Misty snapped her fingers. "Oh, yeah, I was going to ask!"

She turned to Ash. "Do you have any ways of making someone else focus better? I know that Aura stuff you've got us doing involves meditation and stuff, but…"

"Can't think of any," Ash apologized. "Except Aura Purge, but that's mostly if you've got some kind of trauma, not if you just need to focus… why?"

"It's Psyduck," Misty explained. "We're heading to Hop-Hop-Hop town, and-"

"Sorry, to where?" Riolu interrupted. "That's the name of a place?"

"Apparently," Ash answered. "We were surprised last time, too."

"Anyway, I do love him, but… he's difficult to deal with," Misty summarized. "He's either completely brainless or ridiculously powerful, sometimes both."

"You didn't get a handle on him by the end?" Brock asked.

"He was… getting a little bit better," Misty replied. "He could do Water Gun on command, but… he was still Psyduck."

"Did you try aspirin?" Ash asked.

Misty stared, then groaned. "No."

"Well, it might work," Brock said. "Or Persim Berries, if he's just permanently confused."

It is possible both will work, but I do not think it is likely, Dexter said. Psyduck all have constant headaches, though Golduck do not. It might be physiological.

"Actually, now I think about it…" Ash rummaged in his bag. "Where did I put it… uh… aha, here we go."

He held out a CD in a container. "It's a Calm Mind TM, Sabrina gave it to me."

"I've never really understood how those work," Brock admitted.

Pokémon can be transmitted over the internet and you are worried about the functioning of a TM? Dexter asked.

"Mostly, I'm not sure how you use them," Brock replied. "Pokémon might be able to be transmitted over the internet, but they don't have disc drives."

Searching, Dexter informed them. I have only found two usage references. Method one: use the instructional videos on them.

"Hmm," Misty said. "That might work, but then again, Psyduck."

"He's not exactly focused," Pikachu agreed. "What's the second option?"

Apply directly to forehead.

"Well… it's worth a try?" Misty shrugged.

I also wish to report that I have found an Unovan site explaining how to remove the usage limit on Technical Machines, Dexter told them. I have already applied it to this one, so it will not be one use.

"Right!" Ash said. "Now, onwards to Hop-Hop-Hop Town!"

He made a face. "Who named that town, anyway?"

When they arrived in Hop-Hop-Hop town, they went straight for the Pokémon Centre.

The Nurse Joy managed a smile, but she was clearly under strain. "I'm afraid we might not be able to help you out much, if you have any need for check ups… we're overloaded. Pokémon throughout the town are falling asleep."

There was a yawn and a thud as Riolu joined the list of Pokémon throughout the town that were falling asleep. Pikachu didn't, though, mostly because he'd been eating Chesto Berries for the last half an hour.

Once was enough.

Ash smiled, then changed into his cap and transferred Aaron's Hat to Riolu. The Dark-subtype from the hat seemed to work, and Riolu stirred within a minute before getting back up again.

"Wow!" the Joy said, her strain melting away into enthusiasm. "So that's all it takes to cure it?"

"Well, uh…" Ash began. "This isn't really an 'all'…"

"Nurse Joy, you've noticed the most important thing about what's going on!" Brock said. "And your deductive skill's only surpassed by your beauty!"

Misty sent out Goldeen. "Get to the point, Brock."

Brock looked nervous. "The hat's a special one that blocks Psychic powers. That proves it's either a Pokémon doing this, or a powerful human psychic."

Pikachu raised his paw. "We could find out where to go by timing how long it takes Riolu to fall asleep when the hat's taken off? That sounds scientific, especially if we do it in lots of different places."

Riolu held onto the brim of the hat in both paws. "But I don't wanna be a piece of scientific apparatus!"

"What would that be called," Brock asked himself. "An oneirometer?"

"I have a better suggestion for what it would be called," Misty said, reaching for a Pokéball. "A Starmie!"

Starmie levitated into the air. "Hiya!"

Pikachu shook his head. "No sense of scientific discovery from you people."

Some minutes later, a door opened with a thump and a number of arrayed salarymen looked around in confusion.

"Who are you?" one of them asked.

"I'm Ash Ketchum, but that's not the important bit right now!" Ash replied. "What's important is that you're putting humans and Pokémon through an experience they shouldn't have to face right now! Or at all!"

He waved around the room. "I get it, you have trouble sleeping. I do sometimes! But there's ways to deal with it. Like, uh, shorter work hours or something? I swear that should be an option. Or taking sleeping pills?"

"We can't shorten our work hours," one of them said. "That would be terribly disrespectful."

"Not the point," Ash grumbled. "And you decided to have a Pokémon hypnotize you? I guess that would be okay if you'd just had them hypnotize you, but instead they're pushing out strong enough psychic energy that it's driving the children in town crazy and making Pokémon all over the city pass out."

"It is?" another salaryman asked. "My goodness! We'll have to stop right away!"

"How did you not notice?" Riolu asked. "It's been going for days."

"Riolu's got a point, how did you not notice?" Ash replied.

"In our defence, we've mostly been either at work or asleep for the last few days," the first man admitted. "You may have a point about work hours."

"But even if you did need artificial help, there's loads of options!" Ash replied. "You could have got a Pokémon to use Sleep Powder or Spore. Or Grass Whistle, or Sing… or Yawn, that's a move that should work… or you could have asked a Cresselia to help, right?"

"I don't think that's an option for most people," Pikachu pointed out.

"Maybe, I guess…" Ash replied, dubiously. "Uh… hey, you're not asleep now, so you must want to get to sleep, right? Unless this is a club for talking about how much sleep you're not getting."

"Um," the second man said.

Ash sent out Ivysaur. "You have a sleep move, right?"

Ivysaur used Grass Whistle.

"Nice," Riolu said. "Why didn't you use that against Gloom?"

"I was very, very embarrassed after that battle," Ivysaur said. "So I started connecting with my ancestors. I've got a lot of them."

"Doesn't everyone have a lot of ancestors?" Pikachu asked. "Except for, you know, some specific Legendary Pokémon."

"I meant in variety terms," Ivysaur clarified. "I know, at minimum, of a Charmeleon, a Sableye and a Skarmory in there… other Pokémon have a family tree, I think mine is more of a kudzu or Tangela or something."

"There we go, Psyduck," Ash said, backing off. "You remember us now, right?"

Blank stare.

"Any idea if he knows Amnesia?" Brock asked. "Or is that just natural?"

The stare shifted to Brock.

He shivered. "That's actually quite creepy… does he blink?"

Misty put her hand on her chin. "I've seen it, once?"

Ash took the TM out and slapped it on Psyduck's forehead.

He blinked.

The TM flashed a few times, matching flashes appearing in Psyduck's eyes, then he slowly fell over backwards.

"...did that work?" Misty asked. "I don't know if that worked… he did blink though."

She leaned down. "Uh… are you okay, Psyduck?"

Yes, thanks.

Misty fell over backwards.

"That actually worked?" Ash asked, mostly in disbelief.

It did indeed, Psyduck confirmed. There was a very user friendly interface, it compartmentalized things, and I now have a sort of mental switch that lets me go between having a calm mind and using Calm Mind the TM. It's convenient.

"I wonder if that's Calm Mind specific," Brock said, thinking out loud, then shrugged. "Well, now you have a more, er… stable Pokémon, Misty."

Though it's still going to give me a headache to actually use attacks, but… I'm okay with that, Psyduck decided.

Misty had got back to her feet. "Right! Now, the next thing for you, mister, is swimming lessons!"

Er, I mean, ow the pain the pain my head is aching.

"Nice try."

"I think I've lost track of what we did next," Ash admitted. "What was it next?"

Next, you-

Brock interrupted. "Next, we go and visit Suzy, and hopefully I can borrow Vulpix from her."

Ash grinned, recognizing Brock's tone. "You've really been looking forward to seeing her again, huh?"

"Both of them," Brock replied. "Suzy, well, Suzy's famous of course, and as for Vulpix…"

He sighed. "The little darling's a hard hitting Pokémon, and cute as a button. Steelix, Geodude, Crobat… they're all great, and I love them, but Vulpix is the softer approach and sometimes you long for the softer approach."

Ash thought about it hard. "I guess that's more the kind of thing May or Dawn would understand, but I get it, I think… I'm way more of someone for battles, anyway."

He looked mildly troubled. "Actually, I didn't have anyone with me in Unova who was into that kind of thing. I wonder if Unova even has something like Contests… I wouldn't expect Iris to do any of them though…"

Pikachu sniggered.

"Yeah, it wouldn't go well," Ash agreed. "Still, I take your point about Vulpix. She's got a good Flamethrower."

"That was easy," Misty said, as the trio of humans left Scissor Street with Vulpix cradled in Brock's arms. "I swear that took longer last time."

"Yeah," Brock agreed. "It's amazing how much more free time we have without Team Rocket getting involved every time we turn around… I think we're basically done with Celadon now, right?"

Not quite. Brock, why not get Vulpix something from the department store?

Misty jumped.

"Psyduck!" she complained. "I'm glad you can express yourself now, but are you going to keep doing that?"

I hear it's all the rage for Psychic Pokémon these days… not that I am one, but it's honorary or something.

"Huh?" Ash asked.

Nothing.

Brock thought about it, then shrugged. "Well, we've got time… what do you say, Vulpix, sound good?"

She thought about it for a moment, then gave his finger an affectionate nibble.

"So… is that a yes or a no?" Brock asked, laughing. "I missed you too."

Vulpix flicked her ears, then nodded.

In Celaon Department Store, Vulpix paced along the aisles.

"Okay, so, what do you want?" Brock asked.

Vulpix glanced back at him, did another ear-flick, then went back to loping from one aisle to the next. Checking what was down it, looking up at the listings, then going to the next.

She knew it was supposed to be here somewhere. This wasn't a new idea for her, but it had always been a maybe-yes maybe-no… but now she was back with Brock, and she wanted him to succeed.

She liked him.

So it was an easy choice.

Or maybe it just freed her to do what she'd always wanted to do.

Finding the right aisle, she darted down it, then sat and pawed at a label.

Brock's eyes widened (presumably) and he crouched down, making sure she was seeing the same thing as he was, then picked one up. "You're sure?"

Vulpix barked. "Yes!"

"It's your choice," he said. "Just give me a moment to buy it."

Brock still looked nervous. "Ready?"

Vulpix nodded, in mild exasperation.

"I told you I wanted this five minutes ago! You won't change my mind, and I'm not making a choice I'll regret later."

She swallowed slightly, trying to calm down. "Brock, I… well. It's time for me to grow up."

"I get it," Brock told her. "And I mean – I actually get it. I understood you there. I… that means she really feels it strongly, right, Ash?"

"I think so," Ash replied. "You're doing great, Brock."

Brock nodded, choked a little, then put down the Fire Stone.

Vulpix paced over to it, with a slow and reverent gait, and studied herself in its reflection for a long moment… closed her eyes, and gently pressed her nose against it.

Then-

Whoosh.

She flowed smoothy into her new form, body growing in height and width and length all at once, and a stream of fire licked around her as her tails twisted tightly into a single mass. When they unravelled again, there were no longer six short red tails but nine long white ones, their tips tinted with the last hints of orange on the whole of her coat.

Caged fire played over her form, accentuating her fur in a slightly unnecessary but very pretty display of Will-O-Wisp.

They were all staring, and Ninetales put a paw to her muzzle.

"It's still me in here, silly. And it doesn't look bad on me, no?"

"Well, uh…" Ash began. "If you want to get involved in Contests, Brock, I don't think I'm taking part in the same ones any time soon..."

"Ready?" a voice whispered.

"I don't know," another one replied. "Something's missing…"

"We should do the motto," a third said. "It doesn't feel right without a motto."

"Fine, fine," the first one hissed. "But we gotta do it quick an' quiet!"

"...huh," Ash frowned. "Hey, can you hear something?"

He got Dexter out. "Is that a Pokémon?"

"That's right!" Meowth shouted, springing out of the nearest bush, and snatched Dexter from his hand before sliding to a halt on the other side of the road out of Celadon. "I guess you're lookin' for this?"

Oh, this is just brilliant. I've actually been stolen… kidnapped… I demand a lawyer! Both to resolve this situation and to determine if I count as property-

Meowth shook Dexter.

Shutting up now.

"Hey, give him back!" Ash shouted.

Okay, so you see me as a-

Meowth shook the Pokédex again, this time more severely, and flicked him with a claw. Right, right, shutting up, will do.

James popped up from the same bush. "That's right, Ash! We've got your Pokédex!"

"But we know you won't just surrender now," Jessie agreed. "So, prepare to fight!"

"While we run off at the speed of light!" James concurred.

Ash, Brock and Misty broke into a run, then so did Jessie and James, and James' Abra materialized in between them.

Unfortunately for you, I'm not going to get any sleep until this is sorted out.

His eyes opened, and flared purple. Psywave!

A blast of psychic force and air pressure slapped out, hitting the friends, then Pikachu sparked briefly and hurled a Thunderbolt at Abra.

He promptly teleported out of the way.

"Oh, that's going to be annoying," Misty grumbled. "What do we do?"

Abra flung another Psywave at them, and they all ducked down. Riolu put together an Aura Sphere, then threw it, and Abra just teleported out of the way three successive times before appearing on the other side of them.

Ash threw one of his own Aura Spheres, countering Riolu's one as it tried to home in on Abra through them, and Brock raised his hand.

"Your hat's not working, Ash?"

"It's not," Ash replied. "There's some stuff about how to do Shadow Ball in Aaron's notes, but it's really awkward and I hadn't even started trying to learn…"

"Starmie can handle him," Misty announced, expanding out the Pokéball and throwing it. "Okay, Starmie, sort us out that Abra!"

"Leave it to mie!" Starmie agreed, spinning around, and launched out a Thunderbolt.

Abra teleported out of the way to dodge, and Ash, Brock and Misty got running.

"How far behind are we?" Brock said. "Ash, can you see?"

Ash shaded his eyes. "Uh, I think-"

Abra teleported in front of them and used Reflect, raising a wall in their path that they all tripped over.

Yeah, no, I can teleport and Starmie can't, Abra pointed out. Not going to get rid of me that easily.

Ash looked back, barely able to see Starmie with how far they'd come, then Psyduck came out of his Pokéball.

"I'll handle this," he announced. "Hey, Abra, want to try teleporting somewhere? I have Disable."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay with this, Psyduck?" Misty asked.

Go on, I'll handle him, Psyduck reassured her.

Pikachu charged up a speculative Thunderbolt, but a Future Sight hit him before he actually could, and the blow sent his attack wide.

"Come on!" Ash called. "Let's go!"

Psyduck, meanwhile, was crossing his eyes.

Calm Mind.

Yes, he was sure he wanted to reactivate his headache. Okay, not wanted so much as accepted it was a good idea, but…

He took a deep breath, and confirmed the choice.

Then used Psychic. A lot.

Abra used Light Screen, angling it enough that the recoil knocked him out of the way rather than forcing the wall back into him as it shattered, then tried Psywave again. Psyduck just launched out another torrent of psychic energy, unable to really do anything much more sophisticated than 'aim' and not great at that, but in the contest of willpower that was going on he easily had the upper hand.

Or wing, or arm, or whatever it was that Psyduck actually had.

A Future Sight hit Psyduck in the back of the head, throwing off his aim and making his psychic powers blast a small but noticeable crater in the ground, then Psyduck wobbled back upright and tried to focus on Abra.

Deciding he was probably looking in the right direction, he just used a wham of psychic force to try and slam Abra down into the ground. It missed, making another sizeable dent in the terrain, then Abra tried teleporting away.

Psyduck might have been more inaccurate than a Pokédex entry describing Tentacruels as having eighty tentacles, but he was quick off the mark when it came to Disable, and Abra's teleport collapsed in a psychic fizzle.

Then Starmie re-entered the battle, spinning through the air like a shuriken, and used Water Pulse. Abra blocked it with a Light Screen, then got hit by Starmie itself as Psyduck used his teammate as a ranged weapon.

I'm not paid enough for this, Abra decided, braking to a halt in mid-air. Psywave!

Since Abra didn't seem to be about to teleport in front of them again, Ash released his two Flying-types.

"Let's go, guys!" he said, and Pidgeot crouched down so Misty and Brock could get on board. Charizard didn't bother, just holding out an arm, and his trainer swung up onto his back.

They took off with a whoosh of wings, and Ash shaded his eyes. "Okay, uh – wait, there's something up ahead, look out Pidgeot-"

Pidgeot reacted just too late, and a rapidly spinning curved bone hit her in the leading edge of her left wing. The powerful Smack Down attack dislocated it with a wrench, and she cried out in mingled pain and annoyance before summoning the strongest Tailwind she could.

Charizard had marginally more warning, and was able to evade the first Smack Down aimed at him, but then two more came at once – their opponent no longer having to split her attention between two targets – and Charizard evaded one but took the other on the tail.

"Down!" Ash told Charizard, as another attack came in, and Charizard dropped to the ground. Pidgeot's Tailwind had already cushioned her fall, and it whirled up to do the same to him, but Cubone's last Smack Down attack came first and knocked out his right wing.

Charizard barely avoided rolling over as he crashed, and Ash winced as he recalled both injured Pokémon again. "Sorry guys, get some rest… what Pokémon was that? Where are they?"

"That was probably a Cubone or Marowak," Brock guessed.

Riolu had been thrown clear, and shook himself before rising to his paws. Then he spotted a glint of movement, and hurled an Aura Sphere into the air where it intercepted a Bonemerang aimed at Pikachu.

That just made the hidden Cubone switch to him, and he parried a second Bonemerang with a Force Palm strike before having to deal instead with Cubone at close range.

"Go on, I'll handle this!" he called, using Force Palm to avoid being hit in the face by a Bone Club, then manifested a Bone Rush staff and began using that to parry instead.

"Bold of you, young Riolu," Cubone retorted, reaching out to the side and creating her own Bone Rush staff before suddenly swiping down and smashing Riolu's to bits. "Didn't you learn it's part of battling to know when you're outmatched?"

"You're trying to intimidate me," Riolu responded, ducking under a swipe.

He pushed away, backflipping and using a burst of blue light to stick to the ground, then had to defend himself all over again as Cubone closed the distance in a surge of motion.

"I'm trying to warn you," Cubone retorted. "There are important lessons you need to learn about when a battle is impossible, or you're going to suffer badly."

Her Thick Club slammed into the ground just in front of Riolu, knocking him swaying and nearly off his feet, then her second attack caught Riolu's paw and flipped him into the air.

"That's not how this works!" Riolu responded, twisting and landing gracefully. "You don't just give in if something seems impossible. You've got to have hope-"

"Hope?" Cubone repeated, then threw a Bonemerang at Riolu. He broke it with an Aura Sphere, the dust still spraying him, and Cubone launched a Bone Rush staff at him like a spear.

Riolu dodged it, but she came in right on the heels of it, and a lightning-fast strike knocked Riolu onto his back.

"You don't know anything about hope," she said. "Hope isn't some simple force that lifts you up no matter what. Hope is believing things will work out, and you have no right to tell me that I should feel it."

Riolu tensed, then rolled to the side and sprang upright. Darting in close, this time, he lashed out with Force Palm, and she blocked with Bone Club. "And you've got no right to tell me I shouldn't!"

"I'm wiser than you, little Riolu," Cubone retorted. "I've seen too much… and you'll learn, too."

"If that's the lesson, I'll refuse to learn it!" Riolu shot back.

"No, I'm insisting," Cubone said, forming a Bastiodon skull in her offhand as a shield, and bashed Riolu with it before adjusting her grip on her club to make the two weapons work together. "There are some things you can only understand with loss. And I have suffered so much loss."

Cubone grounded her shield, and stared at Riolu with haunted eyes. "I was strong, for my youth, and I was the protector of my family. And I failed. They all died, not a year ago."

Riolu swallowed, involuntarily. That… was a lot harder to dismiss than he was expecting.

"To know what it is to lose something… that brings strength, Riolu. It is not hope that makes me strong, but sheer determination. I will not lose my family again."

"But you can still be made strong by hope!" Riolu shot back. "Ash rescued me when I was in danger, and he's so – he's – I have hope, and it's not just because of him but it is because of him!"

"I am not making my point," Cubone decided. "Riolu, when I say that you cannot win, it is because I am broken inside."

She raised her voice. "I… am the bone of my club."

Riolu asked himself what she meant by that, but then Cubone demonstrated that she wasn't just going to stand around. Her club swept across, one that Riolu only countered with a Force Palm and that still launched him several feet across the clearing.

"My bones are the earth, my skin is the sky."

She manifested a Bone Rush staff, and so did Riolu, and hers smashed his to splinters in a single blow. The backlash knocked Riolu sliding away, and Cubone followed him again as she kept chanting.

"Serving life, understanding death, but on the razor's edge between the two."

"If you're broken and you know it, then why don't you get help?" Riolu asked, back to his feet again.

"My past and future collide on the grassy plain," Cubone said, maybe in reply or maybe not. "All that I am is the bones of the hills."

And suddenly they were somewhere else, a grassy field studded with bones under a rippling overcast sky, simmering with the potential for a storm.

"What…" Riolu began, looking around in shock. "Wait. This… I've never seen something like this from the inside before. This is…"

He turned to Cubone, foot-paws sliding across the grass. "This is the inside of your soul. How did you even do this?"

"Pray you never have to find out, Riolu," Cubone advised him. "Now, go down and stay down."

She darted in for an attack, and so did some of the bones scattered around, and Riolu dove for cover.

He didn't know how this worked, but… there was something Ash had said, while they were talking about his two adventures in Aura Purge.

If you were in a situation like this, intuition was as important as anything else. He'd known what to do, because it had just made sense.

The bones around here weren't all Cubone bones. Most of them weren't even related. And he'd seen her making specific bones like the Bastiodon skull.

So that meant…

Riolu broke into a run, weaving to the side to avoid a Bonemerang, then grabbed one specific bone out of the ground.

It lit up with blue Aura, and Riolu whirled.

"What are you doing?" Cubone asked, then reached out her free hand. Nothing happened, and Riolu grinned.

"This bone," he said. "It's Lucario bone, isn't it? The steel under the skin."

He adjusted his grip. "It's yours, because it's in here, but it's also mine, because it's something I will one day inherit."

"May one day inherit," Cubone corrected. "Well, then. You've impressed me, I'll admit."

She dropped her Thick Club, and summoned two mismatched bones to both paws. Others rose up around her. "That's enough for today."

Riolu charged the steel-infused bone with Aura, then threw it with both hands. It flew true, glowing with the light of Aura Sphere, and this time when Cubone crossed her bones to block she was the one who had to deal with her constructs being smashed by greater force.

The impact knocked her staggering backwards, then falling unconscious, and as the strange artificial-landscape dissolved in favour of the countryside outside Celadon Riolu's extravagant Aura use caught up with him.

He wobbled, sat down hard, and did his best not to just fall asleep as well.

AN:

A two part battle!

This is the first time Ash and co. get to see just what the Rockets have been doing with their time. There probably won't be many of these, they take up too much time.

There were significant changes to this chapter to tone down both Abra and Cubone, but this is still now the first full look at her Reality Marble.