"Huh," Ash said. "You're sure this is the right place?"

"It's the Fighting Spirit Gym on the map," Brock replied, holding up a brand-new guidebook. "And it says it's still owned by Anthony."

"Right," Ash decided. "It's just, it looks… less run down?"

He wasn't quite sure how to word it, but shrugged it off and rang the doorbell.

There was a pause of several seconds, then a Mienfoo opened the door. She held up a sign, one which announced that there was a training session going on and Anthony probably couldn't come to the door at the moment, and would they like to come and wait in the lobby with some tea?

"Huh," Ash said. "I guess that must happen a lot."

"It does," Mienfoo agreed, then blinked. "Wait, hold on. Aren't you a Pokémon?"

"On my dad's side, not by birth, not really culturally, but on the whole, yes!" Ash answered. "My name's Ash Ketchum, we thought we'd see how Primeape was doing."

There was a faint crash sound, and one wall of the gym shook.

"Probably quite well, really," Mienfoo replied. "Would any of you like some tea? I think I'd like some myself but this way I'm getting it for other people and it's more polite…"

It was about ten minutes later, and Latias was most of the way through a cup of tea, when Anthony came out of one of the internal doors.

"Oh, good afternoon," he said. "Sorry, there was an important training session… wait, I know you."

He pointed at Brock. "Didn't you compete in the P1 Grand Prix? How's your Geodude doing?"

"Geodude is fine," Brock answered. "And yes, I did, but so did Ash."

"Well, of course I remember Ash!" Anthony said, with a nod. "Is it relevant, though?"

"Yeah, I'm right here!" Ash replied, raising a hoof. "I'm here to get some help from Primeape, if they're available!"

Anthony looked at him for several seconds.

"You look different to how I remember," he said, then shrugged. "But I was never great with faces. Sure, if you need help from Primeape there's no point charging you for the dojo's time – business is good enough and you're a friend. Anything specific?"

"Well, there might be other things, but the main thing I'm here for is my daughter," Ash explained. "She got created without any idea how to battle, and we've done our best but Primeape's a Fighting-type expert and I hoped we could get some advice."

"You have weird problems," Anthony chuckled, taking a cup of tea Mienfoo put on the desk. "Thanks, Mienfoo… and who are your friends?"

"May Maple," May introduced herself. "I'm a Coordinator from Hoenn."

"Max Maple," Max said, waving. "I'm a brother from Hoenn."

May looked at Max. "A brother? I guess you are, but… trainer, maybe?"

"I don't officially have any Pokémon," Max replied.

"It's true!" Ralts agreed, nodding.

Mienfoo hid her mouth behind a paw.

"So, who did it?" Primeape asked, throwing aside a towel she'd just finished using. "Was it the Rockets? They seemed likely to do this kind of nonsense."

"Huh?" Ash replied, a bit thrown off.

"Turned you into a Pokémon," Primeape replied. "Hmm, you're moving quite well, means you're not here for help in learning to walk or even battle… so what is it?"

"It's actually my daughter," Ash explained. "Or, well, that's why I'm here, the reason I'm a Pokémon is that my dad was – it's a long story – did you seriously just work out that I was comfortable battling as a Pokémon by watching how I was moving?"

"There's a lot I can tell from muscle movements," Primeape replied, stretching. "That's partly your help, you know… helping me see past anger into the technical side of fighting. And the rest of it is Anthony, the man's got a great technical knowledge of different fighting styles. We work well together to make something custom for a specific Pokémon."

She pointed. "So! Did you just say daughter?"

"Yeah, I… accidentally created her," Ash admitted. "It all worked out fine, though, I'll introduce you – come on out, Koraidon!"

Koraidon emerged from her Pokéball, and waved a little awkwardly. Her paw then went up to touch her scarf, and Primeape walked around her with a springy gait.

"Hmm," she said. "Quadruped, good muscles… how fast are you?"

"I can run really fast," Koraidon replied. "I can jump a lot, too, and glide, but not quite actually fly… I'm good at swimming, too, if that helps?"

"Glide?" Primeape repeated, and Koraidon twitched her head slightly.

Her tendrils unfurled into her wings, and Primeape reached up to twang one of them.

"Strong," she said. "They'd have to be, to take your weight…"

"And I can do this," Koraidon told her, shifting her weight and standing up.

"We think it's like a form difference," Ash added. "Her sibling can do most of the same kind of thing, but they're more of a ranged attacker and they haven't worked out their version of this yet."

"Oh, that's good, that's very good," Primeape said. "Tail for balance, weight distribution… legs a bit splayed, but that's workable… and you've got arms free, that's going to make this a lot more interesting. What kind of thing are you after?"

"Well," Ash began. "She's Fighting and Dragon type, but she's only got Rock Smash as a Fighting move and we don't really know what move would work best as a Fighting move improvement… or what would work as a Dragon type move, either. She's a lot stronger at hitting than she is at blasting."

"Two moves at least, then," Primeape decided. "But let's start with the basics… show me how fast you can move and corner!"

"She's doing well," Ash said, quietly.

Anthony heard him, though, and glanced at Ash. "You all right?"

"Fine," Ash replied, then wondered if he'd said it slightly too quickly. "It's just… it's been a while, and I'm happy she's… well, flourishing like this. It feels funny at the same time, too, though."

"Lots of weird feelings," Anthony summarized. "Yeah, that can definitely happen. Meeting a friend years later, especially if they're someone who you felt responsible towards."

Ash shrugged. "That and… well, really Primeape was only on my team for a couple of weeks, and most of them we were arguing. I'm… glad she still thinks highly of me, I guess?"

Then a thought occurred. "I wonder if there's going to be a good time to use other members of my team, just to reconnect with them…"

"Including Primeape?" Anthony asked. "I can-"

"She's happy here," Ash replied. "That's what matters. And she's helping Koraidon, too."

He frowned, then took out his Knuckle Badge. "Maybe this will help."

"Okay, think you've got all that?" Primeape asked.

"I… think so?" Koraidon replied. "It was a lot to keep track of, so I hope I don't miss anything."

"Let's go over it again, then," Primeape suggested. "Starting from the basics."

Koraidon nodded. "So… I'm fast, but attacking on two legs means giving up on that speed, and – that's fine for some moves, but if I want a style of my own then I should include that speed."

Primeape made a little gesture. "Good so far."

"And… what matters is making sure that I hit my target going fast, rather than doing anything extra with it?"

"Doing something extra with it can help, but it's not required," Primeape said, in slight correction. "But yes, making use of your great speed in a way that lands a sure strike is going to be key here… what else?"

"Try and make sure that my paws hit the ground just in front of my opponent," Koraidon recited. "That way I'm actually pushing towards them. Or if it involves a jump I should aim to hit just behind them, for the same reason."

That got an approving nod, and Primeape waved. "Anthony, I think we're ready!"

"Ready?" Ash asked. "Ready for what?"

In reply, Anthony held up a Pokéball and sent out a Wobbuffet.

"Reporting for duty!" the Wobbuffet said, saluting. "What will it be today?"

"Mirror Coat," Primeape answered. "At least to begin with."

"Oh, that's one of those Pokémon that bounces attacks back, isn't it?" Koraidon asked, interested.

"That's right," Primeape agreed. "But they're also extremely durable, and they can avoid bouncing attacks back… now, let's give this a go!"

Koraidon stretched, taking a deep breath, then paced to the far end of the dojo.

"I'm going to do a couple of practice runs first," she said.

Wobbuffet saluted again. "That's the way it is, ma'am."

In her first charge, Koraidon thundered across the training room floor with a squeaky bounce-bounce-bounce of springy planks, but once she went past Wobbuffet it was obvious that she's got her timing wrong – her paws landed on the far side of Wobbuffet instead, and she shook her head before circling back to do it a second time.

This time, she got the timing right, but the third attempt demonstrated that it was a bit of a fluke. Four, five, six attempts, and she couldn't get it to happen even twice in a row.

"I've got an idea," Ash said, as Koraidon muttered to herself. "Primeape, what about if Koraidon skids into her opponent? I know that means there's less momentum, but it also makes it harder to dodge, right? And it means she wouldn't have the timing problem – plus the timing wouldn't wreck it on a moving target."

"Now that's some good insight," Primeape declared. "...you seem to be differently coloured."

"I'm Fighting type at the moment," Ash said. "Maybe that's what's helping me out there."

"Could be."

The idea meant Koraidon had to learn how to throw herself into a skid without changing direction, or to steer while skidding, but she took to that quickly enough. Then they actually tried it, and Koraidon hit Wobbuffet with a sideways skid that made the Psychic-type slide partway across the room.

"That's great!" Primeape said. "We're really onto something here! Now, let's do it some more times, do a Typing test, and then we can switch to working on Dragon moves!"

"I'd never heard of Breaking Swipe before," Koraidon said, as they left the Dojo. "Did you know about it?"

"I'd heard it once or twice, I think," Ash replied. "But not, uh, in any way that I'd actually remember. Until now."

Koraidon nodded seriously. "That's because there's a lot of things," she said, in the appropriate tone to impart deep wisdom. "So you don't always remember the things that aren't important then, because otherwise you'd be trying to remember everything and even if you could do that that would be exhausting. But if you can remember lots of things then that's good, and if you only forget unimportant things that's good too."

She paused. "I think."

"I think that sounded good too, Koraidon," Ash told her. "I guess whether or not you use your new moves in the next Battle Facility does depend a bit on what it's about, but… I hope you get the chance."

The Dragon-type looked pleased by the idea.

"What is the next one, actually?" Swablu asked. "And, just as importantly, do we know where it is?"

"I remember it wasn't far from Saffron City," Ash replied. "Though… not exactly where from Saffron City."

"Fortunately, I put it on the map," Max said. "The Battle Arena. It's about a mile from the coastline, so it could involve a battle in the water, but I don't think that's likely because it's called the Battle Arena."

He pointed. "It's that way, at least at first."

"Battle Arena…" Ash repeated, then shook his head. "No, no idea what that one could be about. Battle Factory didn't give any clues either."

"So Koraidon is on the short list, but is anyone else?" Latias said.

"I did think of a few possibilities, yeah," Ash answered. "Muk is one of them… mostly because I haven't used him in a while. I should get him out of the Pokémon Centre nearest here, that way we'll have a bit of time to work on something… actually, Koraidon, now I think about it, we know one of your moves is Breaking Swipe but what's the other?"

"I… don't know," Koraidon admitted. "We never really got to the point where it got a name. How do moves get names?"

Ash repeated that question, in case Brock knew, and the Pewter Gym Leader frowned.

"I think I read something about it once," he said, then shook his head. "But I don't actually know the details, sorry."

"Until then… well, it needs a name so Koraidon knows what I mean," Ash determined. "What about… um, Collision Course? Because it's about colliding with her opponent…"

AN:

Honestly, this one just kinda lined up to have a Primeape visit.