"You're sure you want to join my team?" Ash checked. "I, uh… well, it depends if you want to battle or not…"

"How would that work?" Absol asked. "You mean you only want Pokémon who can battle?"

"I don't think that's it," Koraidon replied, sitting patiently on her haunches. "Is it? You were okay with me not battling…?"

Ash shook his head. "I didn't really explain that well, sorry."

He tapped a hoof on the ground. "It's more like… I'd be glad to have you either way, but with how I'm registered as one of my own Pokémon, and Latias is one of mine too, and so is Koraidon, it's easy for me to end up in a situation where I don't have enough slots. I'm happy Koraidon wants to train and battle, that's great! It's just that I'm probably going to need to wait until we reach a Pokémon Centre before officially registering you, and if you want to come with me but not battle then… maybe that would have to wait until we got a chance to visit Littleroot again or something. That way I could increase my default team size again."

Ash stopped, and went over what he'd said. "I… think that's right?"

"Well, I wouldn't mind joining you in battle," Absol answered. "Honestly, it seems like a good workout."

"That's good," Ash decided. "So, I might train you a bit now, or check how good you are with the moves you already know at least, but I won't catch you until we reach Mauville. But first… I said I'd help Koraidon with her first attacking move, and that's what I should do first."

"Of course," Absol agreed readily.

"So… the next gym that's coming up is the electric type gym," Ash explained to Koraidon, a couple of minutes later.

They were over by a rock formation, now, and Koraidon looked between it and Ash.

"Okay," she said. "Um. So Electric type is… weak to Ground, and is strong against… Water and Flying?"

She looked at her feathers. "Am I a Flying type?"

"Don't know, but we could check," Ash said. "It's okay if you want to change your mind, if it turns out you are. But for now, what I thought we'd work on is a move called Rock Smash."

"Rock Smash…" Koraidon repeated. "Is that Ground type? Or Rock?"

"It's actually Fighting type!" Ash answered. "So, it might be useful, it might not work so well, but the only Pokémon it outright doesn't work on are Ghost types and it's usually pretty easy to tell what those are."

"It feels like a good fit for you, too," Pikachu said. "I agree with Ash, here. Importantly, it's a move which is just… easy to explain?"

Ash nodded. "That's a big part of it. See, if I wanted to teach you a fire move, I'd need Cyndaquil here, and we don't have him here so that would be difficult."

Koraidon nodded.

"So is Rock Smash like it sounds?" she double-checked. "I smash the rocks?"

"That's it, yeah," Ash agreed. "Or, that's one way to do it, there are others, but let's start with that as it's the simplest way."

He trotted over to a rock, tapped on it to pick it up, then trotted back much more awkwardly using the rock as a brace.

"This one looks fairly soft," he explained. "It's, uh… Brock told me once, it was really simple but I've forgotten."

Latias examined it, picking it up.

"Sandstone?" she said. "I think there was some of this in the museum."

"That sounds right!" Ash agreed. "So you just hit it and try to break it. Then we'll move on to harder rocks!"

The first couple of rocks got broken quite quickly, but then Koraidon moved on to harder ones and it was a much more laborious process.

Ash checked to make sure she was okay with that, then switched to Absol, but took the time to make sure that Koraidon was in the background and he could keep an eye on her.

"So… that thing you can do where you sense disasters?" Ash asked. "Does that work in battles?"

"That's actually quite a tricky thing to do," Absol replied. "Because, well, losing a friendly battle isn't a disaster. And even if it was, it'd be sort of going from… well, that's not a disaster… to, oops, now it's a disaster."

He shrugged. "But I can still do some attacks… let's see… Razor Wind, that's a nice one. I can use Bite, too, I guess. And I'm pretty sure that hitting someone with this sword thing I have on my head would be painful."

"Is that an official prediction?" Pikachu asked.

"Well, not really," Absol shrugged again. "Nothing to do with a disaster, you see."

The latest rock went crunch.

"Well done, Koraidon!" Ash said. "Time to move on to the next one, unless you want a break."

"I'll keep going!" Koraidon answered, shifting sideways a bit and starting to hammer on a somewhat larger rock.

"Hmm…" Absol pondered, obviously thinking hard. "Is it relevant that I know False Swipe?"

Pikachu stared. "Why do you know False Swipe? Isn't that the move that can't actually knock out a Pokémon, no matter how much you hit them with it? How would that be useful in an actual battle?"

"See, I knew you'd say that…"

"Actually, it is useful," Ash replied. "Because it means it's great for Absol to use training with another Pokémon."

"Exactly as I expected, it is relevant," Absol declared brightly.

Pikachu sighed. "So… who are you going to use, Ash?"

"Well…" Ash said, drawing out the word. "It depends if Koraidon's ready, but she's on the list if she wants to. Then, I know I used Taillow last time, but he's really proud of how good he is against Electric types… and then it might be you or Absol. Probably not Mudkip, though."

"Treecko?" Pikachu suggested. "No, hold on, you used them for both of the last two gyms."

"Planning what Pokémon you're going to use sounds really complicated," Latias admitted, decloaking and making Koraidon jump. "I've been trying to think about it too, but… it's completely different from how you do competitive teams, isn't it? It's all about your Pokémon getting stronger and what makes a good growth moment for them."

"Right!" Ash agreed. "So for you, it could be the fifth gym we're going to, that's Fire type, or it could be the sixth one which is Flying type. It depends what's better for your style and your growth as a battling Pokémon."

He coughed. "I… took a while to work that out…"

"Left!" Ash called, and Koraidon darted left across the path.

"Turn, and right!" he said, and her paws dug into the ground as she skidded around in a turn.

"I know this is a really basic bit of Pokémon training, and also something that's really important," Max admitted. "But it just feels weird to watch."

"It is basic," Ash agreed. "But it's also one of the things that Pokémon benefit from having trainers with."

He stopped. "Uh. I'm not sure what I just said there… it's one of the ways that Pokémon benefit from having trainers? That sounds more like it. Right, Koraidon!"

"Got it!" Koraidon said.

"Now, come back here," Ash invited, speeding up slightly so he was at the front of the group. "The next bit, I'm going to have you just a little way in front of me. Latias, can you get Mudkip ready please? He's going just behind Koraidon."

Latias did the hands-requiring part of that, and Mudkip began walking along as part of what probably looked like a very uneven Pokémon conga line.

"Now I'm going to have Mudkip do some basic attacks, okay?" Ash said. "Because this is easy training, he's going to signal to me when it's about to happen, but you won't be able to see it. That means that you're relying on my warning, got it?"

"Got it," Koraidon agreed, glancing back before returning her gaze to face firmly forwards.

Ash's own attention was on Mudkip, who waddled along for several seconds before flicking his tail.

"Left!" Ash called, and Koraidon froze for a moment and got splashed by a Water Gun.

"Oops," she said. "Sorry."

"That's okay, it's why we're training," Ash said soothingly. "Anyone who's training has to be ready to make mistakes, otherwise they're not really training, they're just doing things perfectly first time and then they don't need to train."

"I, uh… yeah, I think that checks out," Pikachu decided.

"Want to give it another go?" Ash checked.

Koraidon nodded, loping ahead a bit first so that the rest of the group wouldn't run into the back of them, then someone waved at them.

"Hey!" he called. "It's a long shot, but do any of you have any blue clothes?"

The boy pointed at Pikachu. "And is that your Pokémon? Because it could mean you're the one from the prophecy!"

"Excuse me?" Absol asked, loping up from where he'd been walking with Brock and the others. "If there are any prophetic proclamations going on, they're going to be made by me!"

"Blue clothes..." Ash frowned. "I don't think I've got any of those, my jacket got obliterated when I took on my true form. Pikachu's mine, though, if he's who you mean."

"...you're a trainer?" the boy asked. "How does that work?"

"I'm learning!" Koraidon announced proudly.

The boy, whose name turned out to be Thatcher, explained that he and his sister (Alyssa) were two young trainers who lived with their grandfather in Misty Village and kept the lighthouse operating.

While it wasn't currently the case, mostly because of Koraidon, the area around Misty Village was usually misty enough that a lighthouse had been set up to provide light and help people navigate on their way through the valley.

The whole lighthouse was built around a Light Stone from long ago, delivered by a 'legendary trainer' wearing blue and accompanied by an Electric-type, and that description made Ash, Pikachu and Latias all frown at one another.

"I guess you count if it means Legendary, either as a Legendary who is a trainer or a trainer who trains Legendaries," Pikachu said. "But it can't have been you, right?"

"I think it would have mentioned if the trainer had white fur, a golden ring, and wasn't human?" Ash supposed. "Though maybe I eventually get another blue jacket sized for me. I miss that jacket."

"Well… better safe than sorry?" Latias decided. "You could get my illusion thing working eventually for you, after all! And the only thing the prophecy really said was that whoever it was would train the stone's guardians, and you are training to deal with Electric types! So a Plusle, a Minun and a Magnemite sound like good opponents…"

"I knew this would work out," Absol said.

Pikachu looked extremely dubious.

"So… if we're defending the Light Stone…"

"Then you do things differently to how you would in a one on one battle," Ash confirmed. "That goes for you too. In a one on one battle, then Plusle and Minun have to be able to work on their own, and that means dodging around mostly because they're quick more than tough."

He glanced up at Koraidon. "Koraidon is tough, and quick, but she's still working on being able to turn corners fast. It depends how she develops which approach is better. But if you two are working in a double battle, or in a battle without formal rules, you can benefit from both your special abilities and from the move Helping Hand."

He backed away a bit. "So, Koraidon, this time it's going to be a bit more about making sure you get used to electrical attacks, okay? There's going to be ones from just Plusle or Minun and ones from both, and some of them will be stronger than others. Let me know the minute you want to stop."

"I get it," Koraidon said, thinking out loud, and rose to all fours. "It's so I'm not surprised when I'm hit, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," Ash agreed. "But don't just try and tough it out if it hurts. We can do something else instead if you turn out to be too weak to it."

She nodded firmly.

While that was getting started, Pikachu approached Absol.

"Look," he began. "I don't know how your disaster sense works. But I'm starting to get the idea that you're just saying you called things you actually didn't."

"I did, though," Absol defended himself. "Back when we left Forina. I said that Ash was here and that I was going to bring the good news that people didn't need to be afraid. Do you want me to tell you more than once?"

"It's a bit vague, don't you think?" Pikachu asked.

"To be honest, the only thing I can really do is disaster or no disaster, and with Ash around it's usually not a disaster, and that probably won't satisfy you."

He considered. "Maybe it'd help if I learned Future Sight, that's a move Absol are supposed to be able to learn. But otherwise… it's actually quite relaxing around Ash, for an Absol, my disaster sense barely even notices anything because it's all going to work out. At least as far as things go at the moment."

"So… does this mean you'll stop just telling people you called it?" Pikachu asked.

"I'll try to make sure I tell you if things change," Absol suggested. "You know, when my disaster sense actually warns me about something."

"Right..."

There was a sort of whoosh from over where May and Torchic were practicing, and May hurriedly sent out Octillery to douse a small fire with water before it turned into a large fire.

"...doesn't that count?" Pikachu asked, since Absol hadn't even twitched until the whoosh. "Isn't a fire a disaster?"

"Well, that was Torchic learning Fire Spin, so net gain," Absol explained.

"You've got an excuse for everything, haven't you?" Pikachu asked.

"If I didn't, I might actually notice."

When they left Misty Town, the following morning, it was under a misty sky (because Koraidon was back in her Pokéball) and guided by the light of the Light Stone.

Also by Ash, because Foresight turned out to work to see the road, and if you could see the road you were pretty well sorted for leaving Misty Town.

When they reached Mauville, Ash went straight to the Pokémon Centre.

This turned out to have some problems.

"That's an Absol, isn't it?" Joy asked. "Is something going to happen?"

"Don't worry," Absol said, jumping up onto a table. "Do not be afraid, because Ash is here!"

"Is that how Absol raise the alarm?" Joy worried. "What kind of disaster is it going to be?"

"Absol's not warning you about a disaster," Ash explained quickly. "He's trying to let you know there's not a disaster. I'm actually here to catch him, but I need to switch out one of my Pokémon first or I'll hit the limit…"

Joy looked dubiously at Absol, who was himself looking confused.

"If you're sure," she said. "Because normally when an Absol shows up we're supposed to try and work out what's about to go wrong."

"Hmm," Absol frowned, sitting down on the table. "This may be a snag. I thought for sure that would work."

"Why?" Latias asked.

"Because accidentally starting a panic would be a disaster, I… think?" Absol said. "Wait, hold on… so I didn't actually start a panic, because Ash helped out."

The Dark-type tossed his head. "Never mind, I correctly didn't predict a disaster, everything's as it should be. When's this gym battle?"

"I still need to sort out if I can increase the auto-return limit here," Ash replied. "Or if I need to go back to Professor Birch again to do that…"

"All right, here we are," Ash said. "Mauville Gym! Let's go, everyone!"

"Sometimes I think Ash doesn't remember how he's the only one actually doing the gym challenge," May chuckled, then frowned. "Wait… could he actually do a battle in a gym?"

"I probably could, I think," Ash replied. "I'm registered as one of my own Pokémon. But I don't really have great options at the moment… it might happen, but not just yet."

He raised a hoof, and knocked on the door.

Which fell over.

"Huh," Ash said, trotting forwards into the gym. "I wonder if that's broken?"

Brock came forwards as well, looking at either side of the door. "I don't see any hinges… is it a roller or automatic door? There's no slot for it to slide into either…"

"Maybe it sinks into the ground?" Max suggested.

Then the door they were on went whirr and moved forwards as a mobile platform, going over some water, and deposited them in a corridor.

A Raikou roared at them.

"That's not a real Pokémon!" Ash said. "It's just a robot or something, those weren't words!"

The Raikou roared again, then went brrrzt as Latias turned it off.

"Great work!" Ash praised.

"Thank you," Latias said. "That one was much easier than those giant robots the Rockets use."

"Well done!" a booming voice announced.

Wattson, the Gym Leader at Mauville, came out of a side corridor. "So, you're the Pokémon who's a trainer that I've heard so much about!" he said. "You handled my gym's little surprises well! I take it you're here to challenge me?"

"That's right!" Ash confirmed. "I'm here to challenge you for your badge!"

"I accept!" Wattson said, immediately. "It's going to be three Pokémon a side, and I'm using a team of my veterans!"

Ash thought about who he had ready.

"I guess that works!" he decided. "It's going to be the first battle for two of mine, but that just means that no matter the outcome they don't have to feel bad about it."

Once they were in the main battle hall, Ash thought for a moment and then whispered to Latias the three Pokémon he wanted ready in order – left to right – and Latias put their Pokéballs down by his leg.

"Hm!" Wattson said. "That's something I hadn't even considered. Well, good you've got a way to manage it… anyway. First Pokémon!"

He held up a Pokéball, and sent out an Electrode.

For Ash's part, the Pokéball he picked up and held out released Absol, who rolled his neck and stretched.

"It's interesting in there," he summarized. "Nice and relaxing. Okay, here we go."

"Begin!" called Wattson's assistant, Watt.

"Spark!" Wattson ordered.

"Left!" Ash called.

"No, this is-" Absol began, then got smacked in the face by a high-speed Electrode. He described a complete backflip through the air, twisted, and landed on his paws, then staggered a bit.

"Ow," he corrected himself.

"Didn't see that coming?" Pikachu asked.

"I was sure that was a feint," Absol said, half to himself. "That's weird."

"Razor Wind!" Ash called.

Absol flicked out a Razor Wind attack, and Wattson's Electrode zipped across to the side at his order before blurring back in towards Absol.

This time, Absol did dodge aside – but Electrode skidded to a halt halfway, and then Wattson called for Electro Ball.

Absol did manage to duck just underneath that one, but he was starting to look a bit hunted.

"Swift!" Wattson instructed.

"Block them with False Swipe!" Ash told Absol. "Then you're going to need to get in closer so Electrode doesn't have time to dodge!"

"Oh, that's good!" Absol said. "I knew you'd have a solution!"

Wattson pointed. "Electric Terrain! Now, Rain Dance and Thunder!"

"Ow," Absol wheezed, two loud minutes later. "I think my disaster sense is on the fritz."

His leg twitched. "I am fairly sure that getting badly injured is a disaster. And I would say I am badly injured now."

"Hmm," Ash frowned. "You know Pokémon Centres are really good at healing even badly injured Pokémon overnight?"

Absol froze, then nearly fell over.

"I think there are downsides to travelling with someone who solves all problems," he said.

"Do you want to keep going?" Ash asked. "Or I could switch you out."

"I would like to stop battling now," Absol decided. "I am clearly not used to battling in a situation where I can't tell serious attacks from other ones."

Ash formalized calling back Absol, after that, counting it as a defeat without Absol actually having to be knocked unconscious, and then picked up the second Pokéball on the floor and sent out Taillow.

"Um," Wattson began. "Really?"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "Are we ready to resume?"

Watt waved his hand. "Resume battling!"

Ash grinned. "Okay, Taillow – Extremespeed!"

Wattson tried giving an order for Shock Wave at the same time, but Taillow blurred as he dove in on the attack with a screech of victory. The impact hit Electrode so hard that the Electric-type bounced off the wall, wobbled a bit on landing and looked a lot like a Voltorb, then managed to turn themselves the right way up.

"Hmm," Wattson mused. "Shock Wave!"

"Dodge towards Electrode!" Ash called, and Taillow gave him an odd look for a moment then turned to face Electrode and used a tiny blip of Extremespeed. The Shock Wave attack either missed or had no effect as Taillow passed right through it, prompting a frown from Wattson, then Taillow was in too close and hit Electrode with a Wing Attack.

"Explode!" Wattson said, as fast as he could, but the order still took too long to give. Taillow used Extremespeed twice in a one-two burst, once to evade the explosion and then again to come back in, and the final impact knocked the tired Electrode out entirely.

"Well, that's an extremely fast Taillow," Wattson decided, recalling his Electric-type. "But you'll find that I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve. Are you switching Pokémon?"

"Not just yet," Ash replied. "Taillow, you're still ready to battle, right?"

"You bet!" Taillow agreed. "I haven't even gotten warmed up yet!"

Wattson shrugged, and sent out a Magnemite.

"Hmm," Ash frowned. "Okay, Taillow, your main problem is going to be doing damage, so don't get too exhausted!"

"Got it!" Taillow confirmed, doing a roll.

"Begin!" Watt called.

"Stick to Normal moves," Ash advised. "They're not as bad as your Wing Attack here."

Taillow immediately did a flip, then slammed into Magnemite with an Extremespeed attack. The impact was enough to knock Magnemite floating backwards with a loud clang, and Wattson frowned.

"Lock On," he ordered. "Then fill the whole battle area! Discharge!"

Magnemite's magnets whined, and the Steel-type pulsed out a blast of electricity that made May gasp and take a step back. Taillow didn't have a hope of dodging it, and he didn't try.

And when the blast faded, he was still there. Electricity fizzing off his wingtips and tailtips, but completely hale and hearty.

"Is that it?" he asked. "I had worse before I was even caught!"

Magnemite backed off slightly.

"It's a Flying type!" Wattson said. "You're an Electric and Steel type! So what if you didn't beat it in one move – outlast it! Charge Beam!"

Taillow avoided that one, then darted in for another attack, and the whole arena rang with the clang of impact.

"This is just amazing," Max said, some time later. "If I'd been given this one in school I'd have said Taillow had just about no way to possibly win, but this is… he's almost completely on the wrong end of the type chart, but I'm not sure he knows that."

"Taillow's a really determined Pokémon!" Ash said. "There's more to it than that, but that's a lot of what there is to it! Keep it up, Taillow!"

Taillow was looking tired, by now, but mostly from exertion and from how being repeatedly hit by powerful Electric attacks was having some effect. But it was almost as tiring for Magnemite to produce that many attacks, and the Steel-type's magnets were visibly drooping. The rain had ended some time ago, but both Pokémon were still wet, and there were little drops falling from Magnemite's lower magnets.

"This goes totally against everything I know about Pokémon battling… except for the most important rule, which is that you can never truly trust you'll know how a battle goes before you start it," Wattson said.

"Tell me about it," Absol muttered.

"Magnemite… let's try something different. Sonicboom!"

The sudden change of strategy caught Taillow off guard, and the pressure wave hammered into him in the middle of banking around to evade. It drove him into the wall, and he flopped to the ground in a bundle of damp feathers.

"Taillow, come on!" Ash called. "Just a little more! Magnemite's almost done too!"

"You're right!" Taillow agreed, rolling upright and flaring his wings before furling them. "Because if there's one thing I've learned… it's that you're never out. No matter what they say. Until you say you are!"

He took off in a blur of wings, aimed directly at Magnemite. "Endeavour!"

The impact released a flash of white light, sending both Pokémon tumbling backwards, and Ash pointed his hoof.

"Extremespeed!"

"Shock-" Wattson retorted, but he hadn't quite completed the attack name – let alone given Magnemite time to actually use it – when Taillow reversed course from his tumble and flew at Magnemite in a dead straight line.

The impact made a clang that reverberated around the inside of the gym, and finally knocked Magnemite out for the count.

"That's… far more than I would have expected from a Taillow," Wattson admitted, recalling the fainted Magnemite, as Ash's absolutely exhausted Taillow landed on his ring and tried not to just flop right back off again. "I wondered about your choice, Ash, but it was a good one."

"Thanks!" Ash replied. "But really Taillow did so much of the work there, I'm really proud of him."

"I imagine you should be," Wattson decided.

He picked up his third Pokéball. "But now it comes down to the last Pokémon we each have. Magneton, it's your turn!"

"Koraidon!" Ash replied, taking the third and last Pokéball in front of him and sending her out. "Let's do this, okay?"

"Right!" Koraidon agreed, patting the floor slightly. "I'll do my best!"

Her scales glowed slightly as the light in the room got stronger, and Wattson frowned.

"What kind of Pokémon is that?" he asked. "I know I'm not sure what you are, but I wasn't planning on battling you. This is going to be an unusual experience."

"Remember what we trained in, Koraidon," Ash said, doing his best to reassure the young Pokémon before her first real battle.

"Begin!" Watt called.

"Electric Terrain!" Wattson ordered.

"Don't dodge, just charge!" Ash decided. "Rock Smash!"

Koraidon's claws scraped on the damp gym floor as she burst into motion, stumbling a little at first as the hard battlefield acted differently to the outside terrain she'd been learning on, then got to Magneton just after the Electric Terrain activated.

She slammed one forepaw into the Steel-type, glowing with energy, and Magneton let off a burst of electricity in response which arced over Koraidon.

"Ow!" she yelped.

"Retreat!" Ash said. "And – dodge left!"

Koraidon's claws skidded on the gym floor again, but it was less of a surprise this time, and she managed to put enough force into the dodge that Magneton's probably-a-Zap-Cannon missed her by a few inches.

"Back in!" Ash advised.

Koraidon's second Rock Smash was lined up a bit better than the first, also knocking Magneton back, and the Electric-type retaliated this time with a close-in Electro Ball.

"Hmm," Ash frowned. "Koraidon, back out, give me a moment to think! Run in a circle, get ready to jump if I say!"

"Okay!" Koraidon agreed, complying with Ash's instructions, and Wattson considered.

"Tri Attack," he decided.

Three beams flashed out, and Ash rapped his hoof sharply. "Jump!"

Koraidon sprang into the air, avoiding the beam, and had a bit of trouble landing as her paws landed on the gym floor. It was drying fast in the much hotter conditions Koraidon had brought, making wisps of water vapour and steam rise into the air and turning the whole battlefield humid.

"Keep it up!" Ash said, lowering his hoof and pulling it along the gym floor. "Jump – brace yourself!"

This time Ash had got the timing wrong, and Koraidon took a hit from a Tri Attack that sent her sprawling.

"Ow!" she said, shaking herself, then noticed Magneton powering up again and broke into a run again.

"Just a bit more, Koraidon!" Ash said, hoof sliding left to right on the floor. "Get ready – and – now, turn towards Magneton and jump at them!"

"Magneton, look out!" Wattson said, as Koraidon swerved towards Magneton.

Swerved on the dry floor, because all the water had finally evaporated.

She launched herself into the air with a powerful fore-and-hindlegs crouching leap, and Ash nodded. "Now, Rock Smash with both forepaws!"

Koraidon's Rock Smash hit home with twice as much force as before.

More importantly, though, it was more force than Magneton could compensate for. The blow sent them flying backwards through the gym, and their counterattack didn't hit Koraidon at all – the only problem she had to deal with was landing, which resulted in a bit of a stumble but she recovered well.

"Don't let up!" Ash insisted. "Another Rock Smash!"

"Well done, Ash," Wattson said, once the battle was over. "I'm fascinated by that Koraidon, and a real display of some unconventional tactics there."

He held out his Dynamo Badge, then looked puzzled as Brock leaned forwards slightly and Pikachu got out Ash's Pokédex. "Is something wrong?"

"No, we're just interested to see what it says," Max explained.

Ash picked up the Dynamo Badge with a hoof, and his golden ring changed to a much more yellowish golden colour. His gemstones went from green to a sort of bright, almost lurid orange, and Ash blinked.

"Huh, that one's weird," he said. "The third being raged, raining down bolts of anger."

Ash looked back at Pikachu, already typing it in, then at Wattson. "Can you think of any Pokémon that that might be?"

"Bolts of…" Wattson mused, distracted by the question. "Kyurem, maybe? I've heard they can be Electric type… or it could mean Raikou. Zapdos is very much the second in a set of three so it can't be that one… Rayquaza's never been seen as especially angry… perhaps Thundurus? Well… I don't know…"

AN:

Don't count Taillow out.

Ever, really.

Counting Absol out is apparently fine though.