted to roll his eyes but as his eyes wandered over them he saw Ash's point. There were plenty of small outcroppings that he could fit on, but Ninetales couldn't. And more than that, the cavern tilted inwards as it rose…

Steel-type moves might not be good against fire-types. But rocks were supposed to be strong right?

Pikachu lunged and used Quick Attack to propel himself from spot to spot, as he rose higher and gained speed he dragged his Iron Tail along the walls, rumbling echoed through the cave as great chunks of stone began to fall.

Ninetales easily began to avoid the falling rocks, but Pikachu jumped on top of one of them and jumped from rock to rock. As he ran he charged up a Thunderbolt and as Ninetales jumped back to avoid his rock he fired the attack at her.

Fast she may be, but she couldn't dodge in midair!

The attack must have broken concentration because the fire orbs disappeared, and Pikachu was able to return to the bridge.

In this moment he was allowed to question his choices as plumes of molten rock erupted as his micro cave-in impacted in the magma below.

Ninetales burst through one of these spurts, either immune or uncaring of the burning heat. Speaking of burns, Pikachu wasn't feeling so good himself. He had definitely been caught in the Will O'Wisp despite his efforts.

"Don't let him try anything, rush him! Fire Fang!" Blaine ordered Ninetales and she sprinted at Pikachu.

From his point of view, it was almost like she teleported. The burning fangs clamped around him and he screamed but took the hit and unleashed his electric payload. Everything around him was washed in golden light instead of red and Ninetales howled in pain.

She stumbled back, wincing as the electricity continued to dance over her form.

Pikachu took his chance and used Quick Attack to launch himself into her, their heads collided with a painful crack and both fell back.

She staggered to her feet before Pikachu did and dimly he heard Blaine call something but it was muffled.

Ash shouted something else but Pikachu's ears were ringing. Time to do something stupid.

He rolled off the edge of the bridge as a wave of fire washed over it. With his claws, he dug into the rocky underside and scrambled. A last-minute Iron Tail let him swing himself over the other side and onto Ninetales back.

She bucked as he landed but this was the best spot he could be in. Nothing left to lose he unleashed enough electricity to power a city.

It drained his charge to nothing and did nothing to help his pounding head but it did its job. Ninetales collapsed and Pikachu stood victorious.

For the moment.

"Seems I spoke too soon!" Blaine called to Ash. "It seems the challenger today is meeting expectations and even surpassing a few of them! It remains to be seen if he can overthrow my final verdict though!"

"Pikachu how are you doing?" Ash called to his friend.

"Not great." Pikachu winced. "I don't think I'll be much good staying out. I'm out of power and everything hurts."

He flinched as a fire briefly washed over him. "Also I think I'm burned."

"Right, I'm recalling Pikachu, he's done," Ash told Blaine.

"Smart decision." The old man nodded and a great red X flashed over his head, one of the circles changed to match. The electronic procedure was repeated on Ash's side of the field, signifying both sides were one Pokemon down.

"Of course thinking you could win at all was a pretty dumb decision but it's good to know you're not entirely hopeless!" He cackled. "Now since you went and knocked out the lovely Ninetales I think it's only fair I make my choice first. Rhydon it's showtime!"

"Hold on!" Misty called from the sidelines. "Rhydon isn't a fire-type!" As she spoke, the rock-type Pokemon emerged on the bridge and roared a challenge to the world.

"Rhydon-isn't-a-fire-type." Blaine mocked Misty and blew a raspberry. "Show me the rule that says I have to use fire-types! Right now! Do it!"

Misty sputtered and Blaine turned his attention back to Ash. He pointed his cane. "Pick your next contestant! We have sponsors to satisfy!"

Ash ruled out Pidgeotto, she was already at a disadvantage underground, no need to make it harder with a rock-type. He wanted to save Storm a bit longer so… "Selene! Good luck!"

"In the name of the moon, I will defeat you!" Her battle cry echoed over Riolu struggling against Karen. He was screaming something about a leg.

"No," Rhydon said simply and charged.

"SET UP!" Ash shouted, not expecting Rhydon to burst into action.

Selene quickly applied her defensive measures and then Rhydon kicked her off the bridge and she ping-ponged against the rock spires.

"Gravity!" Ash shouted as Blaine sighed.

"Seriously, you're on a lava bridge, you have to be careful!" He complained. "It shouldn't be this easy to knock you off!"

Selene froze in midair, and then she redirected it and went flying towards the ceiling. This gave her a few seconds to think of a plan.

"Rhydon, bring the house down, we can put it back later," Blaine told his Pokemon.

With his words Rhydon began firing a barrage of rocks at the ceiling, just like Pikachu he had created another cave-in.

Selene didn't have much opportunity to dodge in her current weightless state. One of the rocks clipped her and she went spinning. She angled herself and used Disarming Voice on Rhydon.

The larger Pokemon covered his ears and roared in pain. "After her Rhydon! End it! She's more dangerous at range!"

"She's not really," Eevee mentioned.

Rhydon tensed and with surprising grace launched himself onto the side of the cavern and began to climb, he dug his fists into the stone and pulled himself up. It would seem he knew how to use Rock Climb.

The floating Clefairy did her best to reangle herself and kept up the attack. But Rhydon kept climbing until he was above her.

"Rock Slide!" Blaine hollered and Rhydon screamed.

"BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE!" He pulled out of the upper wall and a tide of stone came with him. Selene was peppered with stone and sent hurdling down, she bounced off the bridge, and at a glance Ash knew she was knocked out. He quickly returned her before she could fall any further.

The river of rocks petered out and left a massive pile that came up to the bridge, it had significantly reduced the amount of magma under the battle arena. That could make things a bit easier.

But Rhydon was dangerous and hadn't taken much damage. Ash had planned to hold Storm back longer but she had the best advantage over the rock-type.

"Get him Storm!" He sent the Wartortle out and she immediately spewed water over herself and sighed.

"That's better." She stretched and observed Rhydon. "You're a big one aren't ya?"

Rhydon didn't answer, he just snorted at her.

"Ah a 'mon of few words. I can respect that." She nodded.

"Water Pulse!" Ash shouted and Storm unleashed a ball of water that instantly began to fill the arena with steam.

"Attention all spectators." Blaine's voice took on the tone of a public service announcement. "Please vacate the immediate arena and follow the signs for the spectator seating. Steam is dangerous and will kill you! Thank you for your cooperation."

The Pokemon had no such concerns and began clashing. Storm used Bite to chomp onto Rhydon's arm and he used Rock Smash to pound her into the bridge. Steaming rivers poured down the rubble pile and obscured the vision of the trainers.

"Storm keep using water attacks!" Ash shouted, putting faith in her judgment. "If it gets too hot use Ice Beam to cool things down!"

"Oh yes, using an ice-type move in a volcano, how original." Blaine sassed. "Rhydon Thunder Punch!"

"Protect!" Ash responded and Storm's Protect took the brunt of the electricity but the power behind it still sent her flying. She spewed out Ice Beam and while the ice melted nearly instantly it provided a steam cover and some cool air as she maneuvered herself with Water Gun.

"Alright then, Ash any ideas?" She called.

"Use the steam to your advantage!" He called. "You'll be a lot harder to find than he is. You can whittle him down! Reuse Light Screen and Reflect if you need to!"

"Right!" Storm cracked her knuckles and got to work creating as much cover as she could. Whenever she saw Rhydon thrashing through the mist she would fire a water-type move straight at him.

"See, this is what I'm talking about." Blaine's voice lost it's boisterous edge, "A clever plan that plays well to your strengths and makes it hard for Rhydon to function. She's to your right Rhydon."

Rhydon fired a Rock Blast but Storm slid down the rocks and then used another Water Gun to propel herself back up.

"But that's it. You have to chip away, you don't have a finisher." Blaine continued and Storm blasted Rhydon down with Water Pulse and he didn't get back up.

"That sure looked like a finisher to me!" Ash grinned and his team cheered.

Blaine shook his head. "Alright, time for the real talk. Kid, I've been watching you for days. You train hard, you work hard, you plan well. But you just aren't strong enough."

Ash frowned. "My team is plenty strong."

"Sure they are!" He held his arms wide. "They're stronger than most trainers! But most trainers don't make it to the league. Most trainers don't win the league. And you want to do both."

"We're going to do both." Ash insisted.

"Are you?" Blaine looked over the ridge of his glasses. "I repeat myself. You can't win. You won't win. I'd be failing as a gym leader if I let you win. You. Aren't. Ready."

Something about his words, the seriousness and the way he annunciated threw Ash off. "So what, you're just not going to give me the badge? Going to tell me to leave!?"

"Never!" Blaine seemed offended. "Weren't you listening? You have everything it takes kid. You and your team. You're going to be some of the best! But you're not yet. And it's my job to push you in the right direction. So here's your wall."

Storm had pulled herself back to the bridge as Ash and Blaine spoke. Blaine third Pokemon emerged and snorted smoke, stomping on the ground.

Camerupt, the Volcano Pokemon. Wrapped around his torso was a steel harness of some sort, a metal breastplate with an orb in the middle hung below his head. She wasn't close enough to get a good look at it but something about the orb struck Storm as familiar. It was like she had seen it, or at least something like it before.

"It's been fun. But it's time to end this." Blaine held up his cane, the white stone at the end shimmered. "You've done pretty well fighting inside a volcano, let's see how well you fight against one!"

As he spoke the drums started again, just the low *BOOMS* thundering in the deep. The stone at the end of Blaine's cane flared with light and the orb on Camerupt's breastplate did the same.

A chaotic storm of energy wrapped around Camerupt, solidifying for a brief moment into a solid sphere that crackled with white lightning. Then it shattered and Camperupt screamed.

"LET THE ERUPTION BEGIN!" The fire-type roared and a transformed Camerupt stepped forward.

"What the heck is that?" Pikachu, barely conscious, stared in utter confusion.

"I… have no idea." Eevee admitted with wide eyes.

Camperupt was larger, his fur longer, his volcano's taller, and the already boiling air's temperature skyrocketed once more. His eyes burned with untamed power and smoke poured from his mouth and nostrils.

"STORM, WATER PULSE AND ICE BEAM!" Ash was baffled by this turn of events but no way in heck was he about to give up. "Turn down the heat!"

Storm coughed up a globe of water and it hurled at Camerupt.

The entire ball evaporated before making contact.

"Eruption." One simple word from Blaine that summarized the rest of the battle.

Fire poured out of Camerupt, lava spewed out of his back and poured over the arena. The bridge under his feet became so hot it began to melt. He stomped forward and Storm was overwhelmed by the incredible heat.

She may be a water-type but right now she was in fire's domain.

Fire and lava poured over her until she lost consciousness. There was no fighting back against it, it was simply too much. Ash returned her and glanced at his team.

"I got him!" Art volunteered and entered the fray. Ash released Pidgeotto as he did so, she would be up next and she needed to see what she was up against.

Art didn't fare much better against the monster. He used Psychic to blanket Camerupt in stones but like the bridge beneath him, they just melted around him and coated in molten armor that just made the entire situation worse.

The young fairy-type tried everything in his collection, Ash shouting directions to try to turn the tide of battle but they couldn't do anything that seemed to even slow Camerupt down, nevermind do appreciable damage.

When Art's stick burst into flames it was the end and the young Pokemon watched in horror as his precious stick disintegrated. He barely had a moment to grieve before Camerupt headbutted him into the ground.

Last up with Pidgeotto, and she tried. They used everything they knew to try to make a dent. At this point, Ash knew they couldn't win but he was determined to at least take down this monster of a Pokemon first.

He set his hopes too high.

Pidgeotto was fast, and managed to avoid every attack Camerupt threw at her. He was raw power personified but that meant nothing if it couldn't hit her.

That was the theory at least.

But the heat was getting to her, and once Camerupt and Blaine realized that a direct attack wouldn't work, they returned to attacking the upper cavern, sending rocks hurdling down.

Rocks that seemed to move in slow motion to Pidgeotto. She sped between them and fired Twister and Gust at Camerupt. The wind managing to briefly solidify his molten armor and he had to struggle to crack it back into shape and melt it again.

Despite all the effort, all her speed, she went down too.

She was able to dodge the rocks with ease but her dodging made her more predictable, at least to Blaine. He directed Camerupt and he managed to shoot her down and knock her out once she hit the ground.

The total annihilation rolled over Ash.

He'd knocked out two of Blaine's Pokemon. Then just one more had wiped out the rest of his team.

This hurt. More than Brock. More than Surge. More than Gary.

His eyes met Eevee's and Pikachu's and he saw the same devastation reflected. They had been utterly crushed. There was barely anything to latch onto here, Blaine had told them they would lose and then he followed through.

As if the very thought had summoned him, the drums began again and Blaine spoke.

"Look around Magic Vulpix." Blaine gestured to the volcano. "This is what you're up against. You need power, I suggest you find it. You have time! Almost a month until the league! Train! Get better! Challenge me again! And again! As many times as it takes! I'll be here next season too!"

His voice pitched down. "Kanto is in shambles. Giovanni was the strongest gym leader? Please. The man barely showed up to his job. I'm the final hurdle now."

The Blaze of Cinnabar rose to full height and stood proud, Magmar at his side, head help high. Camerupt howled in the arena below. "So they can all come! They can challenge my might! I decide who goes to the league now! Challenge me again and again! I'll stand strong at the Gates of Hell!"

---

It goes without saying no one felt like doing much that night.

Regardless of how utter the defeat was, Ash's first priority was getting his team to the Pokemon Center.

As soon as people noticed the ash and soot covering him, they figured he must have actually managed to fight Blaine. They crowded him, begging for hints on how he figured out where to go, how the battle had gone.

Ash was not in the mood.

"You want to fight Blaine? Find him yourselves!" He snapped and shoved his way toward Nurse Joy. "See if he finds you worthy of going to the league! Leave me alone!"

This probably didn't win him any new friends, but a few trainers got sympathetic looks and backed off, no doubt realizing how it had gone. Mac was among them and gave Ash a nod of understanding.

Nurse Joy understood what had happened and promised to take good care of his Pokemon, but suggested he get some rest.

Ash sure didn't feel like resting.

He was grateful that his human friends gave him some space, verbally at least. Misty had given him a hug afterwards which he accepted without complaint. But he wanted to be by himself for a little while.

A little while turned into a long while before he knew it.

He'd gone back to the inn, whatever he was feeling toward Blaine right now, all their stuff was there and they still needed a place to stay. Then he'd gone to the yard and just… let it all out.

The best and worst part about dark-type moves was that they drew upon all of a person's worst aspects. Their worst feelings, and memories. They were dragged to the surface and unleashed in the form of shimmering dark attacks.

For hours Ash just unleashed a flurry of dark-type moves at one of the boulders in the backyard. Occasionally screaming at it, occasionally crying. He just wanted to get it all out.

That was the "best" part if you could call it that. He had an easy outlet most people didn't have access to.

Not that it seemed to be helping right now.

That was where Eevee found him after the sun went down. Staring at a pile of rubble.

"You've been busy." She noted.

He stayed quiet.

"Ash… I'm not good at this comfort thing. Or emotions thing." She admitted. "I'm not exactly immune to them but they don't matter as much to me a lot of the time."

"Yeah, well I'd like to be immune right now." He responded and winced a bit. "Sorry, didn't mean it like that."

"I know." She sat down next to him. "Blaine was right. We're not strong enough. We're good but we're not powerful. Pikachu and Sunny are probably the strongest of us, and Sunny's not here and Pikachu…"

Eevee paused. "I don't like Pikachu. I think he's loud, brash, annoying, prideful, prejudiced, dumb, and probably a dozen other things I could list off. But the other day I realized… he's the best partner you could have, and a better member of this team than I am."

"What?" Ash glanced at her. "Who said you weren't a good-"

"Don't argue." She slapped a tail across his mouth. "It's obvious I'm not particularly useful in battle. I know I have been helpful, especially with those riddles. But the fact you didn't even consider me for the battle says everything."

Ash frowned and turned away, unwilling to meet her eyes. She was right and she knew it.

"Back in the trap house… it feels so much longer ago." She shook her head. "Pikachu and I had an argument. He pointed out that you two are similar in a lot of ways, but I like you more than I like him."

"He's right." She accepted. "I do like you more than him, and maybe that's unfair. I try and apply logic to so many things and it doesn't always work. Because despite everything, the fact Pikachu is a good teammate and has good advice and is supportive of the team I still struggle to like him."

"This is a weird way to comfort me." Ash muttered, not even sure if he was joking or not.

"I did say I was bad at it." She looked at the rising moon. "My point is, we can't always control how we feel. Sometimes we need to step back and think about things reasonably."

"I'm having a bit of trouble stepping back." He told her. "I just… we tried so hard!"

The dark-type started pacing. "We worked so hard! We put so much training in, we got stronger, we came up with strategies and plans and sneak attacks and so much! I know when to trust you guys and when to jump in! I would trust you with my life!"

One of the crushed pieces of stone went flying as he kicked it across the backyard. "So why wasn't it enough!?" he demanded. "Why were we so powerless? Gary was one thing, sure his Pokemon were tough but we were better than them! We just needed a bit more practice! But this?!"

He sat back. "I don't know what to do."

"Ash." Eevee sat down next to him. "I trust you. We all do. Team, or friends, or family. Whatever you call it we're in this together. You've been worried about taking advantage of us or pressuring us into things we don't want to do. But Blaine was right. We aren't strong enough."

She ran a paw up her muzzle and snapped the necklace string. "You are the best trainer we ever could have had. I cannot begin to describe how glad I am I met you. You're brave, and creative, and I know you love us."

As she finished her sentence she glowed once again, Ash squinted at the light but didn't move, not quite trusting himself to breathe.

Umbreon took a deep breath and opened blue eyes. "We're going to get stronger, we're going to beat Blaine and then? We're going to win the league. And we're going to do it together."

Ash felt something wet run down his face. He didn't rub it away. "Thanks… Umbreon. I think you might be figuring out this comfort thing."

"I hope so." She stretched her new form. "Oh, this is going to take getting used to."

"That happens when you change shape." Ash may not have evolved but he had a lot of experience with different forms. "Let's get the others, and figure out how to get as strong as we can. Blaine said he decides who goes to the league? Then we won't give him a choice."

---

Sorry I didn't get this done for the weekend, I just got really excited to write this chapter so I'm posting it before the weekend.

Oops :P

NOW! That was one heck of a chapter! And honestly? I am really happy with how it turned out.

Let's take it from the top. Post losing to Gary, Ash's team is questioning how strong they really are. And if they have what it takes. Thankfully they're motivated and know they just need to train some more…

Hm.

And Karen! Now with a Riolu, and we get to see what her daddy-issues actually look like! Also I think the moment I wrote with her and Brock turned out pretty well too if I do say so myself.

Yeah, she's not exactly happy with the way things have turned out, but just like Ash she's determined to be the best, and she's not going to let anyone besides her team tell her what that looks like.

Where will her road lead? We'll see, I could have done more with her and Riolu but they'll have to wait until next chapter. Because Ash and his team have a lot of stuff to sort through.

The evolution conversation really pushes itself forward. I realized that here we are at the end of Kanto, and the only evolution was Storm. Admittedly, this isn't too far off from the anime but this far in, unevolved Pokemon are going to struggle more and more.

It's not entirely fair, but evolving does give a significant boost in strength, and they all know that. But not everyone is ready to take that leap. In fact, some of them never plan to.

So let's talk about Eevee.

When I first introduced Eevee (almost two years ago now) I didn't think much for what she'd evolve into. At least not that chapter with Bill when she appeared at the end.

In the months between that and the next chapter I thought maybe one day she'd evolve into Sylveon, in fact, in my other story BattleNET she does eventually evolve into Sylveon against Drake.

Yes, confirming it, she is the same Eevee as this one. If anyone cares.

But then I started thinking, you know with her way of fighting and the way she looks up to Ash, it might make sense for her to evolve into Umbreon. But Karen has Umbreon and I wasn't sold on the idea.

Then Archangel_BK who has contributed a lot of ideas to my fics, especially this one, wrote some "future" omakes where apparently she eventually evolved into Leafeon. She was acting like RDJ from the Sherlock Holmes movies it was very funny.

So I considered Leafeon for a bit.

But all the other Eeveelutions were available and I could never decide which one to pull the trigger on, as much as Eevee said in story she couldn't decide because she worried about regretting it later, I felt the same way.

So here we have the arc where I decided it was time for the gang to start thinking about evolving, and it would make sense that Eevee would be the first (after Storm at least, I had her's planned since I introduced her).

Eevee does not have a preference though, so how would she decide? Logically of course!

She looked at the team, and thought about what they were missing, what could she evolve into that would benefit them the most? Already have most of the other types as part of the gang. Most of the advantages from grass-types and ice-types are covered.

That left the dark-type Umbreon, and as Eevee said, despite Ash being a dark-type, they can't count on him being able to participate all the time.

(At least not yet)

But she was still scared. Logical she may be, she's still nervous about such a big change she can't come back from.

And then the battle.

I will not lie, I had a lot of fun writing Blaine this chapter. Him pretending to be a weird hippy was wonderful and his transformation into game show host/ringmaster was fun.

Brock said it very long ago, Gym Leaders need to know when to lose, and when to win.

Blaine knew he had to win. Ash and his team are good, but they're not strong enough. At least not in Blaine's eyes.

Ash has been on a win streak for awhile in this fic, sure he lost the tournament in Rota but that didn't feel major. The last "major" loss was Sabrina.

He's not where I want him to be. He's not strong enough yet. So losing to Gary cracked the foundation a bit, losing to Blaine shattered it.

They need to get stronger, and they're going to. Together.

Also Delia made a new friend. I'm sure this is completely fine and is not at all something to worry about. Anyway the next chapter is gonna be wild!

Let's get to reviews!

…wait there's only- oh. Well still!

Strike Wyvern: Not entirely unexpected, they talked about it a few chapters ago, I debated how much to show "on screen" but I wanted to include it. It's Riolu time! And sorry to hear about that, it feels like everyone got sick around the same time.

Neptune: Isn't it awesome when that happens? And I'm glad you liked the chapter!

LEGOBRICK13: Yeah from what I remember James is normally the one who actually makes a useful observation most of the time. Not always but he also had the Team Rocket guidebook (I think? Whatever it was called) so they could identify Pokemon. And yeah, Ash's team beat a bunch of much stronger Pokemon. If it had been a more "even" playing field Ash's strategies would have won easily. Yeah, figured if Karen had a rival Will made the most sense. Oh yeah, Karen has some opinions about Riolu in general.

That covers it! Hopefully I'll get the next chapter out next weekend! And maybe something else this weekend, it's been awhile since BattleNET saw an update. And even longer on… nevermind. I don't want to make any promises I can't keep.

Discord: discord gg kESdTfhAwG

TVTropes: tvtropes org / pmwiki / pmwiki php / Fanfic / ZoruaTrainer

Have a good one!

~FriTik

R&R