1,2

The big flying boat dropped lower as it approached Petalburg Bay, slanting a little as it slipped across the wind before turning into it to make landing easier.

It skimmed over the spit of land that defined the bay, scattering a flock of Wingull as it headed south, then flared a little and touched down on the rippled water with a long, drawn out splaaaaaaash.

Engines still burbling, the half-aircraft-half-boat turned, riding the swell, and headed slowly towards the nearby pier to tie up and offload.

"All right!" Ash grinned, as the door opened. "We're here!"

He sniffed the sea air, then got out of the way so May and the rest of the Maples could follow him down the gangplank.

"Home again, home again," Norman smiled. "I'm glad we decided to move here last year, it really is a beautiful place. Not as sooty as Olivine, and not too busy either."

Max had a different opinion. "Agh! I forgot how fishy it smells here!"

His family chuckled good-naturedly.

"Well, we should get going," Norman added. "You're setting off tomorrow, right?"

"That's right," Ash confirmed. "I was going to make sure I had Latios, too, to have a good talk with him before we're off on the road."

He frowned. "I'm still thinking about that idea of yours, Mr. Maple..."

"Ash, given how much you're going to be seeing of both my children over the next year, you should probably get comfortable with calling me Norman," the Gym Leader admonished.

"Right," Ash said. "What should we do for the rest of the day?"

"Well, Max and May both need to register officially as trainers and get their cards," Caroline pointed out. "Maybe you could take them to Littleroot. I think you could borrow Norman's bike-"

"Bad idea," May and Ash chorused.

"Pikachu destroys bikes," Ash explained. "How far is it?"

"Well, a few miles..." Norman frowned, looking up at the sun. It wasn't setting yet, but it was getting low in the sky. "Maybe you should do that tomorrow morning, and just spend the evening discussing Pokémon and what your plans are."

"That might be a good idea," Max agreed. "Oh – Ash, what Pokémon do you have with you?"

He looked a little uncertain. "I'm trying to practice thinking in terms of tactics-"

"Oh, right," Ash nodded. "Yeah – okay, I've got Pikachu with me-"

Pikachu said something neither Max nor May understood.

He said that he wouldn't be surprised if Ash forgot Pikachu was there, despite his being on his shoulder, Kris reported promptly, and the siblings chuckled a bit.

"That's cruel, Pikachu..." Ash sighed. "Okay – aside from him, there's Entei, Mawile, Lucario, Dexter of course, and Houndoom. I'm expecting Pidgeot overnight, I'm going to pick up Latios later and Larvitar tomorrow morning."

"...and Ash just ignores the Pokémon limit completely," May sighed. "Champions think they're above the rules, don't they?"

"I'm not planning on using more than six in a battle, if that's what you mean," Ash replied. "Besides, Pikachu doesn't count because he doesn't use a Pokéball, and Dexter doesn't count for basically the same reason..."

"That still only puts you at seven," Max pointed out. "And they're not very good excuses anyway."

Ash shrugged.

"Ash," May said, remembering the other thing she'd been going to ask. "Would it be better if we started practising that thing you said you can teach people? The... Pokémon-y understand-y thing?"

"Yeah!" Max agreed. "That'd be great! Using Kris to translate works, but it feels all clunky."

"Actually, you're right!" Ash nodded thoughtfully. "I guess we should get started on that-"

There was a grumbling sound.

"...after dinner?" he added, sheepishly, and there were chuckles.

"Okay, ready?" Ash asked.

Both brother and sister nodded. Blaziken did as well, having invited himself, and over in the corner Watt played with Mawile.

(Max's Electrike had changed his mind on his preferred name. Again.)

Ash smiled, and then closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, and let it slowly out.

A pale blue fire danced at his fingertips.

"This is Aura," Ash explained, bringing his hand up. "I know you guys saw it at Cameran Castle, as well as a few-"

He paused.

"I forgot to go to the tournament again..." Ash sighed, with a shake of his head.

"Ash?" May asked pointedly.

"Oh, right..." Ash nodded. "Anyway. This is Aura. Now, I've got... kind of a lot of it."

"Yeah, I remember..." May agreed. "Wait – weren't there those special gloves? Did you get those? I remember seeing you in them..."

Ash nodded confirmation. "I took them off so you can get a better look," he said. "They only work for me, so that way of getting better isn't an option... but yeah, that's one of the first things I did."

"How did you get so good?" Max asked. "Did you actually start Aura training in Unova?"

"No, I didn't," Ash told him. "It was between the end and going back, Sir Aaron taught me."

"...I know he's dead, but when has that ever stopped you," May muttered. "Right. Training from a dead hero, got it. So, how do we get to do this?"

Ash sat himself more comfortably. "Firstly, you need to understand what Aura is. It's kind of like an expression of life energy... hey, feel this."

He held out his hands, and Max took the left one.

"How does it feel?" Ash asked, as May took the right.

"Tingly," Max said, frowning. "It's like... pins and needles, but in a good way. And warm – really, really warm, but not uncomfortable."

"Yeah," May agreed, a bit distantly. "Ash, is this what it feels like for you whenever you do it?"

"Well, there's warm and tingly, yeah," Ash agreed. "But I've kind of gotten used to it – I had to to be able to use a useful amount."

He frowned for a moment. "Okay... now, close your eyes. Concentrate on that feeling."

Ash pushed a bit more Aura into his hands, the glow getting brighter as he did so, and May's eyes opened for a moment in surprise.

"Keep them closed," he reminded her. "And keep breathing deeply – in and out, staying relaxed. Now... think of a really happy moment. Something that always makes you smile."

True to his instructions, smiles spread over both their faces. Ash closed one eye to check how it was going, and considered.

"Remember exactly how it happened, every detail," he said. "Everything you can think of about it, from the really important bits to the tiny little details that stick in your mind."

Ash slipped his hands gently out of those of his friends, and fought back a grin as he saw the almost invisible blue lights dancing there.

"Now," he went on. "Aura can be used to tell how people are feeling, that's most of how the translation works. So – push that lovely warm feeling towards my hand so I can feel it."

The blue glow strengthened, and then Max frowned.

His eyes flew open, and he looked at Ash – then down at his hand.

His blue Aura light vanished as he did, winking out as his concentration went, but he'd seen it – and that was what mattered.

Ash quickly put his finger to his lips, signalling for Max to remain silent. May hadn't noticed yet...

"Good," Ash told her, after a moment, as the blue light faded slightly from her palms. "Now, think specifically of Blaziken."

"Already doing it," May said, a little distantly. "You said to think of a good moment..."

Blaziken was clearly touched.

"You've had him as a Pokémon for a few years," Ash reminded her. "And in that time, I bet you've come to know a lot of the ways he expresses himself... even come to understand some of what he's saying."

May nodded. "Yeah, I kind of do..."

Ash pointed at Blaziken.

"Thank you, May," Blaziken said. "For everything."

May gasped, eyes opening. "I... was that my name? I heard it – I understood it, and not just because I know what Blaziken says for..."

She stopped, looking down.

"Ash, when did you take your hand away?" she asked.

"About twenty seconds after I told you to close your eyes," Ash informed her. "You were getting a fairly steady glow there – so was Max."

"I – that's..." May frowned. "If it's this easy-"

"It's not," Ash interrupted her. "There's a reason I took your hands at first, I was kind of training your body to recognize Aura. It was quite tiring to produce enough that you could feel it... and you're getting the streamlined version."

He frowned. "That was really good, especially getting some of what Blaziken said – but I'm afraid now we get to the hard part, which is the more general practice."

Lucario came out of his Pokéball with a flash, and nodded to them. "Evening."

Max giggled at how prosaic that suddenly seemed.

"Lucario's not just able to use the Aura translation trick himself," Ash explained. "He's also able to control the extent to which it works. It's kind of... if there's a certain amount in the connection, then understanding happens – so Lucario's going to start off doing most of the work, so it's easy for you to understand him. Then we're going to push until it's harder."

"Did Misty and Brock find it this hard?" Max asked.

"I found it that hard," Ash told him. "And harder. It took ages until I could understand any Pokémon, but I hadn't worked out this trick yet – Tracey was the first person I did it on."

May nodded. "Right... and it's Pokémon we know well first?"

"That's what makes the connection easier. Though..." Ash frowned. "Actually... Blaziken, I guess I should offer to teach you the opposite side of it. Suicune decided to learn, but it took a month or two..."

"I think I will pass, for now," Blaziken decided. "I will certainly remember the offer, though."

Watt came bounding past in pursuit of a stick, grabbed it, and brought it back to Mawile. He threw it with a flick of his head, and Mawile spun around to catch it in her head-jaws.

"That's pretty cute," May smiled, then shook her head. "Right. Let's keep going."

"Very well," Lucario said. He cleared his throat, and spoke again, and this time May frowned.

"No, sorry, only got Lu-rio-car there."

Again.

"...no..."

"May, remember – deep breaths, and try to relax and focus on that feeling," Ash reminded her, and she nodded.

There was a crack.

"Sorry..." Mawile winced. "I think the stick fainted."

"Okay, Latias," Latios said, smiling. "I'm off – wish me luck!"

"Good luck, brother," Latias told him, and impulsively gave him a hug.

Latios relaxed into it, smiling, and returned it. "I'll miss you, sister," he whispered.

"I'll miss you too," Latias agreed. "We don't get nearly long enough together, even with this setup."

She sighed. "Well, I'm sure Ash would be fine with us changing things around a bit... but it's fine for now."

Latios nodded, and the two separated.

"See you soon," Latias said, and her brother nodded. "And don't forget the Latiosite!"

"Got it right here," Latios told her, picking it from behind his neck to show where he kept it.

With that, he picked up the transponder, and pressed the button he'd been told to before Returning himself back into his blue Cherish Ball.

A flash, and he was spirited away south to Hoenn.

Latias sighed sadly. Maybe once both of them were a bit better trained it would be possible to have time 'off'...

"Latias?" Bianca called, into the gathering gloom of the garden.

Latias turned and headed over. "What is it, Bianca?" she asked – then shook her head; Bianca wouldn't understand her, of course.

Being around Ash had spoiled her.

As she rounded a line of bushes, Latias smiled on seeing her friend – then skidded to a halt in mid-air, shocked.

There was another Latias floating in mid-air next to Bianca.

"What?" she asked, shaking her head slightly and checking that, yes, that Latias was still there. "What the-"

"Hi," the other Lati said, a little shyly. "Uh... someone said you lived here?"

"Yeah!" Latias confirmed with a nod. "How – who told you – what's going on?"

Bianca indicated the woman standing next to her, and Latias swung her head to pay attention to her, as well.

She looked a lot like a Joy.

"I'm Latias' trainer," the woman introduced herself. "We were told about this place by Misty Water-"

Latias relaxed. "Oh, that explains that," she smiled. "Sorry, this all took me a bit by surprise... I've never actually met any other Eon Pokémon besides my brother."

"I'm the same," the other Latias agreed. "I guess there's just not that many of us... well, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you!"

"I'm glad they're getting along well," the Joy smiled. "Would it be too much trouble if I stayed a few days? I've had a busy schedule recently."

"I'm sure Latias would be glad of the company," Bianca smiled, and got a confirmatory nod from the Dragon-type. "Her brother's just headed off to their trainer, so..."

"You have a brother?" Joy's Latias asked. "What's he like? Is he anything like my brother?"

"He can be really stuffy," Ash's one said... then giggled, unable to help herself.

"Wow, my brother's the same! We're really similar!" The newcomer then frowned. "Or it's just how older brothers are..."

"That sounds more like it."

"So, what do you do?" Bianca asked.

"Oh, I'm with the Gym Inspection Agency," Joy said, as the two Latias started having a more in-depth conversation. "Latias has gotten me out of trouble a few times... basically we look in on gyms to make sure they're properly running, and I've had to do all of Kanto after some outrageous things reported last year by Ash Ketchum..."

"Ash Ketchum?" Bianca repeated. "Huh. Small world... he's their trainer."

"I know," Joy assured her. "That's why I asked Misty in the first place."

"Right."

The conversation stalled for a moment.

"What do you do?" Joy returned the earlier question.

"Paint, mostly," Bianca told her. "I'm looking to do it for a living."

"That sounds nice – do you have any I can see?"

"Sure," Bianca nodded. "There's a shed over here that I keep the ones I paint in the garden..."

"It's nice to meet you," Caroline said, smiling and trying not to look nervous.

Latios waved, also a bit uncertain. "Um... hi?"

"I don't think I need to translate that," Ash said.

"No, it's fairly obvious," Lucario agreed.

"I have to admit, I'm quite impressed," Norman said. "This is the closest I've ever been to a Legendary Pokémon, and there's something... indefinable. A presence..."

Latios offered a hand to shake, and Norman took it. "Thank you."

"Sorry if we're not treating this right," Max said, fighting down a yawn. "But we've been concentrating really hard for the last few hours..."

"Yeah," May agreed. "And... yeah."

"It's certainly not the closest you guys have been to a Legendary, either," Ash said.

Norman blinked. "That's right, you did mention... Jirachi and Manaphy were the two big ones, right?"

His children nodded.

"And Rayquaza, Deoxys, Groudon, Kyogre and Mew," Max added. "And I think there were Regi golems too... and an Articuno."

Ash tried to resist the temptation.

He really did.

"Should I find out what Entei wants for breakfast tomorrow?" he asked.

The next morning, bright and early, May stretched and got out of bed.

From the guest room Ash was staying in, she heard the sound of an alarm. Then the alarm getting louder.

As she dressed – putting on her new green-and-yellow bag they'd picked up on a shopping trip – she tried to prepare herself for the journey.

Any thought of it being a serious, solemn occasion was somewhat spoiled by the electronic voice coming from Ash's room.

Ash, it is time to get up. Do not make me use alternative methods.

There was a pause.

May tied her hair, then heard a Pokéball opening. There was a grating noise, and a loud thump.

"Owww..." Ash groaned. "Did you have to tip the bed, Lucario?"

I gave you five minutes to get up. Alternative methods were used.

Lucario said something May didn't catch, and then she was ready – picking up Blaziken's Pokéball from her bedside table, she set off downstairs.

There was an unexpected guest at the breakfast table.

"Mrs. Ketchum?" May asked, stopping as she caught sight of her friend's mother.

"Good morning, May," Delia Ketchum said, with a smile.

"She arrived earlier," Caroline volunteered. "She took her son's Pidgeot down here – the Flying-type's outside having a rest."

May nodded. "Okay," she said. "Nice to see you, Mrs. Ketchum. What brings you to Hoenn?"

"Well, obviously I'm grateful to you all for bringing my son down here," she said, and sighed. "But he didn't stop off at home for long enough to pick up new clothes – or anything else..."

May winced.

"Mom!?" Ash gasped from the stairs behind her.

"There you are, mister!" Delia said, voice suddenly much sharper. "We're going to have a good long talk about this!"

May could swear she heard Ash gulp audibly, and she stepped prudently aside.

Rescue baby Legendaries, sure. Stand on a Contest field in front of thousands of spectators, May was your girl.

Face motherly wrath from Delia Ketchum, even by proximity? May knew what was best for her.

"Ya know, it's kinda a good ting that James taught ya to fly dis thing," Meowth observed. "Ain't like he could even if he wanted to, right now."

Jessie glanced behind her. "James, stop encouraging Carnivine."

"I'm trying," James mumbled. "He is being very affectionate."

Meowth pricked up an ear, and listened to Carnivine's own speech.

He seemed pleased that James had come to get him.

"Where should we aim for?" Jessie asked, a moment later. "What's the latest information?"

Meowth grabbed their phone and scanned through it. "Uh... well, accordin' to dis, we can get a cheap-o mortgage..."

"Really?" James asked, interested.

"It's obviously spam," Jessie pointed out. "Besides, we don't need one."

"Ah, gotcha!" Meowth crowed. "Somethin' about Team Magma bein' after da ruins near Oldale. Guess dat's where we're headin'!"

Jessie nodded. "Makes sense."

She banked them slightly, and they settled down on a course southwest.

After a moment she blinked. "Wasn't that the place where all there was was a school of Relicanth?"

"Ya know, I tink it might be..." Meowth shrugged. "Actually, dat's a good question. We even gonna bother?"

"Nice outfit," Max said, looking Ash up and down. "Much more like what I remember."

"Yeah..." Ash agreed, embarrassed. "I forgot to pick it up from Mom before coming down here..."

"You've still got the stuff from Cameran Castle, right?" May asked. "That was pretty cool..."

Ash nodded. "Yeah, but Mom had a point, I've been wearing it too much again."

"I've noticed..." Pikachu sniffed.

"Oh, what's that?" May added, pointing. "There."

"This?" Ash indicated the small crescent-moon pinned to his lapel. "Yeah, Mom decided to make me one when I won a League." He smiled. "It's really nice of her."

"That is a pretty neat idea," May agreed. "What do the other ones look like?"

Ash duly got his badge case out, lifting off the top row which was ready for Hoenn. Beneath it were the two other League badges, Indigo and Orange.

"She did flowers for the first two, but there isn't really a silver flower," Ash shrugged. "So I guess this was the closest choice."

Max nodded, then glanced at his watch. "Ash? When are we supposed to be at Professor Birch's lab?"

Ash looked at the clock. "Uh... we'd better get going!"

"Seriously, Ash, how did you manage to keep all the timings straight in Johto?" May asked. "We're going to be really late now!"

"Brock helped," Ash admitted, as he scooped up his bag. "A lot. Uh... okay, I don't think there's really a better way to do this on time..."

Entei materialized in a flash, and Latios a moment later.

"I know what you're going to ask," Entei told him. "If Max and May don't mind, I think I can carry both of them."

Max blinked. "Wait, what's going on?"

"Entei says he thinks he can take both of you," Ash translated.

"Ash, this is a pretty huge overreaction," May pointed out.

"It's this or Pikachu accidentally wrecks your bike..." Ash winced. "What about you, Latios? Do you mind?"

"Latias told me about how fast she went in Mega, even carrying you. I think I'd like to give it a go." Latios shrugged. "Well, it's better to find out now, when the greatest risk is being late to a meeting..."

"That's the spirit!" Ash grinned. "Okay, let's go!"

May got up on Entei's back somewhat awkwardly. "Is that okay?"

Entei said something she didn't understand, but it sounded fairly ambivalent.

"Okay, uh... Max, I guess you come up here?"

Max nodded, and May pulled him up a bit to help him get aboard.

"Remember, we're new to this," May said. "We might not be able to stay on..."

Another mutter, and May thought it sounded just a bit offended.

There was a bright orange flash, and she turned to look.

Mega Latios looked... well, identical to Mega Latias. Except for the eyes, she thought.

"Remember," Ash told him, settling the glowing staff where it was slung acros his back. "You're going to be trying to move a lot faster now – so keep that in mind."

Mega Latios nodded, and then reached down to pick up Pikachu and lift him to his back. Ash followed, making sure he had a good grip.

"You know which way Littleroot is?" he asked Entei, and the fire-type replied with a bass chuckle.

"...yeah, fair enough, you've been running all over the country for a hundred years," Ash admitted. "Okay, let's go-"

May blinked.

One moment there'd been Ash and Mega Latios, floating there... the next moment, they'd vanished.

A breathless cry, shifted by speed so it was low and hard to hear, drew her attention towards the south.

"...now that's fast," Max admitted, spotting the disappearing shape.

Entei rumbled something – May listened, trying to concentrate, but got none of it – and set off at a walk.

He picked up speed quickly, going to a flowing lope which bounced the siblings up and down a bit but wasn't as bad as they'd feared.

May still grabbed onto one of the spikes, though. Just in case.

"How much more is there to fill out?" Ash asked. "I thought I'd done most of the paperwork already..."

"You did!" Professor Birch told him. "It's just there's an awful lot of it."

Behind him, there was a clang as Birch's Aron played a reflexes game with Mawile.

"I'm sure I've filled this one out already..." Ash muttered. "Right. I think that's it?"

Birch took a moment to check through. "Yes, it does look like it! Just need May to fill out this form, and Max to sign these, and they get their official trainer cards." He passed something over to Ash. "This identifies you as Max's mentor, by the way."

"Thanks!" Ash said, looking the card over.

"Here they come," Pikachu reported from the door.

"Ah, good," Ash added. "Right, let's see how it went..."

When May came up to the door, she still looked a little green.

"Everything go alright?" Ash asked, letting her and Max in.

"Well, it wasn't too bad..." Max said critically. "Entei was going a bit fast, though – I think he wanted to catch up with you and Mega Latios."

Ash chuckled. "Yeah, that was a bit too fast..."

"It's good to see you, May," Birch said, waving. "I'll be wanting to hear about what you get up to!"

I will make sure you are kept up to date even if she forgets, Ethan informed him.

"Hey!" May said. "I'll remember!"

I am sure. Nevertheless.

"What do we have to fill out?" Max asked.

Birch pushed a set of forms across the low table towards him. "Here, here, here and here, and then on this one..."

"May?" Max asked. "Was there this much paperwork when you became a trainer?"

"Not really, no..." May said, taking her much smaller pile of paperwork and filling it out with quick strokes of her pen. "Contest entry forms were the tricky one there."

"You might have to show me how to do that," Ash said.

"Oh, yeah, that's right, Dad suggested you do the odd Contest," May nodded. "Hmmm... well, I guess we can think about that if you have trouble with the gym challenge he said you should do."

"I'm kind of nervous about that one," Ash admitted. "Trying to not break a gym... well, I guess I should use some of my Pokémon who need the training..."

"Hey!" Max said, pointing. "Look!"

All three of the older trainers turned, to see a Zigzagoon picking up a piece of laminated plastic from the lab bench. At the sound of Max's voice, the Zigzagoon looked up in surprise before bolting out the window.

"...that was Max's trainer card..." Professor Birch said weakly.

"Give it back!" Max said. "Watt, follow the scent – I'll meet you outside!"

Max's Electrike materialized on the bench, sniffed, and jumped out through the same window. As for the young trainer, he was already heading for the door at a run.

"Should we help?" May asked.

"Actually, I'm kinda interested how he does," Ash admitted, following Max towards the door. "I'll have Houndoom sort it out if he has to, but otherwise it's a good chance to see how he's doing!"

"Watt?" Max called, as he rounded the corner of the building.

The Electrike glanced back at him, then put his nose to the ground for a moment. He barked, and set off at a fast walk – slow enough to let his trainer catch up.

"Which way did it-" Max began, then saw that Watt was already on the trail. "Good! If you spot it, try and zap it!"

Watt gave a bark of agreement, and his fur began to buzz slightly as static charge built up.

He then let out a yip, and a bolt of electricity crackled forwards. It hit a branch, and the startled Zigzagoon dodged left before heading back in the same direction it had been going.

"That was close!" Max said. "Okay, keep it up!"

Another electrical bolt zapped out.

Behind him, Ash jogged through the sparse trees.

He wasn't in any particular hurry, just wanting to keep up and watch how Max worked with his Pokémon.

"How was that, Pikachu?" he asked.

Pikachu waved a paw. "Passable for a young Pokémon. Accuracy was actually pretty good, but it didn't have much zap..."

"Where's the power going?"

"I can't... ah. He's charging his legs, but not actually using the boost."

Ash nodded to himself, and hurdled a fallen log to avoid having to take a detour.

"Maybe he's staying back to let Max keep up... which is good, actually, but it means the electricity's going to waste."

"I agree."

Some way behind them, May slowed and came to a halt.

"Okay, there's no way I'm going to be able to keep up," she sighed. "Back to the lab... I miss Beautifly."

Blaziken pointed.

"I know you could catch up, but really there's no need," May told him. "Ash has a Pokémon that can break the sound barrier and he can see through walls... I was just interested to see what would happen."

The Fire-type said something, and frowned. Then he made a gesture.

"...nah, don't think it's worth it," May decided, after deciphering that he was suggesting he carry her. "Thanks for the offer, though."

Max and Watt came crashing through a screen of bushes, and found themselves facing a ledge – about six or seven feet high, and nearly sheer.

Zigzagoon had just run into the same ledge. It looked quickly back and forth, then turned back the way it had come and saw the Pokémon and trainer facing it.

Watt let out a challenging growl.

In reply, the Zigzagoon began to growl as well. It dropped the card, which didn't look too badly chewed, and jumped forwards at Watt to deliver a Tackle.

"Left!" Max said quickly.

Watt jumped left, and Zigzagoon caught him a glancing blow on his right haunch. He yipped, more in surprise than in pain, and came to a halt on the loose earth of the clearing.

Max tried to look at everything at once, not just keeping track of the two Pokémon but also the environment. "Uh... okay! Run up that log there!"

Watt jumped to the log, narrowly avoiding another attack by the Zigzagoon, and ran up it – nearly falling off as it trembled from a headbutt.

"Okay, now – Spark!"

Watt barked, electricity sparking in his fur, and leaped back down off the log. The moment he kicked off, the Zigzagoon jumped back out of the way, and Watt hit the ground with a painful thud.

Max winced.

Electrike brushed dirt off his muzzle, whimpering, then flinched away from a barrage of sand kicked up by his Normal-type opponent.

"Watt, use your electricity to make yourself faster!" Max called. "And Quick Attack... now!"

Watt discharged all the electricity in his fur with a zrrrrp sound. He launched himself forwards, and thanks to Max's timing he hit the Zigzagoon in the side as it turned to attack again.

The Tiny Raccoon was knocked several feet and rolled to a stop with a whimper. It took one look at Watt, got up and fled.

"Nice work!" Ash said.

Max did a double take. "How long have you been there?"

"...a while," Ash told him.

Panting, Watt picked the trainer card up carefully in his teeth and brought it back over to Max. The boy accepted it, and gave Watt a rub. "Uh – Ash, do you have some water?"

"Yeah," Ash replied, digging in his bag. "Uh – here."

"Thanks."

As Max started to carefully wash out Watt's eyes, Ash sat down next to them. "I've got a few pointers to start with," he said. "Think you want to hear them now?"

"Sure," Max decided, and stopped pouring water for a bit on a yip from Watt.

"Right – well, you did eventually have him use it, but there was a fair bit of charged electricity that Watt wasn't using," Ash began. "The other thing I'd say you should have done is stay up on that log and use ranged attacks. You might also have been better off sending Watt on ahead using all that charged up electricity to speed him up – you got lucky with the ledge, but it might have been hard to stop that Zigzagoon otherwise."

Max nodded. "Right."

"As for moves... well, Shockwave might be a good one, Pikachu knows loads of those." Ash frowned. "He also needs to get used to using his speed-boosting trick more, that's a good thing to be able to do if he can keep it up... oh, the other one. Quilava and Houndoom can both blind-fight using smell, so maybe Watt should learn that one."

A final dribble of water, and Watt relaxed. He shook himself, sending water droplets flying, and perked up considerably.

"We can work out other moves for him to learn later," Ash decided. "Let's get back to the lab so we can finish this paperwork off and get on our actual journey!"

2

"You're handling the walk a lot better than you did last time," Ash said, approvingly.

"Thanks," May smiled. "Max and I have been trying to get ready for the journey, so no more complaining after just a few miles!"

"Yeah," Max agreed. "Watt likes walks."

The Electrike yapped something.

"Max?" Ash asked. "He just said he's stopped liking the name Watt."

"Oh, not again..." Max sighed. "Okay, what name do you like now?"

A shrug.

"...I'll get the list out next time we stop," Max decided. "Uh... how does the catching Pokémon thing work, actually? There's some who I got to know, but..."

"Well, I've caught a few this time I didn't last time," Ash pointed out. "Like Houndoom here."

The big Dark-type gave a happy bark, tail lashing back and forth. May kept an eye on the spade-tip, a little nervous, but he kept it well clear of anyone else.

"So it'll be the same with you, I guess," Ash went on. "And – a word of warning, I'm not always sure what I can or can't restore. It's usually pretty good, but it might not work."

Max nodded, absorbing that. "Right... so I guess the first one I might get would be Shroomish?"

Ash thought for a moment. "Guess so."

"Hey," Houndoom said, looking down at the smaller Electric-type canine. "How are you at biting things?"

"...don't know," Electrike admitted.

"I'll show you," Houndoom decided.

"I guess it'll be Beautifly for me?" May added. "How do you know which Pokémon it is, anyway?"

"There's a kind of... glow, in Aura Sight," Ash told her. "It shows up depending on the type of the Pokémon – so, say, when I did Torchic he was a bright orange-red sparkle. It's visible from a fair distance, too."

"That's good to know," May smiled. "And... I guess they evolve straight away?"

"As far as they were, yeah," Ash nodded. "So you'd end up with Glaceon straight away – eggs hatch too."

"Very convenient."

There was a crunch.

"Like that!" Houndoom said, dropping the splintered bits of the branch.

Electrike looked at it, and frowned. "I don't think I can make my mouth that big."

Houndoom shrugged. "Then use a smaller branch."

"Don't do that, Electrike..." Max said, as his starter picked up a length of wood. "You don't know where it's been."

"Uh... on the floor?"

Ash chuckled.

"What?" Max asked.

"...I really need to get you two understanding Pokémon," Ash said. "You're missing a lot."

"I never really missed it before, but now I'm really eager," May agreed.

She shaded her eyes, looking ahead. "Hey, look, it's Oldale town! I can see the top of the Pokémon centre!"

When they arrived in Oldale town itself, they were met by a familiar face.

"Afternoon, Ash!" Brock called, waving from the door of the Pokémon centre.

"Nice to see you too, Brock!" Ash replied. "Everything okay?"

Brock smiled. "Everything's absolutely fine."

He lowered his voice slightly, now they were all close enough to still hear him. "Hello to you two as well, May, Max – long time no see."

"It's nice to meet you again, Brock," May grinned. "Have you been keeping Ash out of trouble?"

"Hey!"

"Don't ask the impossible," Brock sighed, provoking a giggle from Max.

"And I hope you've been keeping him away from the ladies, Ash," May went on, and blinked as both trainers started laughing.

"...did I say something wrong?"

"Brock's... kinda got a girlfriend now," Ash explained. "We've not had to pry him off a girl all Johto."

"We're sure we got the right Brock, right?" Max asked.

The Rock-type specialist who wasn't fooling anyone about his typing any more gave Max a look. "Of course you've got the right Brock. I can have a girlfriend, can't I?"

Max considered it. "Well, you have to admit it's quite surprising..."

"Thanks," Brock said, not sounding very thankful.

"So, how'd it go?" Ash asked. "You went back to Pewter, right?"

"Yeah – it was fine," Brock told him. "I introduced Philena to my parents, and got her her first Pokémon – that was nice."

"...now I'm sure Brock's been replaced by a Ditto or something," May said, blinking. "You pulled off a romantic gesture?"

"I've been trying for years!" Brock said, hurt. "It's just that now it's working..."

"I'm sure," Max said, unconvinced.

"What was the Pokémon?" Ash asked.

"Oh, well, my sister got a Litleo – they're from Kalos – and Philena got a Shinx, like we'd discussed before," Brock told him. "She seemed to like Geodude and Ninetales-"

"Wait, Ninetales?" May asked. "I thought you had a Forretress, Crobat, Geodude and Steelix at the moment?"

"She's the Vulpix I borrowed, she wanted to evolve," Brock explained. "And Suzy was fine with me keeping her."

"Well, show us!" May asked.

Brock did so.

"...okay, wow," May blinked.

Ninetales curled her tails around herself, smiling.

"Can I stroke your fur?" May asked, and on getting the nod bent down and ran her hand down the Fire-type's back. "Her fur's so silky... you take really good care of her, Brock!"

Ninetales barked something.

"She says thank you for the compliment," Brock translated, with a smile himself. "I should have known you'd like her!"

Another bark.

"What was that?" May asked.

"Oh, she suggested I show you Stantler," Brock explained.

"Is Brock's Stantler one of the new catches you mentioned?" Max asked.

"That's right," Ash confirmed, and then Stantler materialized in a flash.

"I like the Soothe Bell," May said, inspecting Stantler's antlers. "Are you going to use any Pokémon in contests, Brock?"

"I've considered it," Brock admitted. "I think it depends what they want."

Stantler looked a little nervous, then concentrated hard.

A faint, wavery set of words appeared slowly in mid-air. Don't think so.

"Illusions, right?" May checked, and got a nod. "Neat."

Some minutes later, the re-introductions were complete. Forretress had introduced Max and May to her three less-familiar compatriots, and Electrike had been generally admired.

"Where is it next?" Max asked.

May frowned. "Well, I guess it's back to Petalburg. We can let Mom and Dad know about the Zigzagoon thing..."

"Right," Max nodded. "I see."

"I don't think there was anything else," Brock agreed, frowning. "Oh, one thing's been bothering me – you're awfully quiet, Pikachu..."

"It's me trying not to leave Max and May out of the conversation," Pikachu explained.

"...okay, this is ridiculous," Gary sighed. "It's going to be impossible to get any kind of baseline for what the energies of Mega-Evolution actually are if you keep trying to force the transformation further!"

Mega Blastoise shrugged. "Not really my problem."

Gary listened to Dee's translation, then shook his head. "Okay, I get the idea the easiest thing to do is just going to be to get another Mega-capable Pokémon..."

"Can't you borrow one from Gurrkin or Professor Sycamore?" Umbreon asked. "And Ash has several."

"I can borrow the mega stone quite easily. The Pokémon?" Gary waved his hand. "Even if they'd be willing to stick around for a week or two, I wouldn't have the connection. I take your point about Sycamore, but... no, I'd rather have a second one myself to see what's the same or different about the energy from the trainer as well."

He tapped a finger against his palm for a moment, then clapped his hands. "Got it!"

"What?"

"Well, I just catch another one. I know there aren't that many in Kalos, at least not that we have the Mega Stones for, but..."

Gary trailed off, and got out the big list of notes.

"Several of these are found in Hoenn, and Ash is in Hoenn..." he mused. "Maybe Ashy-boy would be willing to catch one for a trade..."

"It's funny," May said, looking around at the trees. "I've come this way dozens of times since we moved to Hoenn, but now... because I'm officially on a Pokémon Journey, it still feels new."

She chuckled. "Even though it's not, if you get my meaning."

"It is for me," Max said. "I didn't meet up with you guys until Dad's gym last time."

"Glad to be back in Hoenn, Brock?" May asked, turning to him. "I remember you caught kind of a lot of Pokémon in this region..."

Brock nodded. "I'm looking forward to meeting them again, same as you guys."

Abruptly, a searchlight snapped on in front of them.

"Prepare for talking!" a familiar voice said.

"It's a break from walking!"

May and Max groaned.

"Now this is one thing I haven't missed," May said, reaching for Blaziken's Pokéball. "How are they still following you around?"

"We're not!" James said, and the searchlights turned off again with another click.

This let the group see Jessie and James at the top of a small hill.

"Hey, guys!" Ash called up. Max and May blinked at his casual attitude, but he didn't notice. "What brings you here?"

In reply, James held up his arm.

"...oh, is that your Carnivine?" Ash asked. He frowned. "I thought that didn't turn up until Sinnoh..."

"It took me this long to remember to go get him," James admitted, mournfully. "Mind handling him?"

Ash closed an eye to check. "Yeah, he's restorable. Just give me a moment-"

"Why are you guys suddenly friends?" May asked plaintively.

"I guess you didn't get around to that bit," Jessie observed. "Look... May," she said, though it sounded like an effort, "We've changed. Turned over about half of a new leaf. We're not trying to steal Pokémon any more."

"...okay, I'm starting to question if we came back to the same timeline," Max said weakly.

"I was changing things for over a year before I reminded you guys, so it kind of is different," Ash informed him, and touched Carnivine.

The Grass-type shook his head, and then grabbed James again. "You remembered me again! Sooner this time!"

"I'm not necessarily thrilled about Cacnea," James mumbled through the vines. "That one's going to be painful..."

"Okay," Ash said, a little louder. "Guys – I guess I should have been more clear about this. Jessie and James have been pretty helpful, and they've almost stopped bothering us completely."

"We got called off following you altogether," Jessie informed him. "We've got a new job now."

"What is it?" Brock asked. There was a flash at his belt, matched by one at James' belt, and their respective Fire-types started playing together.

Max was a bit sidetracked by that. "What the..."

"They're friends," James said, finally pulling Carnivine off his head. "Growlie got to know her, they went on a few dates..."

"...know what?" May said. "I'll just take that one as read..."

"You should thank us, you know," Jessie informed her. "We handled your unfinished business."

"What unfinished business?" May asked. "We've barely started!"

"Oldale ruins?" Meowth hinted.

Ash blinked. "...oh, yeah. Whoops..."

"I'm kind of glad Celebi said she'd make sure we got steered in the direction of all the really big stuff," Pikachu said, shaking his head.

"What happened?" Max asked. "I mean, if you said you handled it..."

"Right," James nodded. He sat down. "So, basically, we got there and... you remember how there was Team Magma?"

"Vaguely," Ash admitted.

"They were still there, but Team Aqua was there as well," Jessie informed them. "We landed the aircraft some way off and flew in with Moltres-"

"Does everyone have Legendaries these days?" May asked.

Brock raised his hand. "I don't!"

"Anyway, we flew in with Moltres and ambushed the guards guarding the scientist," James took up the tale. "Weezing knocked them out with sleeping gas."

He paused. "They did look pretty disgusted, though... I guess the sleeping gas smells bad. Anyway, we saved him, and then talked him into helping us open the vault."

"Why?" Ash asked.

"Because if there was sometin' useful in dere, we didn't want either of 'em gettin' it!" Meowth informed him. "Keep up!"

There was an outbreak of happy barking from the hillside, and conversation paused for a moment as everyone watched the Ninetales and Arcanine play-fighting.

"What was in there?" Max asked.

May frowned. "Actually... I don't think it was anything that Team Magma would want."

"Nah," Meowth confirmed, waving his paw. "It was a load'a Relicanth. Pretty interestin' if ya like dat kind of thing..."

"-which the Boss's mother does," Jessie agreed. "We caught one for him to give to her, and then just left the rest. Left the door open, too."

"What about the researcher guy?" Ash asked.

"We dropped him in Oldale," James said. "Well, Abra teleported him somewhere, and he says it was Oldale..."

"That's surprisingly... nice of you guys," May admitted.

"They have saved my life loads of times," Ash told her.

Max was frowning, trying to remember something.

"Oh, that's right!" he said. "Weren't you doing Contests?"

"Right!" May agreed, snapping her fingers. "That's right – you were Jessebella, right?"

Jessie nodded ruefully. "I'd hoped you'd forgotten that... I was going to try to surprise you with Moltres and-"

"How exactly did you manage to fool us?" Brock interrupted. "Sorry, I just... your name was nearly the same, and you've got huge and distinctive hair."

Ash blinked. "Hey, yeah, I just realized that! Wait, were you Jessalina and Jessilinda as well?"

"We're masters of disguise!" James said, posing. The effect was spoiled by Carnivine nibbling on his hair.

"You said Abra, right?" Max asked. "What other Pokémon do you have?"

Jessie paused. She turned to James. "Do we need to get the plane? There's quite a list..."

"Is that your new Pokémon?" Charity asked.

"She's so cute!"

Shinx yawned, and all three assistants cooed over her.

As they did, Philena noticed her looking quite self-satisfied. She winked at her trainer, then yawned again and settled her head on her big paws before starting to snooze.

"That's right, she is," Ivy agreed. "She's still quite young, though – it'll be a while before she's ready for battling."

"Who's a good cub?" Faith asked, bending down. "Whooo's a cute-"

Bzzrp.

"I think maybe she wants a nap," Ivy said, holding her hand up to stifle a giggle as her assistant tried to smooth down her static-ed up hair. "Come on, we've got that scan to run on the Eviolite."

"Got it, Professor!" Hope said, and rushed off to get the sample.

"Okay, here goes!" Ash said, as they strolled into Petalburg. "First gym battle of a new region!"

"Who are you going to use?" Max asked.

Ash frowned. "Well, given what your Dad asked me to do... I guess no Pikachu, Charizard, or anyone else who's too likely to break the gym."

Pikachu crossed his arms and sulked.

"Apart from that," he went on, considering. "Well, he's Normal type... I guess it might be a good time to give Mawile a go. Or perhaps Ivysaur, he's not had much of a go in a while..."

"I don't know how you keep track, Ash," May said, shaking her head. "I really don't. You've got so many Pokémon..."

"They're all friends, it's easy to keep track of friends," Ash said with a shrug. "Perhaps Larvitar?"

"You could use Mawile and Larvitar as a team," Brock suggested. "They seem to get along fairly well."

"Good point..."

"Should I challenge Dad too?" Max asked. "I mean – do you think I'm ready?"

Ash considered. "Well, you've only got your Electrike-"

"Ohm," Max informed him. "For now, anyway..."

"Ohm, then," Ash said. "You've only got him, and while gyms tend to give an easy challenge for the first battle someone faces – I think Ohm alone might not be enough. You might want to wait until Rustboro – or, possibly, even Dewford, I think that's where we go after Rustboro..."

"Yeah," May agreed. "I remember the Sharpedo."

Pikachu was still sulking.

"Pikachu," Ash said, coaxing. "It's not like I'm going to stop using you or training with you – you're just too much Pokémon for one building. Maybe if we get your ability to confine your electricity more refined, then it might work..."

May pointed ahead. "What's with the scaffolding?"

Ash looked up.

"Hey, yeah, good question..."

"May! Max!" Norman called, waving from one side of a group of workmen. "How's things?"

"They're fine, Dad!" May called back. "What's with the construction equipment?"

"Well," Norman began, walking over. "I've scheduled the gym's maintenance about now."

"That seems like quite a coincidence," Brock observed. "At Pewter we only have to do that once every year or so, and most attacks that are good against Rock types are also good against... well, walls."

"It's not a coincidence," Norman replied with a chuckle. "No offense, Ash, but I'd rather my gym wasn't the first one to find out if you're able to keep the collateral damage down."

Ash winced. "That's... well, to be honest it's fairly accurate..."

"Dad!" May said, shaking her head. "That's-"

She thought back over what Ash had told her his last half-dozen or so gym matches had been like. "...okay, still rude, but also pretty much right."

Norman smiled. "Oh," he added, "your mother and I have got some things for you. They're not much, but we thought it'd be nice."

Mystified, the two Maple children followed their father into the gym, trailed by Ash, Brock and Pikachu.

The gym was already clearly undergoing renovation. Half the floor was up, and the undersurface was being carefully looked over for signs of cracking.

"It's good hard teak," Norman said, noticing Brock looking interested. "Nearly fireproof if treated right, and there's a layer of balsa over the top to add a bit of spring. It's also less prone to break in half than stone when hit by a Fighting-type attack, and I get a lot of those aimed at this gym..."

Brock frowned. "That's a good point, Mr. Maple. Maybe I should suggest Dad puts in some sand underfloor to absorb the impact..."

"We have to think about this kind of thing a lot," Norman said in an aside to Ash. "It's one reason why I'd rather you not break all this hard work... though I think there's extra added to the repairs budget when you're around by now..."

Ash blushed slightly.

"Anyway!" Norman added, leading them into one of the back rooms. "Here we are – Max, these are just a little something we thought you should have."

Max took the box, surprised, and opened it.

"...this seems to be full of Pokémon contest accessories."

"Whoops!" Norman chuckled, and switched the box he was about to give to May to Max instead. "Sorry, that one's for May."

Max passed that one to May, and opened the correct box this time.

There was quite an assortment of small things in there. Max saw a Shell Bell on a worn-out old string, a Toxic Orb wrapped carefully in clear film, a Magnet and a strange-looking scarf, as well as a couple of sparkling stones.

"What are these?" he asked. "I recognize about half of them..."

"They're my old things from when I was a trainer," Norman told him. "That Toxic Orb I used to use to really make my signature move have some punch, for instance... but I don't really need them any more, so we thought you should have them."

May blinked. "Wait... I recognize some of these. Are these Mom's old contest accessories?"

"That's right!" her father agreed. "We talked it over, and really this is about the best help we thought we could be with your contest ambitions. They're better off helping you than gathering dust in a box somewhere..."

She put the box down carefully, then hugged him. "Thanks, Dad."

"Yeah!" Max agreed, tying the Magnet to Ohm's neck with a tight knot. "These are going to be really helpful!"

"I hope they are," Norman smiled.

"Any idea what you're going to do with those?" May asked, once they were well out of Petalburg.

"I'm not sure what half of them are," Max admitted. "I mean, I'm pretty sure this is a Shell Bell, but what are these?"

May examined the two stones. "...not sure, I was never good at working out what Evolution Stone was what. I never had to use any, see..."

"Right," Max said. "Oh well... Ash? Brock? Either of you know what these are?"

Ash examined them. "Uh... actually, I think that one might be a Dawn Stone. I looked at one for Snorunt... well, before working out it wouldn't work. This was before he evolved into Glalie."

"...see, I'd have checked first," May said. "A Dawn Stone, really? Huh."

"The other one looks familiar," Brock contributed. "Not sure where from, though. And I don't recognize the paper either."

Max shrugged. "Oh well, I guess I'll find a use for everything somehow."

"Me too," May said. "Though possibly only by covering Venusaur in them to disguise her as a fabric shop."

Max restrained a giggle. He glanced down at Ohm, who was looking a little tired. "Uh... can we break for lunch?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Ash said. "I'm pretty hungry."

"Ash, that's your ground state of being," Brock said.

"Pardon?"

"He means it's normal," Pikachu translated helpfully.

"Thanks!"

Brock, as ever, rose to the challenge of catering. Despite having not seen them in years, he still remembered the preferences of Max, May and Blaziken, and gave Ohm a collection of small things to try to work out his own tastes.

"I'm really glad you're here, Brock," Ash admitted. "We ate at a lot of restaurants or had sandwiches in the Orange Islands... which kind of gets boring after a while."

"Never considered learning to cook, Ash?" Max asked.

"Last time I seriously tried, Cilan thought I'd just picked ingredients at random," Ash reported.

"You can just follow a recipe," May pointed out. "It's not like you have to go straight from sandwiches to freestyle gourmet cuisine."

Ash looked dubious for a moment, then glanced over at his Pokémon. "Everything OK, guys?"

Pikachu nodded. "Thanks for the hash browns, Brock!" he said happily.

"I knew you mainly wanted a way to get ketchup," Brock replied with a chuckle. "Don't forget to have the regular Pokémon food as well, it's for nutritional balance."

The Electric-type's reply was to have some more of the bowl of food Brock had cooked for him. "Not quite as good, but still good!"

"How did you make it taste so nice?"Mawile asked, taking another piece of her own meal and eating it carefully.

"There's some strawberry in the mix," Brock told her. "Specially for you."

"Thank you, Mister Brock!" Mawile said firmly. "That's nice of you."

"...I was kind of getting some of that," May said. "Was she saying thank you?"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "That's right, you're starting to get it!"

"To be fair, it wasn't exactly a hard one to pick..." Max said. "No, Ohm, you don't need to eat the grass..."

Brock took a note. "Okay, I'll add a bit of wheat to the next ones for him. He might have a fiber problem. It should be okay if he doesn't have much of it."

"Did you have this kind of problem with Pikachu, Ash?" Max asked.

Ash chuckled. "My problems with Pikachu were more... direct. He did not like me at first, I was wearing rubber gloves and dragging him on a leash..."

He shook his head. "But I guess Professor Oak knew it would work out, what with the time travel thing and all..."

Finishing his plate, he took one of the cookies. "Man, this brings back memories... wait, didn't Taillow-"

"A-ha!" a voice chirped, and then there was a dark-blue and white blur swooping down from the branches.

Ash flung up an arm by reflex, and his block hit the oncoming Taillow in the breast. There was a bright blue flash, and Ash was bowled over backwards by twenty kilos of Swellow moving at high speed.

"...what just-" May blinked, looking at the space Ash had been occupying.

"Hiya, Swellow!" Ash mumbled from underneath his first Hoenn Pokémon.

The Swallow Pokémon flipped upright with a clap of her wings, and looked around. "May? Max? Brock? ...why is there an Entei?"

She looked down at what she was perched on. "Oops – sorry, Ash!"

"No problem," Ash said, pushing himself back upright. "I guess we should explain everything..."

"Right," Swellow said, some minutes later. "Honestly, I should have expected you to get involved in time travel sooner or later..."

"Actually, this is the third distinct time," Brock said. "I think?"

"Fourth counting Coronet City," Ash said, with a frown. "Not sure if that one counts. But yeah – there was one in Johto, before we met the first time, and then one in Sinnoh, and this one we're in now."

Swellow nodded, accepting that. "Thanks for the info. So... I guess you've basically just kept on the same schedule from the first time..."

"Kinda," Ash agreed.

"Right."

She was about to raise another question, but was interrupted by the curious Mawile.

"How did you originally meet Ash?" she asked.

"About the same way as this time, actually..." Swellow admitted. "I stole a cookie from Max, and then Ash got interested when he saw how many shocks from Pikachu it took to make me stop... well, I never actually did give up, as such..."

"Keep telling yourself that," Pikachu said, and Swellow gave him a look before chuckling.

"You're resistant to electricity?" Ohm said, cocking his head. "But.. you're a Flying-type. That's not how that works..."

"Just try me, mutt," Swellow invited with a toss of her beak.

"...what's a mutt?"

"That would be you," she told him.

"Oh, right!" Electrike hunched down slightly. "I guess I should try not to shock too hard..."

"No, go ahead!" Swellow told him, taking off and hovering in mid-air. "It's been a while since I had a good fight!"

Electrike fired a blast of electricity at her, which skirled over her feathers and ran from the bases to the sleek, pointed tips before dissipating.

"Was that it?" Swellow asked, sounding honestly offended. "You did hear me, right?"

Another blast. Swellow handled this one as easily as the last one, before flipping over on one wing and banking around in a wide circle. She dove at Electrike, letting out a loud cry, and didn't turn aside until the very last moment – tail flicking up to let her turn more sharply.

The sight of her attack run had made Electrike jump backwards, startled, and Swellow did a satisfied roll before alighting on a low branch and preening for a moment.

"Told you."

"Ash?" Max asked. "Why were they fighting just then?"

"Swellow was showing off," Ash explained. "She's good at taking electrical attacks – Pikachu first put together the Thunder Armour on her, and I'm pretty sure he hadn't worked out how to stop it actually shocking her yet..."

He frowned. "Actually, that was pretty helpful. I can see you're still really manoeuvrable, so you're much better close-in whereas Pidgeot is more long-ranged."

"Oh, yeah, Pidgeot!" Swellow said, brightening. "That was what I was going to ask – I heard a lot about her, but I never actually met her. Is... she..."

Ash began to go for the Pokéball in question at his belt, but Swellow's voice tailing off made him look up. "What?"

"...I know you've got Entei," she said, nodding. "But... what about Lugia?"

"Yeah – the Lugia from Shamouti, anyway," Ash said, surprised. "Why him in particular- whoa!"

Swellow was abruptly hovering in front of his face. "You mean that your Pidgeot is the one who learned Aeroblast!? I heard about that early this year from some of the migrating Swellow who went to the Orange Islands – that's one of the coolest things-"

Pidgeot finally came out of her Pokéball, forming perched at the side of the clearing. "Ah, you must be Swellow."

Swellow's head flicked around, and she darted over to Pidgeot a moment later. "It is you, right? I've heard so much about you!"

"I've heard a lot about you as well, the last couple of years," Pidgeot said, with a smile. "And yes, that's right – I learned Aeroblast from Lugia while Ash was in the Orange Islands and Johto."

She frowned slightly. "Mind, I did have to use it on the Birds of Shamouti a few times..."

"You're even more amazing than I'd heard," Swellow said, then blushed slightly. "Uh... sorry, I must be being kind of overeager..."

"I'll admit it's a bit strange," Pidgeot mused. "But – don't worry, really, it's fine. I'd be happy for the company in the air, if you want to train – Noctowl's too stately for our styles to be very similar and Charizard just likes to incinerate everything."

"I am so there!" Swellow said quickly.

Ash smiled. "That's nice," he said, then blinked. "You guys hear that?"

Houndoom nodded. "I can hear it. Flying-types – lots of them."

Swellow blinked. "Oh, yeah, hold on a moment-"

Approximately fifty Taillow arrived in the clearing.

"Guys!" Swellow shouted. "Guys? Listen!"

They ignored her, chirping among themselves asking what had happened to 'the boss'.

"Okay, you morons..." Swellow muttered, and plunged forwards.

She wove a complicated path through the flock, tweaking tails and cuffing with her wings, and by the end of a few seconds had managed to hit about ten of them and get all fifty hopping mad.

"Okay, Pikachu!" she said, doing a hairpin turn back along the line of the Taillow flock. "Blast us!"

Pikachu obliged.

It rained Taillow.

"...so... you're the boss?" one of the larger Taillow asked, some minutes later.

"YES!" Swellow said, rolling her eyes. "How many times... bird-brains."

"If you're really the boss, then why aren't you a Taillow?"

"I evolved," Swellow replied simply. "Oh, by the way, I'm going with this guy now."

A flip of her wing indicated Ash.

"...okay, sure," the first Taillow said. "Whatever. Just don't pick fights with something too tough for you."

"I'm sorry, you must be confusing me for a Pokémon who's weak enough she can get in over her head," Swellow rejoined. "Besides, have you seen his Pokémon? That's the Pidgeot we heard about!"

"Wait, the one from Shamouti?" someone near the back asked. "Okay, now I want to go with him..."

"I saw him first!"

"It's nice having a Flying-type who I can do this with," Ash said. "Pidgeot's kind of big now..."

"Yeah, I'm definitely the small one in the bunch," Swellow admitted. She adjusted her grip on his arm. "That's not hurting at all, right?"

"No, it's fine," Ash assured her.

Nodding, Swellow glanced over at the group. "Max training Pokémon is new, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, he was just about to start before the time travel thing... seemed kinda cruel to make him wait another four-odd years," Ash said.

Max heard, and shot him a quick smile.

"Wait... I heard something," Swellow said, and launched herself skywards with another quick flirt of her wings. She went high, seemed to pause for a moment, and came skimming back down again.

Landing on Ash's arm, she cleared her throat. "Uh... there's a guy wearing a giant Taillow suit over in the next clearing..."

"I remember him!" May said, realizing. "It's that guy... Nicolai, that was it. He was my first opponent in a proper Pokémon battle."

"Oh, yeah, him," Swellow nodded. "I was thinking Zigzagoon suit..."

"Hey – Ash?" Max asked. "Should I challenge him? Should both of us, for that matter?"

"Actually, that sounds like a pretty good idea," Ash agreed.

"Left, Ohm!" Max called. "Now – Spark!"

Ohm barked, fur bristling, and charged forwards.

"Type isn't everything," Nicolai said, stepping back a pace in his costume. "Mudkip – Mud-Slap!"

"Jump!" Max said quickly. "Try to get over it!"

The Electric-type tried, jumping with a yip of exertion, but the spray of muddy water and soil caught his rear legs as he jumped and knocked him off course slightly.

Mudkip tackled him as he landed, taking a shock in return, and then sprayed another Mud-Slap at Ohm. This one made him close his eyes to avoid his vision being obscured, and he growled in annoyance. "Not again!"

"Okay, right and forwards!" Max said. "Boost!"

Ohm directed some of his stored electricity into his legs, accelerating with a zzzip and sizzle, and collided with the retreating Mudkip before it could react.

"Bite, quick!"

"Mud bomb!"

Ohm's attack connected, making Mudkip wince, but then the little mudskipper fired out a sizable ball of grey-brown mud which knocked Ohm flat on his back.

"I think that's the match, kid," Nicolai said. "Not bad, not really... but I'd have expected better – a lot better – from Norman's kid."

May cleared her throat.

"What is it?" Nicolai asked, looking up.

"Max is my brother," May said. "My younger brother – I'm the one who's at the normal starting age."

There was a quiet splash as Mudkip hosed Ohm down – feeling it was only polite.

"Oh?" Nicolai asked. "Interesting... well, I guess I'll fight you too! Zigzagoon!"

"Blaziken!" May replied.

Nicolai blinked. "Huh... okay, Zigzagoon, use Tackle!"

"Skyfire!" May called.

Blaziken glanced back at her, looking quizzical.

"Not the full version," she assured him.

Satisfied, Blaziken stepped back as Zigzagoon came in, before planting his left foot on the ground and sweeping it forwards.

When it met the Normal-type, he handled the impact of the Tackle with a slight wince before raising his left foot sharply into the air.

Zigzagoon let out a slightly startled chitter as it was lifted into the air, and then Blaziken bent over backwards to take his weight on his hands - then straightened his leg again.

The force of the push launched Zigzagoon a long way skywards, and Blaziken came back to his feet before launching forwards a stream of rippling fire.

"Wait, that's-" Nicolai began, as the fire reached for Zigzagoon. "Hey, stop!"

At that point, the apex of the flames detonated – before Zigzagoon fell back into them. The pillow of pressure bounced Nicolai's Pokémon into the air a little, and then Blaziken was off and running.

He caught the Normal-type gently as it came back to earth, looking woozy, and placed him carefully on the ground once more.

"Basically, it's a long winded way of saying don't mess with my brother," May informed him.

Nicolai considered, then nodded. "I guess so... well, sorry, then?"

"That's okay," Max said, towelling Ohm off. "No harm done."

"Arceus, are we done?" Sir Aaron asked, looking out over the latest devastated landscape.

He had to admit, it was quite a conveniently designed world. Thus far none of the battles had actually damaged any property, as such... though the smoking, melted ruin that had previously been a castle carved out of a Nixtorm glacier probably belonged to someone, now he thought about it.

Not quite. One more area left. A pause. As you well know, I'm sure you've been counting.

"Yeah, there's still the Dragon type region left." Aaron cupped his hands around his mouth. "You guys okay down there?"

"We're fine!" Palkia called, and there was a crashing sound as hundreds of tonnes of ice avalanched down the mountainside. In a plume of steam from his Scald, Palkia emerged from the icy cliff he'd been buried in, and Dialga followed him out a moment later.

"Kyurem was a dirty trick, dad," Giratina added, phasing through the ice. "Especially all three of them."

It was a good fight, right? Arceus asked. Never say I don't keep you lot entertained. I've already planned the next game... anyway, yes, it's time for the dragon region. How much of a fight do you want it to be?

"On a scale of what to what?" Sir Aaron asked.

Put it this way. One option means Rayquaza's on Nobunaga's team, and that's the low end.

Aaron braced his foot, and heaved one of his Sacred Swords out of the ground it had been buried in for inspection.

Deciding it was too damaged to bother with, he let it collapse – intending to form a new one nearer the time. "What's the high end?"

Every single dragon I can think of.

"Go for that!" Giratina said immediately.

"I agree!" Dialga chimed in. Then frowned. "Wait... don't you have a Plate that makes you-"

With a flash, they vanished as Arceus exerted a miniscule portion of his divine will.

There was silence for half a second. Then, with a groaning, shuddering crash, the last of the icy castle finally gave way and avalanched down into the valley.