The next day, both Ash and Dawn took part in the Tag Battle Tournament.

As an event which was entirely about your Pokémon teaming up with the Pokémon of a randomly selected other trainer, it was a test of adaptability and teamwork, and the specific kind of teamwork was unusual – instead of knowing how well the other Pokémon could do something or how well they were able to react from long training and practice, like a Doubles round in a Contest, what mattered was to be able to react on the fly and judge how your teammate was performing.

At least, that was the idea.

"Hmm," Samurott said, stretching to make sure she was ready for a burst of motion and activity. "Yeah, I think we've got this."

"Slowking is a defensive specialist," said Dawn's teammate, a trainer called Conway. "He'll handle keeping your Samurott safe, while she goes on the offensive – I think you'll find that's a better approach."

Samurott turned slightly, catching Dawn's eye, and her trainer smiled.

"I think Samurott was going to go on the offensive anyway, but it's good that our plans are for the same thing," Dawn answered, looking up at the Tauros and Granbull on the other side of the field. "Watch out for Electric or Bug moves, you two, especially a Wild Charge – Slowking's just as vulnerable to those as Samurott."

"Naturally," Conway agreed, adjusting his glasses. "However, I think you'll find that Slowking's Safeguard and Protect moves will give him the advantage in a situation like that."

"All right!" the announcer said. "Everyone ready? Three, two, one – begin!"

"Sucker Punch!" Dawn called.

Samurott drew her Seamitar and darted forwards, hitting Tauros with her off hand, then heard one of their opponents calling for a Thunder Fang and slashed out at Granbull with a Night Slash. The attack didn't hit her opponent hard, but it stopped the electricity of the Thunder Fang from conducting into her, and Samurott heaved to knock the big Fairy-type backwards.

"Um," Conway said. "That's not the plan-"

"Ceaseless Edge!" Dawn called, and Samurott switched back to Tauros. She switched her grip on her Seamitar, holding it in a reverse grip, and hit the Normal-type with a slashing low blow that made Tauros flinch backwards.

"Left!" Dawn added. "Aqua Cutter!"

She turned to Conway. "What other moves does Slowking know?"

Conway looked slightly baffled. "Um – he knows Psychic?"

"Then ask him to use Psychic on the whole battle," Dawn said firmly. "It won't affect Samurott and it will throw her opponents off!"

Up in the crowd, Zoey frowned.

"I really don't get that Pokémon," she admitted. "Mind you, I didn't expect Dawn's style at the Contest yesterday, either."

"I think it's because there's more to people than a simple stereotype," Cynthia replied, from the seat next to her. "Dawn's good at Contests but that's not the only thing she's good at… and Samurott, for example, isn't interested in Contests."

She frowned. "Hmm… I can't decide which of these popcorn buckets I prefer. What do you think?"

Lucario took the one with cracked black pepper and handed it to Zoey.

"I don't know…" Zoey said, frowning. "It feels like Contests are something you should put your whole effort into. Not something you should do on the side, while doing something else as well."

She glanced at the Champion of Sinnoh, now nibbling on popcorn infused with cocoa powder. "Like how… Pokémon battling should be the thing you do with all your attention, not a hobby while you actually do something else."

"Honestly, I disagree," Cynthia replied pleasantly. "There's nothing wrong with having a hobby, and the real test is whether you can compete at the highest level. If you can do that while also spending time doing something else, then why should you be required to put in the extra time on top of that to get better at something you're already doing better than anyone else?"

She indicated herself. "I mean, look at me. Depending how you count, I could be an archaeologist and mythical analyst whose hobby is competitive Pokémon battling."

With that, Cynthia gave some popcorn to her Eevee.

"Though I don't think I could do the same thing as Wallace," she added, contemplatively. "Contests and being Champion wouldn't leave me enough time to do something else."

Zoey looked abashed.

"...I actually forgot Wallace was Hoenn Champion once," she admitted. "Uh… sorry."

"It will be a pleasure to fight by your side," Absol said, inclining his head respectfully. "Though while we have a moment before the battle, I don't suppose you've heard the good news about the Lastborn Son before?"

"The what?" Torterra asked.

"Well, I'll be happy to go into the details," Absol told him. "Now, I wasn't actually there for this bit, but I've been reliably informed that he died for the sins of others-"

"Are you proselytizing?" Pikachu asked, from Ash's back.

"I'm just spreading the good news," Absol replied. "I'm trying to avert stereotypes here."

"Torterra," Paul said, matter-of-fact. "If in doubt, use Earthquake. Watch out for Ice Punch, of course."

"Absol, if you see any Ice moves coming, block them with Iron Tail," Ash supplied. "You can pick up if an earthquake's coming, right? Try and be in the air when it happens – and signal if you want help!"

The announcer called for them to begin, and Absol called up a swirl of Razor Wind around his horn.

"Want to see something cool?" he asked Torterra.

"I think you're going to show me anyway," Torterra replied, then used Earthquake because he was in doubt about something and that seemed a wholly rational thing to do.

Absol jumped into the air with a whoosh of Razor Wind propelling him, avoiding the Earthquake which made the whole arena bounce and hammered the Metagross on the other side of the field.

"Now please!" he said.

Ash's amulet lit up with a golden-rainbow light, and Absol Mega-Evolved.

He only did so for about two seconds before he reverted, to avoid putting too much strain on Ash. But that was enough time to catch the opposing Zangoose thoroughly off-guard with a Night Slash, so it was worthwhile really.

"That was great, Samurott," Dawn said, once the finals match was over. "I really thought you had her there."

"I did," Samurott snorted. "But Aggron was no help in keeping that Ninjask off me. I can't work under those conditions."

Conway's Aggron looked quite hurt, emotionally, which went with how he was also hurt physically – Koraidon and Paul's Ninjask had battled against Samurott and only Samurott, at first, preventing the Formidable Pokémon from simply blitzing down Ash and Paul's Pokémon, and every time Aggron had got close enough to shield Samurott from Ninjask's Fury Cutter it had been a powerful shove from Koraidon that had pushed Aggron away again.

Dawn patted the big Water-type on the shoulder. "You were dealing with two-to-one and type disadvantage. The fact you did so well is an achievement, it really is. Though… it was a tag battle, and hanging back might have worked better."

Samurott huffed.

"I know, I didn't say anything about it," Dawn agreed. "Would you have wanted me to?"

The Water-type considered that, then snorted and shrugged.

"Yeah, exactly," Dawn said. "It was worth a try."

"It seems a bit funny that Paul didn't want his prize," Koraidon said, the next day. "I've been thinking about it all night."

"Yeah, I know," Ash agreed.

On Koraidon's head, Zorua pushed one of the Soothe Bells, and it made a little dingle noise.

"Ding," he said, proudly.

"Why do you think he didn't want it, Dad?" Koraidon asked. "He could have had the other Soothe Bell if he'd wanted."

"I think… well, I don't really know, but I've got a guess," Ash said. "What I think is… there's two things Paul thinks at the moment."

He tossed his head, indicating Dawn and thus Chimchar. "He wants his Pokémon to do well, but part of him still thinks that making them happy is just… not needed. It's something he doesn't need to spend any effort on."

Koraidon looked sad.

"I wonder where he learned that," she said. "It's such a shame."

"Yeah, some trainers are like that," Pikachu agreed. "Paul's not nearly as bad as Damien though."

"The other thing is… I think part of him does want his Pokémon to be happy," Ash went on. "Or he accepts that it matters, a bit anyway… but using a Soothe Bell would be like admitting it's something he can't do."

"I didn't even think of that," Latias said, impressed.

"I don't get it," Koraidon admitted. "Isn't it okay to admit that you can't do things?"

"It is, but not everyone thinks that way," Ash answered. "Sometimes I don't think that way… it's more, some people put a lot of work into solving problems themselves, and if you can't solve a problem then you feel like you've made a mistake. And some people, I guess… to them being strong is important, and if you can't do something then it's like not being strong."

"And there's more to it than that, too," Cynthia contributed. "Because a lot of that is about how you feel, and you can know something in your head but not know it in your heart."

"I get it!" Koraidon said. "Only… how did you know what we were talking about?"

"How did you know that?" Ash asked. "Lucario wasn't translating for you, was he? I don't see him."

"There are two kinds of people in the world," Cynthia said. "Those who can make a good guess based on context."

Several seconds later, Latias giggled.

"That took me a while," she admitted.

"What did?" Ash asked.

AN:

Be Not Absol.

Okay, you can probably be Absol if you want.