Byron opened the door to his gym. "Welcome, challenger-" he began, then paused and stared.
For several seconds.
"...um," Ash began. "Is he okay?"
Byron continued staring.
"I've never seen anything like this before," Roark admitted. "Dad, are you okay?"
After a few more seconds, he stepped forwards and shook his father's shoulder.
"Gah!" Byron said, shivering, and closed his eyes.
"What just happened?" Latias asked.
"I don't know…" Ash replied. "Are you okay?"
"I just opened the door of my gym and saw Cynthia and my son," Byron said. "I think I must be having some kind of nervous breakdown."
"We're both here," Cynthia said, pleasantly. "But in my case it's not business."
Byron exhaled. "Phew…"
He opened his eyes again, with only a mild shudder this time. "All right… so, you must be Ash Ketchum, you're easily recognizable… I'm guessing you're here to challenge the gym?"
"Yeah, but… can I have a word, first?" Ash asked. "I was thinking about something, and I guess it is kind of personal but… I feel like talking about it might help out."
Byron looked distinctly confused, then glanced at Cynthia.
"Should I have any idea what he means?" he said.
"I think it's not all that hard to have a good guess what he means," Cynthia replied. "But if you don't know… I can assure you that I think it's a good idea."
"Only, does your gym challenge have any special bits to it?" Ash added. "I want to check before going ahead, in case I need to send Latias back to get someone from the Pokémon Centre."
That gave Byron pause.
"I think… I'm not sure how much difference it makes, but given your record I'm probably going to use a Pokémon that can Mega Evolve," the Steel-type Gym Leader said.
"Interesting," Pikachu frowned. "Ash, do you think-"
"Yeah, actually," Ash agreed. "Okay, I guess I won't need to send you to get someone, Latias."
"Got it," Latias agreed.
Byron showed them into the main room of the gym, mentioning his fossil collection was downstairs, and Ash noticed that Roark didn't seem to know what to think about that coming up.
"Okay, I was going to try and save this for when it wouldn't embarrass you, but I can't any more!" Ash protested. "Byron, for – for years, I travelled around with Brock from Pewter City, and the thing that really made him upset more than anything else was that his mom and dad had left him and his siblings. And…"
Ash paused. "And, I know it's not the same, because Brock had all those responsibilities to do while his parents didn't any more, while you had a new responsibility when you moved to Canalave. But it's reminding me of that, and of… uh, other stuff… but if you don't like your son, can you at least say it?"
Byron looked shocked. So did Roark, and Ash groaned.
"I don't really know how to say that properly," he apologized. "But I think… I think that unless you two don't like one another, you should be able to talk, right? And maybe there's ways you get really frustrated because you can't properly say what you mean, because it's hard to do that, and it all seems more obvious from inside."
"...yeah, it is," Latias said. "Even telepathy doesn't help all that much."
Byron didn't seem to know what to say, and Roark looked at him, then at Ash.
"All right," the Rock-type Gym Leader said, eventually. "This didn't really go-"
"I just realized!" Riolu interrupted. "That's what's going on! One of you is a Rock-type trainer and the other is a Steel-type trainer! So it's difficult for both of you to get affected by things like… um… okay that made more sense when I started…"
"Brock's dad was a Rock type trainer too?" Ash said. "So maybe that is it."
"I have no idea what most of that conversation was," Byron said.
"Then you can understand this, I hope," Roark decided. "Dad… I came here to ask you to come back home for your anniversary. I know you've got responsibilities here, now, I don't want you to move back to Oreburgh… but I'd like you to at least visit, okay? Because – because I don't want us to never see one another again."
Byron rubbed his face with one hand.
"I think I'd have preferred the Cynthia option," he said, not quite under his breath enough.
"That can be arranged, if you would like?" Cynthia offered. "Eevee and Togekiss could do with some training."
"That won't be necessary," Byron said, quite quickly. "Roark… I'm absolutely terrible at this. And… what I said before, you know when. It wasn't wrong, because I do appreciate the chance to do some palaeontology from here. But it was… I don't know. It wasn't the only reason. I don't know why I acted like it was."
He frowned, then nodded. "All right. Let's have that gym battle first, and then I can show you my fossil collection."
"Dad-" Roark began, sounding indignant. "You can't just-"
"My favourite piece is a fossil Sunkern leaf," Byron went on, and Roark stopped suddenly.
"...really?" he asked, more quietly. "If you mean the one I think you mean, it's not bad, it was the best one I could find then, but there's got to be better ones."
"There's better specimens," Byron said. "But that one's my favourite."
With all that sorted out, they got to the actual battle, which was three Pokémon on a side.
Ash sent out Phanpy, first, and the Ground-type bounced up and down. "I'm ready! Let's do this, Ash!"
"Interesting choice," Byron said. "Ground types are strong against Steel types, but… not all of them."
He held up a Pokéball, and sent out a Bronzor.
"A Bronzor, huh…" Ash said, thinking about it. "I think I remember something… okay, let's go!"
Byron's referee had stayed as quiet as possible during the complicated-family-drama segment of the challenge, but this at least was something he could handle and he called for the battle to begin.
In tones of some relief.
"Rollout, Phanpy!" Ash ordered, and Phanpy curled into a ball before spinning up and rolling around the arena.
"Keep yourself in the air," Byron told the Steel-type. "And… Extrasensory!"
"Dodge like it's Noctowl!" Ash ordered.
Bronzor rotated, sending out a beam of yellow light like a spotlight, and Phanpy went dodging and weaving back and forth across the gym floor. His agile dodges and skids meant that Bronzor couldn't focus on him, even if it also meant that Phanpy wasn't focusing much on hitting Bronzor.
"Whee!" Phanpy cheered, rolling past Ash, then skidded to go in the other direction. "Am I going to attack some time?"
"Yeah, you just need the momentum," Ash replied. "In fact – now!"
Phanpy launched himself into the air, pushing hard with his trunk as he partly uncurled, and Byron waved a hand.
"Dodge out of the way!" he said.
Bronzor went gliding smoothly to one side, and Phanpy flew straight past towards the gym wall.
"Oh, I see-" Latias realized.
"Bounce left!" Ash said, and Phanpy hit the wall with all four hooves at once. He pushed off, aiming according to what Ash had said, and went flying right back towards Bronzor.
Who was still in the middle of dodging, making it harder for it to change direction.
"Flame Wheel!" Ash added.
"Gyro Ball!" Byron called, at the same time.
Bronzor spun around at speed, and Phanpy collided with it with a crash of spinning Pokémon against spinning Pokémon. Both flew backwards, Bronzor through the air and Phanpy bouncing once on the ground, then sped up and avoided the follow-up Extrasensory attack.
Ash was frowning. "Hold on," he said. "That didn't hit as hard as I was expecting it to – oh, that's what it was! Heatproof!"
"Heatproof and Levitate doesn't really seem fair for a Steel type," Pikachu said, then coughed. "Um. Never mind."
"It's okay, Phanpy, keep it up!" Ash called. "Flame Wheel is still going to work, just not as well!"
"Rain Dance," Byron ordered.
Roark adjusted his helmet. Latias hovered directly over Ash and used Safeguard. Cynthia sent out her Rowlet, who sat on her head and chirped happily at the feel of the rain, and Riolu stood underneath Dawn.
Dawn just got wet.
"Ah, I see," Cynthia realized. "Not a lot of umbrellas in Hisui?"
"Rain's not so bad," Dawn agreed. "At least we're on the edge of it."
Phanpy wasn't, though, and Ash winced as his Ground-type began having more trouble making his turns – the water made it easier for him to skid, aquaplaning and skipping across the wet surface and throwing up a trail of spray as he evaded Bronzor's Extrasensory, and it also meant that when he jumped into the air to attack Bronzor he was doing even less damage.
"Phanpy!" Ash called. "Flame Wheel isn't working – but this might! Keep using Rollout, and this time don't use Flame Charge!"
Phanpy promptly followed orders, and this time Ash winced at the clang. It launched Bronzor halfway across the room, but the Gyro Ball that Bronzor had used at the same time had hit Phanpy even harder.
That was the problem with Gyro Ball, because it hit harder the faster the other Pokémon was going. But Phanpy's best attacking moves, his whole style, was about hitting fast…
"Phanpy!" Ash decided. "Rollout at the wall – then kick off up just as you reach the wall! Then go up!"
Phanpy did his level best to follow that instruction, and a moment later he was going up the wall and slowing down rapidly.
"And – push off!" Ash told him, as Phanpy ran out of momentum, and the Ground-type hung in the air or a moment. "Now, Flame Wheel but use it to aim!"
"What are you-" Byron began.
Phanpy lit up with Flame Wheel, spinning in the middle of the clouds, then dropped through them shrouded in bright orange-yellow flames.
"Land on Bronzor and use Earthquake!" Ash said. "Knock them to the ground!"
"Gyro Ball!" Byron countered.
The two Pokémon collided with a clang, and Bronzor knocked Phanpy back up into the air. This time, though – as Ash had realized – the recoil drove Bronzor down, towards the floor.
"Wait!" Byron said. "Dodge!"
"Again!" Ash called.
The second time, Phanpy landed a more glancing blow, but Bronzor wasn't using Gyro Ball. Instead, the metallic Pokémon was driven into the arena floor with a whung, and water went everywhere as Phanpy used Rollout the moment he landed.
Ash had to look away for a moment, from the spray, then the whole floor bounced from the force of the Earthquake.
When he looked again, Bronzor had been driven into the wall. And Donphan was sitting back on his haunches, looking dizzy.
"Ow," he said. "My trunk hurts."
"You evolved!" Ash said. "Great!"
"Interesting," Byron declared. "With my gym, the tricky thing is to do damage in the first place. Steel is a very defensive type."
Riolu raised a paw.
"Lucario are all rounders, it still counts," Byron said.
Riolu lowered a paw.
"Can you keep going, Donphan?" Ash asked. "That looked like it was a tough battle."
"Yeah!" Donphan replied, stood up, and fell over. "Okay, maybe not…"
"It can be hard for a Pokémon to deal with a whole new body form, especially after being exhausted," Cynthia commented.
"Yeah, Donphan says he's not sure if he can keep going," Ash agreed. "And I guess… the best thing is for you to have a rest, okay, Donphan? I'll ask for you again if I need to, but for now just have a rest."
"Okay!" Donphan agreed, readily, and Ash returned him before switching to another Pokéball.
"I guess this would have been easier if I'd picked you to start with, actually…" he said. "But that's how Pokémon battles work."
"You don't switch Pokémon much, I've noticed," Cynthia said. "Is there a reason for that?"
Ash had to stop, and think about that.
"I guess… I don't do it much, unless it seems like that Pokémon is unable to make the battle work?" he said. "That sometimes happens, when someone doesn't have the right moves. But when it's just hard, I think that's… when a Pokémon can really grow. When they can stretch what they're capable of."
He nodded at the arena, which was still a bit wet from the Rain Dance but was drying out. "Phanpy – Donphan – had trouble with that battle. But he learned something, and so did I, really. And if I'd used, uh, the next Pokémon I plan on using, it would probably have been an easier win but it wouldn't have meant learning that."
"That's an interesting way of thinking about it," Dawn said.
"It's a really cool way of thinking about it!" Riolu declared.
"I approve," Cynthia told Ash. "That you've thought about it, especially. Sometimes someone who isn't thinking and someone who's thinking a lot will do the same thing. But the reason you have is a good one."
"...actually, I didn't think about it much until just now," Ash admitted. "It just felt right."
Cynthia shrugged. "Why let that get in the way of doing something properly? Intuition has a place."
"Both trainers send out your Pokémon at the same time!" the referee requested. "Three, two, one – now!"
Ash sent out Staravia, and Byron sent out Bastiodon.
"Huh, after Bronzor he's really giving you a challenge!" Roark said. "I recognize that Bastiodon, she's tough."
"Begin!" the referee said.
"Orbit for a moment!" Ash said, and Staravia duly flew up into the air.
"You'll find that even a defensive Pokémon can handle attacking at a distance," Byron said. "Flash Cannon!"
"Extremespeed dodge!" Ash countered.
Staravia flew out of the way with a bang of displaced air, wings hammering the air once he finished his speed-boosted dodge to avoid running into the wall, and banked around to try and get behind Bastiodon.
"That's good – Close Combat!" Ash called. "Close in!"
"Ready," Byron said. "Now!"
Staravia hit Bastiodon with a Close Combat attack – and Bastiodon retaliated with a Metal Burst, blasting Staravia backwards and into the wall with a thud.
"Whoa!" Ash said. "Staravia, look out!"
The Flying-type shook his head, clearing it a little, then saw Bastiodon about to use Flash Cannon and dodged out of the way with an undignified squawk and flap of wings.
"What was that move?" Latias asked. "I don't recognize it."
"Metal Burst," Ash replied, keeping an eye on Bastiodon in case she prepared another ranged attack. "It makes it so that the Pokémon can kind of… return the attack that just hit it, only stronger."
"That's going to make it hard, right?" Latias asked.
"Yeah," Ash agreed, then nodded to himself. "I think I get it. Byron said the tricky thing was doing damage, but that's only half of it – you need to do damage properly! Bastiodon is an easy target to hit but that's just making it easier for her to retaliate, and she's tough…"
Ash pranced back and forth a bit, thinking. "Uh… okay, so… this is going to be tricky… Staravia, Wing Attack!"
"Wing Attack?" Staravia repeated, turning to look at his trainer. "She's made of rock and steel! I can't even think of a worse Pokémon to use that attack on!"
"Aggron?" Pikachu asked. "It'd be close-"
"Not the point!" Staravia protested.
"I've got an idea!" Ash explained. "Close in and use Wing Attack!"
"Metal Burst," Byron retorted.
As Staravia came in to attack her, Bastiodon prepared her Metal Burst – then Ash struck a hoof on the ground.
"Extremespeed away the moment you hit!" he said.
Staravia struck his target, then blurred away with a wham, and Metal Burst fired off too late. He outsped the flash of energy, halted right up near the ceiling as he flared his wings, then turned.
"Oh, I get it!" he said.
"Flamethrower," Byron ordered.
Staravia didn't even need to be told to dodge that, but Ash was still frowning.
"Try again!" he said.
"It won't work again," Bastiodon snorted, and proved true to her word – this time she got the timing of Metal Burst right, firing it off early, and it was a bit weaker than it would have been otherwise because the energy was fading when Staravia hit her. But it caught him before he used Extremespeed, knocking him for a loop, and he rolled out of his tumble just before hitting the floor.
"Okay, here we go!" Ash said. "Staravia, come around and use Close Combat – then Extremespeed out of the way!"
"Oh, this is going to suck if she gets it right," Staravia said.
"Metal Burst so you catch him!" Byron ordered.
The Flying-type looped around, ready to attack, and Bastiodon tensed.
"Now!" Byron said.
"Stop!" Ash called, at the same moment.
Staravia flared his wings in surprise, killing most of his momentum, then Ash gave another instruction almost on the heels of that one. "Close Combat!"
Because Bastiodon had been waiting for Byron's instruction. She couldn't see Staravia coming in herself, so she had to rely on him, and the moment he committed Ash had halted Staravia in place… and the Metal Burst flare happened while there was no attack to react to.
Then Staravia hit Bastiodon with Close Combat, hammering into her with a powerful Fighting move that drove her skidding halfway across the arena.
"Iron Defence!" Byron called. "Then Metal Burst!"
Staravia used Close Combat again, then shot up and out of the way, and Ash waited to see what Byron would do.
After that many Close Combat attacks, Staravia probably couldn't take many hits himself, but he'd really hammered Bastiodon so far.
After a moment of thought, Byron pointed. "Flamethrower!"
"Gust it back!" Ash retorted. "Then hide in the flames and use Close Combat!"
It was sort of like the Powder Snow trick from Fantina's Gym, but not exactly the same… but the idea was close, and it meant that neither Bastiodon nor Byron could tell exactly when Staravia would arrive.
And that was enough. Staravia hit Bastiodon for another Close Combat attack, knocking her over on her side, and dodged out of the way fast enough that he only got caught by the fringes of the Metal Burst she got off.
That was still enough to launch him into the ceiling, but he dropped free and wobbled a bit as he circled.
"I really hope that's enough?" Staravia said.
Ash was about ready to send Donphan back in, but the referee held up his hand.
"Bastiodon is unable to battle!" he declared.
"Good, because so am I," Staravia said, flying down to land on Ash's ring, then collided with the invisible Latias and bounced off.
"Are you okay?" Pikachu checked, as Staravia managed to crash with some dignity.
"I forgot she was there," the Flying-type admitted, rolling over onto his back. "My wings hurt."
"So, what's your third Pokémon?" Dawn asked. "Apart from probably a Steel type, that is."
"Excuse me?" Byron replied. "Probably? I'm a Gym Leader!"
"That doesn't actually stop you from having a Pokémon that's not that Type," Ash said. "Whitney in Johto is meant to be Normal-type, but nobody minds that she's got a Nidorina."
"Exactly," Dawn agreed.
"Though…" Ash went on. "I guess I can't think of any Pokémon that would start out not Steel type and become Steel type by Mega Evolving. And Byron did say that there'd be Mega Evolving involved, so I guess that means it's going to be… Steelix, Aggron, Metagross, Lucario… okay, there's a few possibilities I guess."
"I may as well tell you, so long as you've chosen your third Pokémon already," Byron said, and got a nod. "Steelix!"
Steelix emerged with a flash of white light, and Byron rummaged in his pockets. "Hold on, I put the Key Stone somewhere… aha!"
Taking it out with a flourish, Byron got ready – then saw that Ash had boosted Pikachu into the arena.
"...really?" he asked. "Are you sure?"
"I've got to agree, little guy," Steelix said, nodding his head. "I've heard about you and you're a real fireball, but I'm a giant steel snake and I'm Ground-type as well."
Pikachu shrugged. "Yeah, but I've been a very good little mouse and this is my treat."
Steelix blinked.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm Ash's starter," Pikachu replied, electricity fizzing off his cheeks. "Are you surprised that I love this kind of thing? And I've picked up a few lessons from his kids now and then."
"If both trainers are ready?" the referee asked, and Ash nodded.
"If you're sure, then I'm ready," Byron decided.
"Then – three, two, one, begin!" the referee said.
"Iron Tail!" Byron ordered.
"Extremespeed!" Ash called, and Pikachu rocketed away. Steelix Mega-Evolved with a flash of rainbow light, his tail changing visibly as he brought it down with a crash, and the whole building shook slightly.
"Sandstorm!" Byron called. "Then use Earthquake!"
Ash quickly got out his Feather Badge, taking off slightly, and spotted where Pikachu was again.
"Okay, Pikachu!" he said. "Extremespeed to move in and attack – and double kick!"
"Look out!" Byron called, but too late. Pikachu moved in with a staggering burst of speed, one that sent a wave of sand out through the sandstorm, and kicked Mega Steelix with a wham.
The blow knocked the Steel-type sideways, and Pikachu backflipped before landing on all four paws at once as Mega Steelix screeched to a halt.
"That little Pokémon is full of surprises," Byron muttered. "All right – Steelix, Scorching Sands!"
"Up the wall!" Ash replied.
Pikachu accelerated towards the wall, then braked just before he reached it with a sliding skreee of Iron Tail. That also swung him out of the path of Mega Steelix's attack, leaving it to splash into the wall next to him instead of hitting him, and a moment later Pikachu scampered up the wall.
"Extremespeed and Double Kick!" Ash said.
Pikachu launched another blazing-fast assault, knocking Mega Steelix around as if he were the bigger Pokémon – and without the benefit of Gigantamax, either.
"Iron Defence!" Byron said, as the recoil sent Pikachu flipping into the air.
"Noble Thunderbolt!" Ash replied.
"Noble what?" Roark asked. "Are those sparks golden?"
Pikachu used Noble Thunderbolt.
"...um," Byron said, as Mega Steelix fell over with a final sounding crash and reverted. "I'm not really sure about… well… I suppose my Gym is about learning how to deal damage, and you certainly did that…"
Pikachu landed, held his breath for a moment, then exhaled and straightened.
"And… relax," he said. "That was a lot of fun. Good battle."
Steelix groaned.
"You've earned the Mine Badge, I think," Byron said, after thinking about it, and held out a badge with a stones-and-pickaxes design.
Ash took it, his ring going from gold to silver and his gemstones taking on a bright yellow colour, and Latias grabbed his Pokédex out of his saddlebags.
"That which fills the other side of the world can shape the rage and mold it," Ash reported, turning to look at Dawn and Cynthia. "I guess that must mean Giratina? The Relic Badge said that bit about the other side of this world, too, didn't it?"
"That's what I remember," Cynthia agreed.
Latias typed away as Pikachu came over, then once she'd finished transcribing what Ash had said she checked the most recent other entry.
"Yeah, that's right," she said.
"It sounds like there's some bits that are about your siblings?" Dawn guessed. "And then the other part is about Plates. So it's… probably about Arceus."
"Should I understand that?" Byron checked.
"Apparently it's just a thing that happens when he gets a badge," Roark replied, shrugging.
AN:
It's interesting to make a themed challenge for a gym leader.
It's also interesting to give them a rather bad time...
