"I have a lot to think about," Miraidon stated, as they watched the ripples fade where Uxie had returned to the lake.

"I think we all do," Ash said.

"Now, I'm just guessing," Cynthia began. "But was that about needing to process what Uxie told us?"

"Yeah," Ash confirmed. "I'm impressed."

"You were about that good with me before becoming a Pokémon, Ash," Pikachu said, then flicked an ear. "Well. Most days. You had off days, same as everyone."

"Okay, okay," Ash chuckled.

Cynthia looked curious, but – with difficulty – shook it off.

"So… I have a suggestion," she said. "You see, I've been wondering about how your Plates work."

"...you mean how I have a gym battle for them?" Ash asked. "Or, sometimes I get them as a gift?"

"Yes," Cynthia confirmed. "But, at the same time… what I was wondering was whether it counts if it's not a proper, official challenge."

"That sounds like you're planning something," Dawn said.

"I'm hoping to do an experiment, yes," Cynthia agreed, readily enough. "The idea is – you've only got one Plate left that we know you can get, the Ground-type one, and if you did the normal Sinnoh Gym Challenge and faced the Elite Four and beat Bertha, that would be great but it wouldn't really tell us anything more about the kind of challenge you need to overcome for it. It'd be a waste of the last data point we might ever get."

Dawn nodded, thinking about that.

"So, let me guess," she requested. "You think Ash should have a battle with Bertha, now?"

"Or before he gets his eighth Badge," Cynthia agreed. "Then, again after his eighth Badge, if it doesn't work. To see how close to the proper kind of challenge it has to be."

"I got some of them as gifts, though," Ash pointed out.

"I know," Cynthia said. "I've got a whole page of notes about the possible limitations, and about the tests we could run."

"Uh…" Koraidon frowned, glancing into Lake Acuity. "Weren't we literally just talking to Uxie a few minutes ago? Couldn't she have just asked?"

"I don't think that one needs translation?" Mew asked, giggling.

"I could have asked Uxie, yes," Cynthia agreed. "But that would be asking a question that I have the means to find out myself, and that's no fun."

She looked into the lake herself, then determinedly away again. "I fully understand that idea! But – I know I didn't bring this up earlier, Ash. Maybe I should have?"

"No, I… get why you didn't," Ash agreed. "Because we could have found out here from Uxie telling us. And even if you weren't thinking that way, it could have happened anyway."

He raised a hoof, then paused.

"I actually kind of like that idea," he admitted. "Of having a training battle against a member of the Elite Four, I mean – and I don't think I've ever battled a Ground-type specialist trainer before, or a Fairy-type specialist. I've done…"

Ash counted under his breath for a moment.

"Psychic, Bug, Dragon, Normal, Ice, Dark, Electric, Ghost…" Pikachu listed off, switching from one paw to the other and back again. "Steel, Poison kind of, Fighting, Flying, Fire, Water, Rock, Grass. Yeah, it's just those two, or three depending on what you think of Koga."

"You've never battled a Ground-type specialist?" Cynthia repeated, curious. "I looked up your Badge record. Didn't you get the Earth Badge from Viridian?"

"That was… a weird one," Ash admitted. "Team Rocket were running the gym and they used a Machamp, Kingler and Rhydon, but the whole gym was rigged with electric feedback and it exploded."

He looked embarrassed. "I didn't really want to explain it then, in case they took my badge away… it wasn't even the weirdest Badge I got in Kanto."

"In hindsight, Kanto was deeply weird," Pikachu noted.

Ash silently agreed, then shook his head a bit.

"Anyway, uh," he went on. "Koga did use two Poison-types, but he had a lot of Voltorb too… but, yeah, I'd be interested in having a battle against Bertha!"

A moment later, he looked worried.

"...now I kind of need to work out what Pokémon to use," he said.

"You've got time to decide," Dawn advised him. "I doubt the battle is going to be in the next five minutes."

"No, I'd need to organize it first," Cynthia agreed. "And Bertha might say no. But there's a Pokémon Centre on the lakeside, so let's go there…"

The soonest Bertha could turn up was tomorrow, and once they'd got a time Cynthia's Lucario crouched down to address Riolu.

"What about if we spend this time working on something that I'm sure will be useful to you?" he asked.

"Oh!" Riolu gasped. "Sure! What is it?"

"I think you're supposed to say those things in a different order," Pikachu laughed.

"Well, maybe, but I'm excited anyway!" Riolu replied. "Is it Extreme Speed? No, Meteor Mash? Earthquake?"

"It's talking so that humans can understand you," Lucario answered. "Though, yes, those other things can be useful too."

"That sounds really useful!" Riolu said. "I'd be able to translate for Dawn!"

Then the Fighting-type glanced at Dawn. "I mean. If she's okay with that."

"What about if you work to ask her yourself?" Lucario suggested.

That got an eager nod from the little Riolu, and Lucario led him off to start working on the complex mix of Aura meditation and practical training that would let that happen.

As they left, Ash frowned.

"You know…" he said. "I should really get in some training for the battle with Bertha, but… there's a problem with that."

"What's the problem, Dad?" Koraidon asked.

Ash looked awkward.

"I don't know who to use," he admitted. "See, there's so many options… should I use a Ground-type, like Swampert or Donphan? Or would I be better off using a Flying-type? Staravia would be a good choice there…"

"How would you pick if you were facing a Gym Leader?" Latias asked.

"It depends on the Gym Leader," Ash replied. "So… that doesn't help that much, but it is a good thing to think about…"

He tapped a hoof, considering.

"I guess… for a really, really hard battle, it might be you and Pikachu to start with," he said. "And I might add Pidgeot, but I'm not sure. And then, uh… Absol and Sceptile haven't had much of a chance to battle recently… Sandshrew's been involved really recently, so it's not going to be her… and maybe Koraidon, but not Miraidon because they were at the Snowpoint Gym."

"I did get that battle against Steelix," Pikachu said, sounding a bit reluctant. "So there's that. And Donphan evolved then, and Staravia was in that one too."

He frowned. "Going back further, Absol and Buneary were both in the battle against Fantina… I guess it really is tricky."

Then Pikachu shrugged. "At least it isn't something I need to work out!"

"What about Zorua?" Koraidon suggested. "He's been around a lot, but he hasn't battled much either."

"That's true, I guess," Ash conceded. "This is really tricky…"

"It's a pity Lucario's busy," Cynthia said. "Because, otherwise, he'd comment on how you're more like me than usual."

Ash stifled a laugh.

"...actually, can you tell me about Bertha?" he asked. "I know she's a Ground-type trainer, but I mean what Pokémon she typically uses."

"I don't know what Pokémon she's going to use against you," Cynthia stressed lightly. "But I can tell you that the Pokémon she uses in general include Whiscash, Gliscor, Hippowdon, Golem, Rhyperior, Nidoking and Mamoswine."

"Does that help out much?" Latias asked.

"I guess a bit," Ash replied, thinking out loud. "Those Pokémon are mostly big and heavy, but big and heavy doesn't mean slow – it just means, not as fast as a small and light Pokémon with the same kind of training. And, uh… she is a member of the Elite Four, so she has to have a solution for fast Pokémon."

He shrugged, slightly. "I guess what it tells me is that I need to be able to be thinking about hitting hard, not just hitting. With a Diglett the hard thing is just hitting at all, right?"

"That's a good start," Cynthia said. "But I won't give away the whole surprise."

She sent out her Glaceon and her Rowlet. "And I'm afraid that we'll be busy, so we won't be able to help much."

"That's fine," Ash replied. "I really need to come to a decision, anyway…"

The next morning, Ash spent a long moment adjusting his cap, looking in the mirror and glancing at Pikachu.

"Do you think that's right?" he asked.

"Why are you worried about it?" Pikachu asked.

"I guess… I don't know, really," Ash admitted. "This is meant to just be a battle for fun, and at the same time… it might be the one where I get my last Plate. So I don't know how I should be thinking about it."

He waved a hoof, vaguely. "I've been collecting these since way before I knew what they meant. The Plates, I mean… and it feels like that's important."

"That does make a lot of sense," Latias said, as Ash used Confusion to adjust his hat again.

"You're doing it wrong," Pikachu advised. "Let me."

Ash frowned, not quite sure what Pikachu meant, and the Electric-type waved Latias over. He jumped up to her wing, using it as a support, then took Ash's cap off and put it backwards.

"...that feels weird, but… yeah," Ash admitted. "I think you're right, Pikachu."

"Of course I am," Pikachu replied, flicking his ears, and Latias giggled.

"Let's go, then," Ash decided. "We've got a battle to win!"

"What do you think happens when you get all of them?" Buneary asked, springing into the air, and Staravia went whipping past close enough that his wings just touched Buneary's paws.

"I don't know," Ash admitted.

For all that he'd left his room earlier ready for a battle, he'd been reminded shortly thereafter that a battle that day didn't mean a battle was waiting for him, and so they'd gone for training.

"I didn't have any idea the Symbols would combine to do something," he added. "Though I guess, what they did end up combining to do did turn out to be relevant to all of what they said…"

He touched a hoof to the ground, looking out over the lake.

"I just… don't know."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll use it right," Latias told Ash. "Whether that means not using it at all, or whatever – I trust you, Ash."

"Thanks," Ash replied, touched.

He looked over at where Miraidon was helping with Cynthia's training, using their Solarbeam as a way to show whether they were able to keep track of Rowlet without looking, and then to the other side – where Dawn was working on a routine, involving Grotle's Seed Bombs and Sneasel's quick Shadow Claw attacks to slice them up as they came in.

The really tricky bit was cutting the Seed Bomb so that it would explode either side of her, but so that the momentum of the explosion carried it past her, avoiding her being hit.

Buneary sprang into the air again, and Staravia shot past.

"That looks good," Ash added, raising his voice so Staravia could hear. "I can see you're doing the little adjustments in the last second or so!"

"Ash," Pikachu said, nudging Ash's neck, and Ash twisted.

"Huh?" he asked, then saw where Pikachu was pointing. An elderly woman was approaching them from the direction of the Pokémon Centre, and Ash watched her for a moment before turning to look at Cynthia.

The Champion had already stopped her training, walking to meet the woman, and Ash began trotting to join them. Buneary sprang up onto his back, and Staravia and Latias flew alongside, so by the time he reached probably-Bertha it was with almost his whole current team.

"Ah, you must be Ash Ketchum," the woman said. "My name is Bertha."

She looked at his hat. "Is there a reason why you're wearing that backwards, young man?"

Latias started giggling.

"Pikachu did that," Ash defended himself, which got a cross look from Pikachu. "It's because, uh… never mind. But I'm ready for our battle!"

"That's good news," Bertha told him. "Though I'm afraid you'll still have to wait, young man. At least give me enough time to catch up with my boss first!"

Ash looked worried.

"That's not going to be about science or history, is it?" he asked. "Because, uh… recently she met up with Brandon…"

Bertha laughed.

"Oh, don't you worry about that," she said. "We'll only be a few minutes."

A few minutes later, Bertha stood opposite Ash at different ends of a large area near the shore.

All the other training had stopped, and the spectators – Cynthia, Dawn, their Pokémon and a few curious onlookers – were at a good distance, and Ash floated a Pokéball out of his bag.

"Ready?" Bertha asked.

"Well, kind of?" Ash replied. "What are the rules for this?"

"Ah!" Bertha said. "Well done for checking… if you hadn't seen that I would have made use of it! It's three Pokémon on a side."

Ash nodded.

Fortunately he'd already decided who to use in this battle for whatever the rules were, so he didn't have to change anything.

"On three," Cynthia said. "And, just to make sure, what that means is that I will count one, then I will count two, and then on the word three you throw your Pokéballs!"

"Got it!" Ash said, firmly.

Bertha just nodded, and Cynthia counted up – then, on three, Bertha sent out a Gliscor and Ash sent Staravia into the battle.

"Steel Wing to protect yourself!" Ash said, straight away. "And Extremespeed-"

"Sandstorm," Bertha ordered, at the same time as Ash was giving his first order, and Gliscor summoned a swirling cloud of sand which spread out over much of the battlefield. There was a whoosh as Staravia cannoned through it, but he hit nothing, and Ash frowned for a moment as the grit bombarded him.

Then Latias flew closer to him, using her Safeguard to protect them both, and Ash gave a quick nod of thanks.

"Watch out for what Gliscor's going to do, Staravia," Ash added, straining his senses… but trying not to start using his powers.

He wanted to see what Gliscor was doing, through the sand, but he couldn't see the Ground-type's position. He had an idea of where Staravia was, partly from the sound and partly from shadows, but he couldn't detect Gliscor.

"Gust," Ash ordered, after a moment. "Try and clear the sand to find Gliscor!"

"Guillotine," Bertha said, calmly – so matter-of-factly that it threw Ash off.

"Extremespeed!" he said, the moment he'd processed what she said, and Staravia accelerated with a whoosh. The white light of a Guillotine attack whipped through the air at the start of Staravia's path, looking like it had just missed him, and Ash blinked a few times as he tried to work out how Bertha had done that.

"Keep moving fast!" he said. "And don't fly in a straight line – don't fly predictably!"

"Easier said than done, but all right!" Staravia replied, as Ash thought.

So… obviously Gliscor had been able to find out where Staravia was, but… how?

Maybe it was the Gust? But that didn't feel right, the Guillotine had come way too soon afterwards. Gliscor could fly, but they weren't fast Pokémon – so Bertha's Gliscor had to have been in position, ready to attack before Ash called for Gust.

Then suddenly a couple of things made sense at once.

Gliscor could move faster because they'd created the Sandstorm and knew how the air currents worked – but, more importantly, Gliscor could tell where Staravia was blocking the air currents, because that meant less sand!

"Steel Wing and go downwind!" Ash called. "Extremespeed!"

"Fire Fang!" Bertha replied.

Both flying Pokémon crashed into one another with a wham, lighting up the inside of the sandstorm with sparks of flame, and Staravia cawed. "Ouch!"

"You okay?" Ash called.

"Fire Fang hurts on a Steel Wing," Staravia replied. "I can keep going, though."

"Then – go higher!" Ash called. "Get out of the sand, then use Gust to clear enough of it…"

He waited a moment, as Staravia flew up and hammered his wings. It wasn't quite using Extremespeed, but his wings were moving fast, blowing away as much of the sand as he could, and Bertha pointed.

"Close in and Thunder Fang," she said.

"Extremespeed!" Ash called, in reply, and the two Pokémon collided again – this time with a crackle-BANG and a cloud of sparks.

"Swords Dance," Bertha instructed, as the two Pokémon flew apart, and Ash winced – not only was Gliscor going to be stronger next time, but the sandstorm was coming back again to shield them.

He thought about recalling Staravia, then shook his head slightly.

"Aerial Ace!" he called.

"Guillotine," Bertha countered, and the next collision was even louder. The flash of impact made it unclear whether Staravia had managed to avoid the attack, and Ash pranced slightly with nerves.

A long moment later, Staravia fell out of the bottom of the cloud… but he was glowing.

"Pull up!" Ash shouted, and the Flying-type spread his wings. Big wings.

Staraptor pulled up and out of the dive, wings sweeping the air, and Ash pointed with his hoof. "Gust – then Extremespeed!"

"Ice Fang," Bertha replied.

"Steel Wing!" Ash interrupted himself, and the newly-evolved Staraptor hit Gliscor with a crash. Some of the attack made it through, and some reflected off the shining silver of his Steel Wings, and the impact sent Gliscor staggering… but the extra-strong blow was too much for Staraptor, who fell right back out of the air again.

Ash reached out with Confusion, catching Staraptor before he hit the ground, and floated him back.

"You did great," he said. "You really did, Staraptor."

"Who's next?" Pikachu asked, shifting on Ash's back, and Ash frowned as he returned Staraptor to his Pokéball.

"Latias, you go," he decided. "Watch out for Ice Fang attacks."

"All right," Latias agreed, flying forwards to make it clear she was taking part, and Cynthia nodded slightly.

"Resume on three," she said. "One, two, three!"

"Cloak and dodge!" Ash ordered, straight away, squinting against the grit that was causing him problems again.

"Ice Fang," Bertha ordered, at the same moment. "Find that Latias!"

"Safeguard," Ash added, thinking about timing.

The amount of time it would take Gliscor to find Latias the same way they'd found Staraptor was difficult to tell, because it was something he wasn't familiar with… but Safeguard, actually using the attack, lit up the inside of the sand cloud with a glow of psychic energy.

Signalled where Latias was.

And that meant-

"Counter shield!" Ash said, and Latias used Mystical Fire. She wrapped it around herself as a shield, instantly giving away her position far more obviously than Safeguard, but Ash had gambled that Gliscor was already on the way… a gamble that paid off, as the Ground-type collided with Latias's shield in a flash of flame.

The Ice Fang misfired, and Ash struck his hoof sharply on the ground. "Confusion! Grab Gliscor!"

"X-Scissor," Bertha called.

"Dragon Pulse!" Ash replied, and there was an explosion of multicoloured light inside the sandstorm.

This time, it was Gliscor's turn to drop out of the cloud of swirling sand, and Bertha recalled the Flying-type out of the air before they hit the ground.

"Not bad," she said, nodding slightly. "You've got a powerful Pokémon there, but it's not just relying on her power."

"The funny thing is, you actually did train her up from not being able to fight. She really has come a really long way," Pikachu said.

"She has, yeah," Ash agreed, as the sandstorm faded. "Are you okay to keep going, Latias?"

"Yes!" Latias replied, giving Ash a thumbs-up. "That Ice Fang stings a bit but that's all."

"Great," Ash nodded, then Bertha sent out her second Pokémon.

This one was a Hippowdon, a brown-skinned male, and Ash frowned as he thought.

"I guess… watch out for however he's going to come up and reach you?" he asked.

"Ready to resume?" Cynthia checked, then did the countdown again. One, two, three, and Ash and Bertha pointed at the same time.

"Dragon Pulse!" Ash called.

"Dig!" Bertha replied, and Hippowdon plunged into the ground with a crash and a shower of sand and grit. The Dragon Pulse hit him on the back, but a moment later he was underground, and Ash frowned.

"Huh," he said, as Latias orbited. "That's weird… Pokémon can't stay underground all battle, right?"

"That's correct," Cynthia told him. "There's actually a hierarchy of what counts as avoiding battle. Flying and not attacking can count as avoiding battle, so can being underground, but if you have one Pokémon flying and the other underground then the underground one is the one that counts as avoiding battle. That's because it's more common that a grounded Pokémon can attack a flying one, rather than being able to attack an underground one; the same sort of rule applies to swimming."

Ash nodded, thinking.

"Mystical Fire, get a counter shield ready," he told Latias, and the Psychic-type wrapped herself in flame.

For a few seconds, nothing seemed to happen, and Cynthia checked her Pokétch.

"Smack Down," Bertha said.

"Look out!" Ash called, but Hippowdon had already been breaking the surface – his attack flashed out, hit Latias, and she squeaked in pain as her levitation suddenly stopped working.

The Dragon-type hit the ground, bouncing and rolling over, then skidded to a halt and shook herself. She pushed herself up on her arms, looking for where Hippowdon was, but the Ground-type had vanished underground again as Bertha called for another Dig.

"Uh oh," Pikachu summarized.

"Are you okay, Latias?" Ash asked.

"I can't take off," Latias replied, sounding distressed. "My levitation isn't working."

"Stay calm," Ash told her. "And watch out, Hippowdon could attack you now… keep up that Mystical Fire. How fast can you walk?"

Latias tested herself, shifting her weight. Her legs were able to move her, and her arms could help her pull herself along, but it wasn't fast.

"If you have to, do a roll to the side to dodge," Ash said, then tried to concentrate.

There was something about the timing then, as well. Bertha had called for a Smack Down and Hippowdon had been too close to the surface for it to be a coincidence-

"Crunch," Bertha ordered, as the ground heaved up right next to Latias.

"Roll left!" Ash said. "Steel Wing!"

The Steel Wing helped, and so did the roll, but Hippowdon still got a solid hit on Latias as he broke through her Counter Shield. She overbalanced a bit as she came out of the roll, steadying herself with both arms, then Ash called for a Dragon Pulse and Hippowdon went sliding backwards from the attack.

"Dig," Bertha called again, and Hippowdon went back underground. That left Latias as the only visible Pokémon, panting a little after that exchange of attacks, but Ash was thinking.

The same thing had happened again! Bertha had called for the attack at way too good a time for it… sure, Hippowdon would be able to find out where Latias was by the ground shaking, or something, but-

The ground shaking.

That was what Bertha was doing. She was seeing when Hippowdon was about to come out of the ground, and giving him orders then.

"Get ready to react quickly, Latias!" Ash called. "This is going to have to be really quick, as fast as you can! And I can't explain it or they'll hear!"

"I trust you, Ash," Latias replied, glancing in his direction with a smile, and Ash returned her smile… and not just because of the sentiment.

Because he could see a faint golden glow along her feathers.

"Keep turning," Ash added. "He could come from anywhere."

Latias did just as Ash said, turning around and sweeping out an arc. Giving a good signal for Hippowdon to use to come back up.

The ground began to move-

"Teleport UP!" Ash shouted.

"Crunch-" Bertha was in the middle of ordering, when Latias vanished in a flash of golden light.

She reappeared overhead, out of range, and immediately began falling – and Ash pointed.

"Dragon Pulse down!" he said.

Latias swung her arms to point herself down, and used Dragon Pulse. This time the attack hit Hippowdon on the back at full force, hammering the Ground-type, but it also unbalanced Latias slightly as she couldn't control her levitation right.

"Teleport up again!" he said. "Keep teleporting higher when you get near the ground!"

Latias teleported a second time, and a third, using Dragon Pulse each time after correcting her own angle through the teleport, then Bertha held out her hand.

"Enough!" she said, and recalled her battered Hippodwon. "I can see you've overcome that trick."

"Stop teleporting," Ash told Latias, and caught her with his own telekinesis to shed her momentum.

She made a tired squeaking sound.

"Are you all right?" Miraidon asked, worried.

"I'm not used to not flying everywhere," Latias admitted, with a sigh. "That was a lot less fun than I was hoping."

"Can I call Latias back and still use her later?" Ash asked, glancing at Cynthia. "This was a weird one."

"Bertha can no longer use Hippowdon…" Cynthia said, looking thoughtful. "Could Latias have recovered without you recalling her or her crashing?"

"I'd have told her to teleport to the lake," Ash replied. "That's in the battle area, she'd have splashed down."

"Good answer," Bertha noted. "Why didn't you?"

"I don't know if she can swim without flying," Ash answered. "I didn't think it was important enough to scare her like that."

Bertha nodded.

"I don't have a problem with Latias still being available," she told them both. "You'd better get your final Pokémon ready, though… I know which one I'm using."

"So do I!" Ash replied.

Bertha held up a Pokéball, and as soon as she did Pikachu jumped off Ash's back to enter the arena.

They'd talked about this, going back and forth, and ultimately they'd decided… there just wasn't a better choice.

There were other Pokémon who could battle, maybe even better against Ground-types, but… for Ash's final plate, it was only right that it was Pikachu.

Bertha nodded, sending out a Golem, and Cynthia held up her hand.

"As before," she said. "One, two, three, begin!"

"Iron Tail!" Ash called, and Pikachu's tail shimmered as he got ready to attack or defend with it.

"Rock Polish," Bertha said, at almost the same moment. "Earthquake!"

Ash jumped into the air, floating skywards, and Golem moved with surprising speed to headbutt the ground and produce an Earthquake. Pikachu jumped as well, avoiding the worst of the blow, but some of it still got through.

"If she's going to stay at a distance-" Ash began.

"Heavy Slam," Bertha interrupted, and suddenly Golem wasn't trying to stay at a distance. She was closing in at speed, and Ash interrupted himself.

"Extremespeed away!" he said. "Get ready to shock her!"

Pikachu whirled, darting away in a blur of yellow, and his cheeks sparked as he built up charge.

"Rock Blast," Bertha ordered, overriding her earlier instruction, and Golem's forehead glowed as she launched out a barrage of rocks. Pikachu avoided one, ducked the second, but the third hit him and knocked him rolling over for a moment. His cheeks grounded out, shedding much of the charge he'd originally had, then he skidded to a halt and began to charge up again.

"Bulldoze," Bertha continued.

"Jump!" Ash called. "Agility!"

"Rock Blast," Bertha instructed.

"Extremespeed!" Ash called. "Keep dodging – and protect yourself with Iron Tail!"

Pikachu whirled, tail glowing, and smashed the next rock headed his way. The blow still knocked him back, though it wasn't a direct hit, and Ash tried to focus.

Golem was moving very fast, accelerated by a second Rock Polish a moment later, and kept hurling Rock Blast attacks at Pikachu. She was running around at speed, trying out different angles, and mixing it up with Earth Power attacks and Earthquakes, and there was something about it that was-

Bertha was attacking constantly.

That was what was going on!

"Iron Tail!" Ash called, warning Pikachu in time for him to smash up an incoming rock. "Pikachu, just keep it up, I need to think!"

"You got it, Ash!" Pikachu replied. "I hope you come up with an answer quick, though!"

"I'll try!" Ash promised, keeping half his attention on the battle in case Pikachu needed a warning. Golem was keeping up the pressure, all right, under Bertha's orders, and she kept trying out new things like Mud Shot that Ash had to help with – but Ash couldn't focus on that.

Because Bertha was forcing Ash to keep reacting. She was making it so that he had to tell Pikachu how to respond to whatever it was that Golem was ordered to do next, and Pikachu could deal with the attacks but that wasn't going to win them the battle.

"Close in!" Ash decided. "Iron Tail!"

"Stone Edge," Bertha replied.

Pikachu was already using Iron Tail, hacking his way through one of the Stone Edge attacks Golem sent at him, then hit Golem with the attack as well. There was a loud tchak, and Pikachu bounced off again with enough force that Golem couldn't just grab him.

The Ground-type punched at him anyway as Bertha called for Fire Punch, and Pikachu flipped over it to avoid taking a hit.

"Double Kick!" Ash added. "Wait – left!"

Pikachu dodged out of the way, spinning left, and avoided a Rock Blast. Then he darted in, hitting Golem with a Double Kick, and the Rock-type staggered back a bit from the force Pikachu had put into the blows.

"Ready-" Ash called, but Bertha interrupted him.

"Explosion," she said.

"Extremespeed!" Ash shouted, and Pikachu darted away. That robbed the blast of some of its force, but only some, and Pikachu went rolling across the battlefield before sliding to a halt.

"Pikachu, look out!" Ash added. "Iron Tail!"

Pikachu managed to use Iron Tail in time to stop the Rock Blast that was about to hit him, but the same problem was going on again. Now Pikachu wasn't close in, and Ash needed to try something else.

"...Pikachu!" he said, suddenly. "In the water!"

"But I won't be able to charge-" Pikachu objected.

"I know, but still!" Ash replied, and Pikachu glanced at Ash for a moment before nodding. He turned, used Extremespeed, and darted into the water itself with a splash.

"Interesting," Bertha said. "Golem, be ready to attack when he comes out."

"Just to be clear, Ash-" Cynthia began.

"I know, this counts as Pikachu avoiding battle," Ash agreed, concentrating.

Pikachu had plunged into the water, and was hiding down there… he couldn't stay down for long, but Ash had the time to think about what Bertha had been doing.

And, unfortunately, one of those things was that she wasn't willing to let Pikachu try and hit Golem with a Noble Thunderbolt.

Ash did guess that that made sense, if she knew about it…

He watched Golem moving back and forth, then raised his voice.

"Pikachu, now!" he said. "Extremespeed towards Golem!"

"Rock Blast," Bertha replied, firmly.

Pikachu burst out of the lake, water dripping off his fur, and blurred towards Golem as soon as he was on the ground. Spray went everywhere, then Ash pointed.

"Jink left, Extremespeed!" he said. "Then right!"

Pikachu blurred in both directions in succession, avoiding Rock Blast attacks, and Bertha frowned.

"Watch out," she said. "Earthquake!"

"Jump!" Ash replied, and Pikachu sprang into the air at full speed this time. The ground trembled, but it didn't affect Pikachu, then Bertha pointed.

"Rock Blast!"

Ash hoped this was going to work.

"Let it hit you!" he called, very quickly, and Pikachu did a double-take. Ash had just enough time to see his shock turn into trust, then Golem hit Pikachu with a high-speed rock.

Not one that Pikachu had hit with Iron Tail, shattering it and reducing the impact. A full-on hit, one that knocked Pikachu into the air.

"Charge up!" Ash called, glancing to his side so he could see his saddlebags.

Pikachu's cheeks crackled, and Bertha pointed. "Rock Blast!"

She was assuming that Ash wanted Pikachu to use Noble Thunderbolt.

But Ash had something else in mind, and purplish smoke seethed around Pikachu.

"-what?" Bertha asked, startled, then Pikachu grew. He Gigantamaxed in a rush of reddish-purple light, becoming dozens of feet tall in a single moment, and the Rock Blast bounced off.

"Big," Zorua summarized, nodding from Miraidon's head.

Ash grinned. "Pikachu – G-Max Volt Crash!"

"Take… THIS!" Pikachu said, golden and purple light both rising up around him, then unleashed his attack.

"G-Max moves… by Ash's Pikachu… can… override the Ground-type's immunity to electricity," Cynthia said, taking a note, as Pikachu shrank back down and Ash panted a few times.

Latias came out of her Pokéball, looked briefly pleased to actually be floating, then glanced at Ash. "Are you all right?"

"Just a bit tired," Ash replied, taking his amulet off his ring again. "I think I would have done better if I'd been ready for it, but I only decided to at the last moment."

Pikachu came loping over, battered and a bit bruised but triumphant, and Ash sat back on his hind legs to give Pikachu a hug.

"You did really well," he told his starter. "That was a tough fight."

"That was a good fight," Bertha said, approaching, having recalled her Golem. "You've got some seasoning still to do, you sometimes take a while to work out the answer, but… that's me speaking after having lost the battle, so treat it as a place to improve, not me telling you you're wrong."

"I get it," Ash agreed, nodding, and rose back to all fours as Pikachu clambered around to his back. "I do know what you mean."

Bertha reached into a pocket, then, and took out a small crystal set in a steel housing.

"It's quartz," she told him. "Which is what sand is made of… I don't have a formal Badge for obvious reasons, but Cynthia tells me you don't actually need it to be a formal Badge."

"That's right, yeah," Ash agreed, taking it… then frowned.

"It's not saying anything," he said, trying not to sound disappointed. "And I haven't changed colour… I guess this isn't my last Plate, then."

Cynthia started writing that down as well.

"That's unfortunate," Bertha said. "Well, Ash – I do look forward to our next battle, then. I'll be sure to bring some more tricks to that one."

Ash closed his eyes for a moment, then nodded.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I'm looking forward to that, too. I guess… I just need a minute, because I was expecting this to be it… I knew it might not be, we talked about it, but I guess I must not have properly believed it might not be…"

AN:

Bertha's thing in the anime is being observant. Writing her has been fun.