Ash had a lot to think about, and as such had been given some space to think it over. He had been thinking a lot for the last bit, and in fact he had thought of it so much he needed a break. He had checked Misty’s battles out, but that had kind of brought the, er, topic, of discussion back to his mind, so he had taken his mental break elsewhere.

So he had taken a look at the trainer who’d be his next opponent. The battle that followed his own with Otoshi had decided his next opponent, and after that would be whoever won between Gary and Solidad.

His final opponent, after he (hopefully) beat the next two would be from the other end of the tournament where Red was along with Koga, Ritchie, and of all people that Hiker he and Bulbasaur had battled the first time around among others. So far only Koga had advanced to the next round after beating Alex Davis, and right now Ritchie was battling the girl who had beaten him last time, Assunta. After that they were picking up Yellow to watch Red’s battle.

But before then… his next opponent. Some guy named Dan, who had beaten Corey from New Island. He was from Johto, and Corey had been winning their battle for a good majority of it. Dan wasn’t weak but Corey had apparently been a runner up last year and had gotten a few major breaks. A lot like his battle with Otoshi: his Z-move on Tangrowth had thrown Otoshi’s entire game plan off and his team exploited that hole until they got to Marowak.

Dan’s ‘Marowak’ was an Ampharos, who had mega evolved and turned things around. And unlike with Marowak, Corey had not been able to stop the comeback.

When Ampharos came out Corey had shown his full team for the match (Gengar, Absol, Sandslash, Hitmonlee, Bruteroot the Venusaur, and Pidgeot) and had three of them (Bruteroot, Absol, and Gengar) left with Dan’s Gligar, Granbull, Golem, Poliwrath, and Magmar having been defeated. The Mega Ampharos proceeded, in a hard fought last stand, to reverse this and won Dan the match.

“...That Ampharos looks exhausted,” he commented to Pikachu, who nodded in agreement. After the battle ended and Mega Ampharos turned back to a regular Ampharos it collapsed, barely able to stand. Dan had stopped his victory cheer to run to help the Electric-type up before returning it and making a clear run to the Pokémon center.

“That indeed looks to be the case. I would not bet on seeing that Ampharos tomorrow,” the Pokédex surmised.

Ampharos looked as exhausted as his Infernape had been after defeating Paul, or Harrison’s Blaziken after their battle. Both situations had ended in the same result, and in hindsight he wondered if Charizard had been in a similar bind after taking the battle back from Gary. He hadn't noticed any obvious signs at the time and he didn’t really have any other team member he wanted to have as a means of fighting Blaziken as Kingler was very much still recuperating from the Voltorb incident (though had he beaten Harrison Kingler would have been up for battling in the next round).

“So I should think about who I want to use tomorrow with the idea that Ampharos isn’t going to show up, but not in a way that would basically invite my utter doom if it did?”

“Indeed.”

That was an excellent way not to dwell too much on a way too important decision. And in an effort to keep that as far away from him as possible. He shifted his attention to team building.

Dan’s known team at the league didn’t have a starter but he had a Pokédex from Professor Elm, so he had a basis to start from…

…

The tournament battles so far that day were a mixed bag for Alexander Silph. He ran the simulations, sure, but many of the battles had shown qualities he had no means of predicting.

What even was that Marowak used by Otoshi?

On more predictable oddities several of the battles had not gone the way he had expected. He had expected that the Sinnoh trainer would have prevailed in the first battle of the day for one thing.

Though that was far from important now: it was on another side of the bracket. It was on the battle he had to win today that he had to focus on. Even as he only half heard the ref’s declaration.

“The seventh Top Sixteen matchup is about to begin! The trainers are Red Tajiri of Viridian City and Alexander Silph of Saffron City! The battle is a six on six full battle! The battle will end when one trainer’s Pokémon are all unable to battle!”

The rookie before him would be an interesting challenger for him. A young man who thought he had an edge because his memories hadn’t been altered from the encounter with Mewtwo on New Island. A young man with so many similarities with Ash Ketchum, yet it was the differences he was interested in exploiting today.

The victor over the golden Marowak was far better at handling the unexpected than his opponent was. Red had even said so himself, even if he had no knowledge that he had that conversation recorded. It was why he was taking a bit of a gamble here.

His team was built for the unfamiliar over power, and he was fully willing to admit that was a risk. However bold risks were the means of many victories, and this was no different.

Plus, with the Pokémon Red had with him already, one of his choices already paid off.

“The battle will start on a rock battlefield! The first choice of Pokémon goes to Red!”

“Go Pikachu!”

With that Red’s shoulder Pokémon bounded onto the field. He reached for his own Pokéball.

“Marowak!”

And so he sent out the Pokémon he had taken just to counter such a Pokémon as a Pikachu, and he grinned as Red stared at his Pokémon in a bit of confusion. After all, the Marowak of Kanto were generally not black in coloration nor quite as thin. Nor, when they rubbed their bones against their skull helmets, specifically on a part where black material much like a matchbox that the common Marowak did not have, did their bones alight with green flames.

...

“Is that what Marowak looks like in Alola or something?”

At Yellow’s question Ash took out his Pokédex and pointed it at the Marowak. It beeped quickly with a response.

“The Alolan regional variant of Marowak evolves from Cubone during nocturnal hours. Due to pressures from Grass type Pokémon and the need to hone their senses the Marowak are in fact Fire and Ghost types. They are leaner and lighter than their continental counterparts.”

“Are you sure that is right?” Iris asked after hearing the Dex entry.

The Pokédex might not be able to look at her, but everyone else was. None of them were looking at her like she was utterly wrong, but it was in general a look of confusion.

“I mean the bone is on fire so the part about being a Fire Pokémon seems to be beyond arguing. Do you think it isn’t a Ghost Pokémon?”

“That was not what I meant. I could have probably made what I meant a bit clearer. I was actually talking about the Grass Pokémon part. Alola actually does not have a lot of carnivorous Grass Pokémon other than Lurantis, Dhelmise and Rowlet and its evolutions. Lurantis also are not all of that common and Cubone do not live in forests where they would live. A Pokémon called Shiinotic also lives in forests that could be a threat, but it does not really seem to fit. Rowlet are even rarer and Dhelmise are only found in or near water.”

Cubone in Kanto were closer to much more dangerous Grass-type Pokémon like the Bellsprout family. They should be the ones who need to learn to use fire.

Everyone around her was still confused, but not about her issues with the Pokédex. They were all pondering her observation with a different sort of confusion. Professor Oak opened and closed his mouth in rapid succession, as if he was going to say something but it got caught in his mouth repeatedly. He did eventually seem to come to a decision of what he was going to say.

“I’m going to have a long phone call with my cousin after this battle.”

…

The Marowak was another of those Alola variants, like the ‘real’ Exeggutor that Lilo had used. That meant it was a different type, and seeing as it had a matchbox on its skull and had lit its bone on fire he was going to guess it was some sort of Fire Pokémon. Though somehow it didn’t feel like it was the only thing at play.

Was it still a Ground-type? Only one way to find out.

”Begin!”

“Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!”

His partner’s cheeks sparked as electricity was fired towards Marowak in a great bolt. This attack would either do damage or not, and in doing so would reveal Marowak’s type without question.

As the attack was fired towards Marowak however, something happened. The electricity changed course sharply, flying entirely into Marowak’s bone. The bone glowed as it absorbed the electricity, becoming brighter upon consuming the blow. He felt his lips move into a bit of a frown as he realized that this was a third answer to the question of ‘what is Marowak’.

“For the confused folks that was Lightning Rod! Lightning Rod absorbs electrical attacks and not only nullifies any damage that might have been taken, but turns that electricity into power for the user!”

That ability was not dependent on typing, so what type Marowak was on top of being a Fire Pokémon, if any, was still up in the air. He also could see that bone and the fact it was a Thick Club. Marowak was already plenty powerful, and he had just made it even stronger.

He’d need to go at this a different way.

“Pikachu, use Quick Attack and get in closer!”

Pikachu glowed white as he charged towards the Marowak head on. Marowak readied itself with the bone, ready to move in to defend itself as needed.

“Bonemerang!”

“Avoid it!”

Marowak’s bone was flung towards Pikachu as he sped towards Marowak. Pikachu hopped over the bone and right over Marowak. With the bone right out of play this was the time to strike.

“Brick Break!”

Pikachu swerved mid-air and was facing downwards towards Marowak and lunged down with a glowing fist to strike Marowak head on with the Fighting-type attack. However, before Pikachu could manage the hit a purple mist seemed to rise up and block the attack like a barrier.

He was not the only one to let out a surprised gasp at that, as Pikachu and the audience also did.

The Marowak grinned as its bone returned to it, before swinging it upwards to strike Pikachu with a pure melee attack and in doing so knocking his partner down and onto the dirt.

“Seeing as the cat is out of the bag let us go all out with it Marowak: Shadow Bone!”

Marokak’s bone was alight with the same purple mist, which swirled around the weapon like a fiery storm. Marowak swung the bone down with force, and he only saw a flash of bright yellow light before a giant burst of smoke covered the entire field and blocked his vision.

The seconds that followed ranked highly among the list of longest seconds he had ever had to endure.

“Pikachu took a powerful attack right at point blank range! There is no question that the move hit, but the question can only be if Pikachu can still battle or if this match is already going in favor of Alexander Silph!”

He tuned out the announcement from the announcer for the benefit of the uninformed audience as he focused his attention on the smoke, which was starting to clear. More importantly than the slightly better visibility was what he could hear. It was faint, but it was there. Little footsteps.

A shape darted out of the smoke, running towards him only until fully out of the cloud before turning and staring into the cloud in anticipation of further battle. Pikachu, still ready to battle and not looking nearly as hurt as one would expect from such an attack.

“Pikachu has survived the battle with some health to spare, and doesn’t seem to be all of that damaged. How is this possible!?”

The smoke had fully cleared now, revealing an undamaged Marowak looking towards Pikachu with an air of annoyance. The Thick Club that Marowak wielded was glowing brighter and more intensely, and that seemed to clue in Alexander about what happened. Hopefully he would tell him because he had no clue.

“Well, that was a clever little trick. Your Pikachu used Thunderbolt to soften the blow. Marowak still absorbed the attack, but enough of a cushion was made to keep the blow from dealing critical damage. It was impressive showing on your partner’s part, though interesting how you didn’t seem to instantly grasp what had happened. Your brother could have managed it by now.”

He narrowed his eyes on his opponent. Yeah that was something Ash could have figured out quickly, but that was just a thing he was good at that he was not. They had plenty of little tricks and quirks that went that way. Though such frustration left his mind quickly as he realized what had just been said.

No…

“Oh, you seem to be a bit shocked that I know that. Or is the word you are looking for ‘remembered at all’? Truth is I just had a recording, so I do not think the word ‘remember’ is quite applicable to this situation. Still do know this Red: I entered this battle knowing your strengths and weaknesses better than anyone here who doesn’t share roughly a quarter of their person with you. You and your Pokémon will battle valiantly against me, but you will lose. Fret not though, as placing in the top sixteen out of a group of over a thousand in your first league is a good accomplishment that you can build on.”

Somehow the fact the last part was actually not entirely said in mockery made it all the more infuriating. He felt a blazing rage in his gut, which he swallowed down before he managed to speak two words.

“Pikachu, return.”

His partner did not object to his change, and thinking of what to do next helped calm him down a bit. The numbing announcements also helped a bit.

“And Red substitutes, well aware that there is seemingly nothing that his little mouse can do against that Marowak! With the combination of abilities and typing behind all of that raw power is there anything Red can do to get back on the right footing!?”

…

Marowak had absorbed two electrical attacks and severely damaged Red’s Pikachu. The fact the mouse hadn’t been defeated in that last blow had not been ideal, but it was a pretty good start all things considered.

“Excellent, Marowak, we just need to keep up the pressure.”

Marowak didn’t turn around to face him, but she did nod her head. She was focused on Red, who had sent out his second Pokémon in the form of a Persian.

The cat’s white coat was a sign of high level of power, and he had seen the Pokémon in earlier rounds. He knew it had the right attacks for his Marowak. Just how right though…

“Marowak, Ice Beam!”

A cold flame gathered around his Pokémon’s bone which was batted towards the cat like a baseball.

“Power Gem!”

Persian’s gem sparked as it fired a bright light into the spectral ice. The two attacks collided, and had this been the first battle he was quite sure the attacks would have destroyed each other. But this was a battle in which two electrical blows had been absorbed.

The Ice Beam had gained power as a result, and the attack broke through and flew towards Persian. Persian was too nimble and the attack had been slowed as a result of the collision of moves, so no damage to Persian had been done.

But perhaps some were done to Red’s nerves, and he’d consider that an effective use of his Pokémon’s endurance.

“A Fire Pokémon that can use an Ice attack! That’s a novelty folks, and one that seems to have Persian outgunned at range!”

“Dig!”

Persian slashed into the ground and soon vanished into a hole. Marowak was looking around nervously for where Persian might rise from to attack.

“Marowak, use Flare Blitz the moment Persian comes at you!”

No sooner did he give the order that Persian rose up from behind Marowak and swiped at her. Marowak engulfed herself in flames which blunted the attack’s impact and left Persian’s paws singed. Not a burn, but he dealt some damage while reducing Marowak’s damage from the attack.

Persian hopped away before Marowak could strike with the full force of Flare Blitz.

“Power Gem!”

He winced as the quick Rock attack flew in just as Flare Blitz began petering out. Marowak was by no means crippled by it, but the attack did do damage and was the last thing he needed right now.

“Night Slash!”

“Shadow Bone!”

Persian lunged at Marowak with elongated purple claws on each front limb. Marowak’s bone flared with shadowy force that would not damage Persian, but would block the attack.

Indeed, it did block one claw, but Persian had a second front limb and enough balance against Marowak’s bone to swipe at Marowak with a second Night Slash.

The attack, again, was not a fatal blow. However, it was starting to add up, and he was going to need to get the advantage back on his side if he wanted to retain his momentum.

“Ice Beam!”

The icy ball of cold manifested in the midst of the bone to claw clash, meaning that Persian had little space to run from the attack. It landed quickly and perhaps not at full power, but it did force the cat back and land some good damage on it.

“A rapid exchange of attacks leaves both combatants feeling the pain!? It is anyone’s guess who is in control of this match at this point!?”

That was not a wrong statement by the announcer. He’d need to try something else.

“Marowak, use Bonemerang, then Stealth Rock!”

Red’s reaction to his command was rather interesting. The moment he declared his intent to use Stealth Rock the boy’s eyes noticeably widened. A clear sign of panic.

“Taunt!”

Red’s Persian was ordered to stop Stealth Rock before avoiding Bonemerang. The red light flickered in Persian’s eyes just as after the bone was flung and Marowak moved to strike the ground. The red haze that covered Marowak rendered the move futile, but the first one struck Persian right in the face.

“Oh it seems like you are rather worried about Stealth Rock. How interesting.”

Red tried to keep his face neutral as Persian avoided the returning bone and the weapon came back to Marowak’s grip. However, he could tell that he really did.

Was his team weak to it? How excellent. Red wasn’t going to be able to get Persian out of this fight lest Stealth Rock be unstoppable. But that also meant that Persian was likely his only option to stop the attack too.

He could use that.

…

“Ice Beam!”

Marowak batted the ghostly ball of ice Persian’s way, who avoided the attack. Though he knew it wasn’t a complete wash for Alexander. He was buying his time until Taunt wore off. When that happened….

He couldn’t let it happen.

“Persian get in close with Dig!”

Persian once again burrowed into the earth, though this time Marowak was not nearly as flustered by the maneuver.

Probably the odd Marowak was already planning on setting itself on fire to blunt the damage.

Indeed, that was the maneuver Marowak pulled off the moment that Persian rose up right under its nose, paw extended for a powerful blow.

Paw extended…

“Use Night Slash!”

The idea was said a bit too late to be used to its fullest, but the momentum of Dig and the sharpness of Night Slash was combined into a quite effective uppercut right into Marowak’s chin that sent the variant form flying.

Marowak landed flat on its back a bit away, and with the landing the built up charge on the bone club fizzled away. The referee looked over the Marowak and gave the call.

“Marowak is unable to battle!”

“Split second decision making on Red’s part gave him the lead in this intense full battle! Two moves in one is too much for any Marowak!”

As the crowd cheered he spared a glance to his still tired looking Pikachu, and to the panting Persian on his field.

His lead wasn’t large, and it was not going to be hard for his opponent to break even.

As Marowak was returned and praised by his opponent for the battles put in, the rich inheritor of Silph was looking at him with an inquisitive look.

“That was a rather informative battle. I think that revealed quite a few useful details.”

Like the fact his team choice had a fault that nearly gave him a heart attack. Pikachu and Persian were the only members that were not weak to Stealth Rock, and he was amazed he hadn’t picked up on that earlier.

Silph held a Dusk Ball as a smirk came over his face.

“For example, this is the time to apply a higher level of power. Go, Hydreigon!”

The Dusk Ball that was thrown out burst forth a large Pokémon that floated over the field and let out a shudder-inducing roar. The Pokémon was black and blue and purple, with three heads biting towards him and Persian. It was a Pokémon he had not seen before, but he had a suspicion it was something dangerous.

Quite possibly very dangerous.

…

“Oh dear, that is scary.”

His mom’s worried observation of Hydreigon was not something he could entirely disagree with. He hadn’t met many Hydreigon, but of the three two had been tough opponents and the third had reacted to evolution by going on a rampage.

The last was a bit of an unfair simplification for said Hydreigon, but the species was not one he’d rank highly on the list of ‘Pokémon to leave near breakable plates unsupervised’.

“What sort of Pokémon is that?”

Yellow’s worried question was one that really should be answered by someone with a gentle and light touch. As that would not be the Pokédex he moved to give his own explanation.

“A Gyarados of the sky is a good way to put it.”

Iris was better than the Pokédex, and while that didn’t sound like the worst way one could say it, he probably would have found a better way of saying it.

“Regardless of whoever told the wild girl, that observation was right on the money. The Dark and Dragon Hydreigon, like a Gyarados, can be tamed and if you trained one up from a Deino a reliable battler that will be loyal to you for life. However, again like a Gyarados, when untrained they are quite dangerous and destructive. They were known historically as town levelers, farmland burners, and incarnations of evil. This was most prominent in Unova where there were far fewer of their natural enemy, Fairy Pokémon, to drive them off.”

“I don’t think Red brought any Fairy Pokémon.”

Yellow’s worried words were something he could, with his own personal experience, offer a respite for.

“If he has Ice, Fighting, Bug, or Dragon Pokémon he’s going to be fine. You can beat a Hydreigon with those easily.”

Left unsaid was that ‘easily’ involved the aid of a Victini or the hard work of Boldore and Oshawott beforehand, but she did not need those details.

“I thought Gyarados could fly?”

His mother’s question was followed by Professor Oak letting out a tired sigh that was less ‘that was a dumb question’ and more ‘that topic is something I don’t want to get into because it is really complicated’ in nature.

…

What was this Pokémon’s type?

Everything about the Pokémon screamed Dragon to him, but he doubted the Pokémon was just that type. But what type it was eluded him: it was airborne so it could be a Flying type, but the movement felt off. It had coloring that made him think of a couple of different types like Poison and Dark, and some of the markings on its body looked almost like mechanical treads.

He’d need information.

“You’re too tired to try and hit it with Slash, use Power Gem!”

Persian began to gather power in her gem as Alexander had his own move.

“Dragon Pulse!”

The three heads of the Hydreigon amassed close to each other to form a spiraling purple storm of draconic energy that was then shot right into Persian like a brutal storm.

He had to cover both his face and Pikachu from the intensity, and he could see Persian fall over in a thump upon taking the blow head on.

“Persian is unable to battle!”

And with that, they were tied in score. In truth though he would say the match was in Alexander’s favor at the moment.

He returned Persian with a few words of thankfulness and pulled a Safari Ball. He sent it out, revealing his third Pokémon of the match and one he hoped could help him figure out what Hydreigon was.

“And this is a match of three headed Pokémon! Hydreigon versus Dodrio!”

He wasn’t so sure of the announcer’s hammy declaration himself: something about two of the heads of Hydreigon didn’t seem quite as aware as his Dodrio’s.

“Get in range and attack with Drill Peck!”

At the blistering pace that a Dodrio was known for the bird charged towards the dragon, who growled at him.

“Block it with Ice Fang!”

The two heads that didn’t seem to be all that alive surged forward with open maws each with steaming cold energy. Dodrio evaded both of them, but in doing so the charge was disrupted and Dodrio lost the speed that he needed to jump and reach Hydreigon.

“Tri-Attack!”

Without that speed he’d have to attack indirectly, which was not what Dodrio was skilled at. However, they did still have an option.

“Dragon Pulse!”

Each of the three heads that their Pokémon had united to form an attack, and if he was a more poetic person he could probably observe how the independent heads of his Dodrio manifested a different energy in each beak (fire, ice, and lightning) while the less individual heads of Hydreigon manifested the same force. Both attacks were fired at about the same time and collided about midway, but it did not take long for Hydreigon’s attack to start overpowering Dodrio’s Tri-Attack.

Dodrio fortunately did not need an order to get out of the way and avoided the blasting from Dragon Pulse and once more began building up the speed in the arena that would be needed to make any jump up towards Hydreigon.

“Dodrio is trying folks, but it can’t seem to either get in range or attack from afar! Hydreigon might have this match up on lock!”

The announcer clearly didn’t have faith in Dodrio’s ability. They couldn’t fly but they could jump good.

Dodrio ran up top of a battlefield boulder and leapt into the air with all of the speed it had accumulated. Once more his bird was approaching the sky-born dragon with spinning beaks for a powerful Drill Peck.

“Ice Fang!”

Once more Hydreigon surged forward with the two lesser heads to try and grab Dodrio, but he had an idea.

“Giga Impact!”

Dodrio’s three heads moved closer together and instead of just the beaks the entire bird was now spinning like a single massive drill. The attack flew right into the attempted neutralizing by Ice Fang, and made both of the heads deflect from the strength of the attack.

The spinning great tackle was now in Hydreigon’s guard, and there was nothing the dragon could do to avoid the hit.

“Zen Headbutt!”

It could apparently use its last head and blunt Giga Impact with a psychic-empowered headbutt, but even Hydreigon felt the force of the attack and was stunned. Stunned, nicely enough, so that as Dodrio was sent back his way by the force of Giga Impact and left unable to move Hydreigon was not able to take advantage of the possible opening.

By the time the dragon seemed to shake off the surprise Dodrio was nearly fully recovered from using Giga Impact.

“Focus Blast!”

Slinging the fighting-energy laden blast like a lobbed ball at Dodrio, Dodrio’s entire body twitched with renewed energy as movement was restored.

“Deflect it!”

As the attack got close Dodrio raised one foot and, with a sweeping kick, sent the attack off course into a rock formation on the field. Focus Blast crashed through it, and two other rocks behind it before dissipating.

“It turns out I was wrong! Dodrio can actually still put up a fight against this powerful Pokémon!”

Good for the announcer to admit his error. Of course the question he’d like an answer to was the exact typing of Hydreigon, and the move set it was using was not giving him any information. The best he could tell was that it was at least not a Rock or Steel type if Giga Impact was any indication.

“Dragon Pulse!”

Dodrio avoided the lobbed blast of dragon power and resumed running to build up speed, which was attempted to be hampered by Focus Blasts being lobbed after his bird. They missed, but that was more because Dodrio was taking evasive moves that kept the attacks off. Doing so however kept Dodrio from going at maximum speed. Without it getting past Hydreigon's guard would be difficult. How could he get Dodrio in range quicker?

…

“You can totally get Dodrio closer if you just boost it up in the air with some sort of kicking move! Dodrio can totally use Mega Kick to do it!”

“Ash don’t backseat battle for him, that is rude and embarrassing,” his mother said to scold him.

“Also Dodrio has never been documented using Mega Kick so that wouldn’t be an option anyway,” added Oak.

…

Dodrio could use five moves. Those were Tri Attack, Drill Peck, Giga Impact, Stomping Tantrum, and Jump Kick. Stomping Tantrum was probably not going to be able to hit, but Jump Kick…

“Dodrio, use Jump Kick from atop one of the rocks!”

Dodrio darted to the closest rocks and bound it up in a single jump. The jump was thus given just that bit of extra boost to fly towards the ascending Dragon. However, it looked like Hydreigon was elevating itself faster than Dodrio, and Jump Kick would be an utter miss.

Then Dodrio, like Pikachu had, did something impromptu. All three heads stretched and leaned backwards to be in the opposite direction of Hydreigon and used Tri Attack.

The beams that were shot out propelled Dodrio forward like rocket boosters: moving so fast and hard that Hydreigon wasn’t able to escape.

The attack landed and struck Hydreigon hard. The great dragon let out a cry of immense pain, and quite possibly also shock, as both Pokémon were sent back down to the ground.

Dodrio landed on top of a rock with ease, while Hydreigon crashed down on the earth like a falling star.

“That was an incredible act of course correction by Dodrio! That Jump Kick was super effective, regardless of whatever type Hydreigon actually is!”

Super effective.

He watched the great dragon begin to rise up once more after taking such a strike. Jump Kick had really struck it hard, and he suspected that it was more than just the boosted power at play. It was weak to Jump Kick.

It didn’t seem to resist the earlier Giga Impact, so it wasn’t Rock or Steel. It didn’t feel like an Ice or a Normal type. That left only a single option.

Hydreigon was a Dark and Dragon Type Pokémon.

“Credit to Dodrio for coming up with that, but it won’t be enough to win against us. Hydreigon Fire Spin!”

From all three heads flew spiraling tendrils of flame. Dodrio dodged the first one, but the two from the minor heads came from behind and engulfed Dodrio in their force. That was however only the most obvious problem.

“Dodrio is trapped by Fire Spin! It won’t be able to escape Hydreigon this time!”

Indeed, the great beast was now fully back in the air and was floating right over the trapped Dodrio.

“Dragon Pulse!”

From above Hydreigon unleashed the spiraling draconic energy attack right down on the trapped Dodrio. He winced at the force of the attack that Dodrio took head on, even as the Fire Spin kept up a cycle of hurting and trapping.

The fires petered out before the Dragon Pulse did, and he had already reached for the ball before the call was made.

“Dodrio is unable to battle!”

“Hydreigon has taken the game’s lead for the veteran Silph, but our rookie from Viridian isn’t done yet! What will be his next Pokémon?!”

His second Safari Ball on him today was in hand and he threw it, revealing Scyther to a cheering crowd. Alexander seemed unfazed.

“So I see you were paying attention. Fire Spin!”

Hydreigon spewed up the spiraling flames towards Scyther, who avoided them with a darting dodge and flew low and closer to the dragon.

“Silver Wind!”

Scyther’s wings beat harder and faster as the powder-laden winds were stirred up and shot up at Hydreigon, who tried to avoid them but took the blow with a scream.

“Quick Attack!”

“Grab it! “

They each gave their own commands as Scyther jumped from the stones in a white blur towards Hydreigon who had both lesser heads try to grab it, but Scyther was faster and struck Hydreigon in the chest and avoided further grabbing.

The crowd cheered enthusiastically for his Bug-type as Alex pointed at the ground.

“Use Focus Blast there!”

Hydreigon obliged and threw an almost curveball-like Focus Blast. Said Focus Blast struck the rock where Scyther was about to land, blowing it up and sending shards of stones flying into Scyther like a pseudo Rock-type attack.

As the stones pelted and distracted Scyther Hydreigon appeared behind him, both lesser heads glistening with cold.

“Now Ice Fang!” Alex followed up as both fangs shot out and grabbed Scyther at the wings with gradually growing ice at the bite marks.

“Scy!”

He gritted his teeth in frustration as Scyther swung his blades in an attempt to hit something, but Hydreigon had him far enough out to avoid any slash.

Without his wings or scythes the moves that Scyther could use were limited to near nothing! No Quick Attack or Silver Wind, no X-Scissor or Acrobatics! The only other move was…

“Hyper Beam!”

Scyther opened his mouth, gathering the orange beam attack at his mouth as Hydreigon flung him down, releasing his grip to slam Scyther down against the earth.

“Stop the attack!” He shouted quickly and Scyther, though with a grunt that sounded like he had a case of acid reflux, stopped the attack before it would shoot out and leave him vulnerable.

Scyther fluttered back onto his feet and both dragon and bug were glaring at each other with visible tiredness.

“Scyther…”

“You’re almost there Hydreigon, just finish this hat trick and the final half should be ours.” Alex reassured the dragon who seemed to get just a bit more fuel in its tank at the assurance.

“Use Quick Attack.” He told Scyther, believing they could still win this. Scyther’s wings buzzed for a moment before he shot up towards the dragon.

“Use Surf to block it.” Alex ordered as all three heads roared and formed three blue orbs in front of themselves, the orbs merging together into one massive wave that swept forward in a growing solid barrier of water against Scyther’s upward flight.

“Is Scyther about to be washed out just like Dodrio!?” The announcer hammed it up a little.

As the water got closer Scyther angled upward, flying more upwards than forwards with the speed of Quick Attack. With that change of angle it avoided getting anything more than a few water droplets splashed on him.

“Fire Spin!”

As Scyther closed the top of the water a second ranged attack was fired and Scyther was trapped in the spinning flames.

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The crowd gasped as Hydreigon continued spewing the flames across the stadium and just a bit out of it. Alex nodded.

“Well that should be this round.”

Red’s fist shook in frustration, but a glimmer of movement in the Fire Spin caught his eye.

“Are you sure about that?” Red asked as the movement got closer to Hydreigon.

“No…” Alex realized it wasn’t over yet.

“X-Scissor!” Red shouted as Scyther, still surrounded by the spinning flames, flew forward and crashed into Hydreigon with both blade arms glowing green. Hydreigon let out a pained screech.

The dragon fell to the ground, unmoving as Scyther landed on the ground near it, fire still spinning around the bug in an orbit.

“Hydreigon is unable to battle!”

The crowd went into an uproarious cheer at the fall of Hydreigon.

“And with that the match is tied up two to two! We’ll be having a bit more battling before the big break folks, so what is Alex Silph’s third Pokémon going to look like!?”

“Nothing,” Alex simply said as the Fire Spin around Scyther flared up into a sudden inferno before petering out. The moment the Fire Spin ended Scyther was on the ground just as motionless.

“Scyther is unable to battle!”

Red returned Scyther, a stunned shock coming over him as Alex also returned Hydreigon. His first full battle in a league and he was at the disadvantage.

…

Ash and Yellow had come to see him during the mid-battle break. Perhaps his brother wanted to give him some encouragement, perhaps some advice on Alex. Maybe he just wanted to make sure that Yellow didn’t get lost.

“He remembers,” Red instead said as Ash nearly dropped the drink he had brought him.

“What?”

“It was Cepu, wasn’t it?” Ash’s Pokédex beeped knowingly. “She must have recorded the entire event even after I neutralized her.”

“Who?” Yellow questioned the machine.

“His artificial intelligence.”

With the Pokédex answering that question, and a question of why Cepu was neutralized he suspected he didn’t want to know, he turned back to his brother.

“Do you think he’s dangerous?”

Ash and his Pikachu looked very uncomfortable with how he phrased that question.

“I mean as an opponent he’s pretty tough. He gave me a hard fight when he was just ‘testing me’ a while back, and he’s won leagues before,” Ash said nervously, as if he was really hoping that was what he meant and not something else. Which is what he had meant.

“I mean he’s had a lot of time to say something, and if he hasn’t yet…” Yellow reminded him. If Silph wanted to get rid of them or something he could have contacted them long before now.

He took a sip of his fortunately not-fizzed out drink, his mind still on the topic.

The memories of Mewtwo, or the recordings of it, did Alex Silph have any more plans with them?

"What was it like when he tested you?"

They had mentioned something about it during the Mewtwo events, but they hadn't gone into much detail at the time. Ash proceeded to tell him the best he remembered of their battle, and he was particularly interested in how Silph's Golisopod dodged a Z-Move, with a strategy as simple as using Substitute.

It was odd that Ash would trust him with something that could be easily used against him, or maybe he'd been working on sorting out that weakness. But that was neither here nor there at the moment.

"So when I told him to drop the charade, he said something about how he hoped to analyze me with six Pokémon, but three wasn't a bad sample. I suppose he must have gotten what he needed and more if he recorded us all at New Island."

Red nodded. That was bad, very bad. If Silph planned around what he knew his opponents could do, and with recordings of their Pokémon and everything they could do, then there would be little that could surprise him now. In fact, he most likely designed his strategy around facing what he judged as his "strongest" team.

"That said… I think he's taking for granted that he already won, basing only on what he knows about you."

Red raised the look once more. It was weird to see Ash with such a serious expression, which for a moment almost reminded Red of himself, as if he looked into the mirror. Well, it kinda made sense as they shared some family resemblance, but that didn't matter now.

"No matter how good of a planner he is, nobody can anticipate everything that could happen, and it's not like he can predict the future or something like that," Ash continued. "What I'm trying to say is… he probably expects the most obvious, based on what he knows about you."

The most obvious. Red recalled; back in his first match against Ash, what threw him off was precisely that Ash chose the Pokémon that seemed the least adequate option to face him, and even so he was barely within an inch from beating him. Silph was just like him, taken up to eleven as he used his resources to learn everything from his opponents.

But that same advantage came with its own downsides. Should he face an opponent who 'didn't follow the norm', that meant he could be thrown off, if only briefly, and that could create openings.

Siebold's words back on Four Island resounded in his head: "Sometimes, there are things you can't see or analyze as if they were data. You need to feel to understand them".

"So… you're telling me I should follow my instinct?"

"Sometimes, you need to take chances to win, especially if your opponent surpasses you," said Ash. "One chance in a million is better than none, isn't it?"

"Yeah... I guess it is."

It was a lesson he had already grappled with, but that he still needed to internalize well sometimes. Much like he used to, Silph evidently trusted his gathered data more than anything, but over time, his initial assumptions could become inexact or just plain wrong. It wasn't like he'd been resting on his laurels during the interlude after all.

Assuming he didn't send camera drones to spy on him, there might still be some ways to surprise him.

"Attention, competitors, please return to the battle arena. The battle will resume shortly."

That was his cue to come back. The moment of truth drew near, so when he looked at both of them, they just told him to go ahead, and he nodded, turning around to go back.

"Red, it may be hard, but you can beat that rich boy!" Yellow exclaimed. "If he thinks he's smarter than everyone else, kick his ass to prove how wrong he is!"

"Don't you dare to lose now!" Ash added. "Much as I'd love to beat that guy myself, I want to face you in the finals much more!"

Those last words ignited something within Red. He too wanted that, to face Ash again, and they could only make it by reaching the finals. That only gave him another reason not to lose today.

It was time to throw a glitch into Silph's perfect calculator.

…

“And we’re back folks! Let’s tell any latecomers what the scoreboard is. In the lead is Alexander Silph of Saffron City who lost two Pokémon and has four completely unknown to anyone but him! Trailing but by no means out is Red Tajiri of Viridian City, who is down three Pokémon and we know one of his remaining Pokémon is his Pikachu! The battlefield has changed and now we are on a water battlefield!”

Alex was looking at him with a knowing look. He didn’t bring any Pokémon that would get this field rotated in, one could guess.

‘Gyarados or Lapras?’ He could almost hear the rich heir wondering.

"Shedinja, go!" Alex sent out his third Pokémon which hovered over the field motionlessly. It was some sort of Bug-type, but it was floating motionlessly, feeling quite eerie.

“Pikachu, let’s see what this thing does.” He sent out his Electric-type. No need to give this jerk any more information. If it was some sort of Flying-type Pikachu could easily beat it. If it was some other type...well he’d find out.

“Pikachu versus Shedinja, begin!” the announcer declared as the battle resumed.

“Thunderbolt!”

Pikachu fired a bolt of electricity right into the bug, which fizzled off before it hit like nothing hit it. The Shedinja remained motionless.

Was it a Ground-type? Perhaps it was a Bug-Ground type with Levitate. Though why would it be so motionless? Something about that thing wasn’t right.

“Will-O-Wisp!” Alexander ordered as a pair of flames formed around the bug. The balls of blue fire were thrown at Pikachu, who avoided them as the flames entered the water. Oddly they stayed there, oddly floating in the water in eerie contradiction.

That move was most commonly seen in Ghost or Fire-type Pokémon, so was it some sort of Ground and Ghost Pokémon? If so, why did it look so much like a bug?

“Quick Attack!”

Pikachu crouched down on one of the concrete islands and launched himself at the still motionless bug. If it was some sort of ghost the same thing that happened with Marowak would happen again.

And it did as Pikachu was caught in a hazy purplish barrier and was knocked back.

“Shadow Claw!”

“Thunderbolt!”

He countered the oncoming shadowy attack by having Pikachu use a mid-air Thunderbolt: the loose electricity canceling out the shadowy tendrils that shot out of the two ‘wings’ on the back of Shedinja. Pikachu landed safely on an island as he called his electric type back.

If Alex wanted to show off how much he knew about him, go ahead. He knew what that thing was now, and he was going to knock it out of the sky.

“Lapras, go!” He sent out his fifth Pokémon, who landed in the water with a large splash that lapped the field in waves.

“And Red switches his Pikachu for a Lapras!”

Alex seemed happy to get which of the two Pokémon he had brought with him, but would he be that happy when he knocked that bug out of the sky?

“Ice Beam!”

Lapras blasted the bug with an attack that wouldn’t just hit, but it would hurt. It was a Ghost and Ground Type that had Levitate, and Ice Beam would be super effective…

And then, to Red’s shock, the Ice Beam bounced off Shedinja, just like Thunderbolt.

“La?” Lapras was just as confused as he was.

“Will O Wisp!” Alex fired the barrage of status inducing flames at them once more. Lapras avoided them by diving under the water. The flames didn’t hit Lapras, and instead just hovered eerily in the water like the first attack had (and still were). And through it all, Red still had no idea what was going on with that bug.

…

“Shedinja has some sort of really weird ability right?” Ash asked Professor Oak, who nodded.

“What sort of weird ability? Why can’t Red hit that stupid bug at all?!” Yellow complained. It was a Bug-type, it couldn’t be immune to Electric, Normal, and Ice attacks. That wasn’t how Pokémon worked.

“Yes, Shedinja does have a very strange ability. It’s called Wonder Guard. Wonder Guard prevents a Pokémon from being hurt by anything that isn’t super effective or indirect damage.” Professor Oak explained.

“So Red needs Charizard to hit it.” She thought she got it. Red’s last Pokémon was Charizard and he could burn that stupid bug up quickly where Pikachu and Lapras weren’t able to hit it.

“Yeah, he can. I thought I saw a battle with a Shedinja once. Once you hit one they go down really easily,” Ash added supportively.

…

“Will-O-Wisp!”

Lapras had surfaced and once more was blasted at by the fire attack. Lapras again got out of the way of the attack, and once more the pyres just hovered underwater, an unmoving eerily source of blue light in the depths. That was the third set of the things and he was sure that they were not just there because they weren’t going out.

“Water Gun on those Will-O-Wisps!” Maybe he could at least do something about whatever Alexander was doing with those things.

“Ally Switch, then Shadow Claw!”

The flame that was closest to Lapras as he blasted at the blue balls of fire was replaced by Shedinja, who floated motionlessly in the water as Lapras blasted it, and still nothing happened.

“Smart Strike!”

Lapras avoided the Shadow Claw extensions with a backpedal from the shadow claws and once they faded he rammed an extended horn on his head into Shedinja, which bounced off like Quick Attack.

“Return!” He called Lapras back as Shedinja breached the surface, floating motionlessly as Alex looked at the bug with pride.

“Wonderful isn’t it? Shedinja won me Unova in a battle much like this. My opponent had been powerful, and I was down to just Shedinja. He had his Conkeldurr, Eelektross, Escavalier, and Reuniclus left in various states of damage. Shedinja pulled off a come-from-behind victory that was nothing like I’d ever seen before.”

If that was the case, then he had so much sympathy for that poor opponent. Hopefully Charizard could actually hit that thing, or… well, Red didn’t even want to consider it.

…

And Red’s last Pokémon, as the announcer told everyone who didn’t catch it, was his Charizard. Excellent.

“Flamethrower!” Red ordered as the barrage of flames went right at Shedinja, who was unflinching as ever despite the fact that the attack would actually hurt if they hit. Of course, why stop his strategy now?

“Phantom Force!” He called for his bug who vanished into the shadows, leaving the fire to strike the water instead. The water steamed at the blast of heat, though this was not noticed by his opponents who were looking around for where Shedinja would reappear.

“And it looks like Red has found something that Shedinja doesn’t want to be hit by! The problem now is actually hitting it with that same fire!” The announcer hammed it up as Red’s eyes caught something. A shimmering shadow perhaps, or a flicker of darkness.

“Behind you, Dragon Claw!”

And Charizard spun around and slammed a glowing green claw into the reappearing Shedinja. The attack did nothing, but it kept Shedinja from landing a hit on Charizard with Phantom Force. As part of the plan however, Shedinja was on a lower angle from Charizard now, floating between the Fire-type and the water. Good, Red was still flustered. He didn’t think to use the other claw move there.

“Flamethrower!”

“Ally Switch with a Will-O-Wisp flame!”

Shedinja flickered away at Flamethrower engulfed a single blue orb of flame, destroying it before burning down and striking the water with a similar steaming effect. Shedinja popped out of the steaming water without harm as Red was looking even more annoyed.

Did he think all of those Unova Pokémon were completely helpless against Shedinja? There was that Conkeldurr that knew Fire Punch, but it just couldn’t hit Shedinja while it was being whittled down. The others, though, couldn’t touch Shedinja at all. He just needed to keep this up and he’d get the knock out he wanted….

“Heat Wave!”

Heat Wave!?

Charizard flapped his wings with growing intensity as a hot wind was sent flying down across the entire field, striking the water and islands alike with superheated winds. Shedinja didn’t get out of the way of that attack, and while the fire still hit the water as he’d have wished, it also hit his Shedinja.

“Shedinja is unable to battle!”

And that was all it took.

He returned Shedinja after that, a smile on his face.

“Excellent, you did everything I needed you to.” He told his top team bug as he looked over the field. He had everything in place to continue to take this super rookie down piece by piece, and all he needed now was to get Lapras back in. His next Pokémon should accomplish that nicely.

…

“Shedinja, the Shed Pokémon. A Bug and Ghost Pokémon whose ability makes it impervious to many types of damage, but its natural frailty makes it extremely vulnerable to its weaknesses. In ancient times a village in the Hoenn Region defended itself from Kyogre’s wrath with a group of Shedinja the great one couldn’t harm, though when they tried the same against Groudon the entire village was burned to the ground. The species that Alexander has sent out also has a history with battling against Pokémon considered deities.”

The Pokédex’s point made sense to him, as he had battled Alex’s Lycanroc back in Viridian. No one else had.

“That’s a Rock-type right?” Yellow asked, and he nodded.

“Well hopefully Red knows that too and doesn't keep Charizard in.” Delia worried aloud. That would be the obvious thing to do...and something about that felt too obvious. He took a harder look at the water field, and he gasped in disbelief.

…

The Pokémon that Alexander had sent out made him think it was a Rock-type. He looked up to Charizard, who flew overhead.

Ash had beaten a Pokémon with the same name in the last round, but it looked different. Was it like a Nidoran thing or something else? Whatever it was he was probably not going to win with a simple Flamethrower like Ash’s Charizard did.

“Let’s see what this thing can do. Heat Wave!”

Charizard quickly obeyed, even as he was sure he just heard a distant shout about that being a terrible idea. A crowd heckler maybe.

Well he did get something out of the attack: this Lycanroc was an agile Pokémon who tred itself around the Heat Wave attacks to avoid taking damage. A fast Rock-type, that was a bit odd. He thought his Aerodactyl was the only fast one without aid.

“Accelerock!”

“Block it with Dragon Claw!” He yelled instinctively, not sure what that move was. It looked like Quick Attack, though with some differences that made it feel more like a Rock attack. Regardless, the leaping Lycanroc and his flying Charizard clashed body to claw, and the two took no damage as both came down to land on separate islands.

He took a breath, and tasted something odd in the air. It was a muggy, humid sort of smell, like one would find on a steamy day. Very unlike that day.

By chance he glanced at the water, and he saw the cause of what he had tasted in the air. The water field was steaming.

“Oh, I see you noticed it. I think your brother picked it up before you did, Cepu gave me a beep that Ash had shouted something. It’s rather hot for a Lapras now, isn’t it? Now if it was a tropical Lapras that would be one thing, but I don’t think you went to the tropics did you Red? What are you to do? Your Charizard is against its greatest weakness and your Lapras will boil alive. Can your Pikachu do what your brother’s did and defeat Lycanroc?”

“You are trying to bait me,” he told his opponent bluntly who shrugged.

“What choice do you have?”

He gave the corporate heir a dire look, who shrugged.

“I can make you change as much as it can be of your own free will. Bulk Up!” Lycanroc howled as it glowed red, gathering further strength in attack and defense. “Now, Accelerock!”

“Flamethrower right into it!”

Charizard’s aim was true, striking the charging Lycanroc head on as it came at them. However, the fire didn’t stop Lycanroc, who cut through it like a knife through butter. The attack was slowed down enough for Charizard to avoid being hit, and Lycanroc landed safely on another island in the steamy battlefield.

“Red’s in a stalemate folks! His opponent has turned the battlefield in a scalding bath that may render his Lapras helpless, while his Charizard is dancing a delicate dance with its natural enemy in Rock-type Pokémon! This match may be tied on the board right now, but it’s Alex who's calling the shots of the battle!”

He almost growled at the announcer’s declaration of the situation, and even more so at the declaration of a Stone Edge attack. The rocks orbited around Lycanroc for a minute before being fired at Charizard in a fast, wide arc. He only had a second to make a call, and it was not one he liked.

“Return!”

And he returned Charizard to avoid a knockout, letting the stones fly through the air and out of sight and he sent out Pikachu, ignoring the smirk on Alex’s face.

“You know, your brother’s Pikachu battled Lycanroc as well,” Alex mused to both his and his own Pikachu’s irritation. “They defeated Lycanroc with Volt Tackle, a move you two have never used.”

“We won’t need it.” He told his opponent as Pikachu’s cheeks sparked in aggravation. “Thunder Punch!”

“Close Combat!”

Pikachu had only just started gathering electricity in his paws before Lycanroc was right on him and started bashing into him with a barrage of paw strikes, headbutts, and slashes with the stones on its neck. Pikachu was eventually thrown into the steaming water by the barrage, and Lycanroc watched the spot where Pikachu had been thrown in by the attack patiently. Pikachu’s head popped up after a minute and Lycanroc was quick to act on the newfound target.

“Stone Edge!”

The rocks were blunted enough by the water that Pikachu was not knocked out by the attack, but they still did a lot of damage as Pikachu was flung onto an island, though he had enough energy left in him to avoid the follow-up attacks by Lycanroc after the Rock-type leapt over and started striking at Pikachu with a barrage of Close Combat strikes.

Was there any way out of this bind? Typing, boiling water, and damage were all against him. Did he need to use Victory Sight?

He had done a lot without it recently. He’d gotten all the way here without it, but was this the limit. He had gotten stronger without it, and if he used it now would he be able to win it all?

He was struggling against a league champion multiple times over without it, with him going at something less than his full potential. Not using it had made him stronger, would using it again make him even stronger? Strong enough to figure out what to do against him?

A realization interrupted his musings.

There was something about Pikachu’s tail as the dodging occurred. It was moving, but not like it usually would. It almost felt like the flow of the pool’s waves, and his partner's Electric-type still looked oddly wet.

His mind immediately went back to the battle with Paul and Gary, and Ash’s instincts with his Charmeleon. It was probably nothing, but if he didn’t take it…

“Pikachu, use your new move and counterattack!” He was either going to win or he was going to look like an idiot. Pikachu’s tail continued to move like the waves as the moisture on him seemed to flow off and struck Lycanroc, who was knocked to the other end of the artificial island as Pikachu mirrored the movement.

“So folks, does anyone know what just happened?” The Announcer was as confused as he was, but he had rolled with this sort of surprise before.

“Do it again!” Though hopefully someone could tell him what move Pikachu was using at some point. Pikachu’s tail waved like the waves, and there was now a slight blue glow around Pikachu as a massive wave rose up behind the Electric-type.

Did Pikachu just use Surf!?

Whatever it was, it hit the rather stunned Lycanroc and washed it across the battlefield and into a cement wall.

…

“Wow! I didn’t know Pikachu could use that move!” Yellow exclaimed as Lycanroc was declared unable to battle.

“Pika,” Pikachu chirped, probably something like ‘yeah, I didn’t know that either.’

“I could have sworn someone said that a Pikachu needed to spend a lot of time in the ocean to learn that move…” Ash wondered aloud.

“I did,” Ash’s Pokédex reminded him of some past conversation.

“So, maybe that wasn’t Surf. Maybe it was some other move Pikachu can learn that uses water. Like, I don’t know….Splishy Splash?” Ash sounded like he regretted the name even as he said it aloud.

“It was Surf my boy, also never name anything ever again.”

…

“That was unfortunate.”

It was. Pokémon managing to push themselves and learn a new move on the fly was hardly unusual, though it was always a problem when it did happen. He may have even induced it by having Lycanroc throw the mouse into the water. Though said water was still steaming, so Lapras was still not going to get anything done. With Marowak, Hydreigon, Shedinja, and Lycanroc out he was at a disadvantage, but he had a Pokémon that could fix that quickly.

“Accelgor, go!”

With a throw of a Nest Ball his speedy Bug-type was his fifth Pokémon, Red and Pikachu looking at it warily as they didn’t know what it could do. He’d show them.

“Quick Attack!”

“Use your own!”

Red matched Accelgor’s speed attack with his own, but Red didn’t seem to grasp just how fast an Accelgor was. Pikachu was only just about to launch when Accelgor was already across the field and slamming into Pikachu, knocking the mouse away and into Red’s arms, who barely avoided falling over from the sudden weight thrown his way.

“Pikachu is unable to battle!”

Just as fast as Accelgor had struck she returned to his side, and the battle was tied once more on the official screen. Though with Charizard’s clashes with Lycanroc and the still steaming pool, he was still quite in the lead.

…

“Accelgor, the Shell Out Pokémon! This Bug-type is the result of a Shelmet having its shell stolen by a Karrablast during a variety of specific events, which creates one of the fastest Bug-types in the world. It does, however, struggle with dehydration,” Ash’s Pokédex explained for Yellow, who wasn’t sure what it was.

…

“Charizard!”

He sent Charizard back out, his Fire-type landing on an island as Accelgor prepared to move again. Part of him thought that a Heat Wave might be a good idea, though it would be very hard to avoid striking the water with Heat Wave and the water was still cooling. If he kept it too hot and it came down to just Lapras…

“Rock Tomb on the islands around Accelgor!” he ordered as Charizard flew skyward, forming a massive stone in his arms before he threw it into the air, where it split into multiple chunks that fell towards the other islands. The move would slow down the fast (probably a) Bug-type and let Charizard take it out with minimal stray fire on the water.

“Use Giga Drain to jump on the rocks!” Alex ordered as Accelgor leapt into the air, using Giga Drain like a rope to snare a descending rock fragment and swung itself upwards. It did this a few times as it approached Charizard at a fast speed, and he had no idea what it was supposed to accomplish with that ‘Rock Tomb Climb’ technique.

“Water Shuriken!” Alex shouted as Accelgor’s pink hands formed two blue throwing stars, both made of water. Accelgor threw the two at Charizard, striking him and sending him falling. As Charizard fell Accelgor used the still descending Rock Tombs to hop down safely. Charizard stabilized before he hit the ground, flapping his wings over the water of the field and sending ripples across the still heated pool.

“Flamethrower, but aim well above the water!” He wasn’t sure this would hit, but he wanted to get some idea of what to expect from Accelgor. Charizard blew the fire attack at Accelgor, who avoided it with a fast jump to one of the rocks from Rock Tomb, which Charizard then blasted at to take advantage of the high elevation to avoid heating the water, but Accelgor avoided it again.

“The fast Bug-type Accelgor is avoiding Charizard’s ferocious fire attacks with ease! It’s ninjas versus dragons out there, folks, and the ninjas are winning!” The announcer declared.

“Water Shuriken!” Alex ordered as Accelgor fired two more of those water attacks, followed by a third.

“Use Flamethrower!”

Charizard let out the fiery burst just as they got close, burning the water attacks up before they could hit. Accelgor, while originally in the path of the fire, sped out of the way and ended up behind Charizard, though before the Water Shuriken could be fired again…

“Return!”

He returned Charizard, having the attacks of the bug ninja fly through the vanishing Charizard.

“Lapras, stay on the ground!” he called as he sent his Water-type out, who landed on an island with a confused cry about the unusual order, but followed it. Alex seemed a little surprised, but looked happy with it.

“Not sure what you think you are going to do, but you seem to have forgotten about this one. Accelgor, Giga Drain!”

The green lashes of Giga Drain shot out at Lapras, now from the left instead of behind, and wrapped around Lapras’s neck. Though Alex was wrong about one thing. He didn’t forget.

“Use your neck to reel it in and use Smart Strike!” He ordered as Lapras swung his big blue neck like a fishing rod, pulling the startled Accelgor in as Smart Strike enhanced his horn for a powerful strike. The result was a powerful strike into Accelgor, striking the bug hard and sending it falling into the water.

“And Accelgor was reeled in like a fish! The fish might have gotten back into the drink, but it took more from that hit than Lapras!”

Lapras watched for where Accelgor would rise up from next, guessing that the bug was not a good swimmer who could easily appear behind them again. He saw a pinkish blur in the water, and Lapras did as well.

“Ice Beam!”

The attack was twofold: it hit Accelgor with a final strike and it would start to cool the water out. Accelgor was blasted out of the water, shattering the ice into multiple small, and melting, fragments of ice. The bug landed on a cement island, unmoving for once.

“Accelgor is unable to battle!”

…

“Return.” He returned Accelgor with a thanks, and he looked at Lapras and Red. He brought the Ball back to his belt, and he had to wonder if his strategy today was right.

He had made his team more with the idea of confusing Red, knowingly sacrificing power to do so. It had seemed like a logical choice at the time.

He had studied Red’s battles at the league: after his sweep of Watac with Snorlax, Red had battled Hayden, Oliver, Dozer, Raymond and Akira Jouda, and of them the only two that had given Red a particularly hard fight had been ‘A.J’, who he’d classify a victim of the bracket, and Dozer who had used Unovan Pokémon. He had already gotten a lot of data on Red from Cepu after the New Island incident, and that had confirmed what seemed like the best strategy to deal with him. Yet Red had adapted to it better than he anticipated to the unknown and unexpected. He’d say it was genetic, but that was a poor explanation.

When he turned this around, he’d not make the same mistake when he got to the final round, where he was sure that the other brother would be his opponent. If, by chance, it did not…it was his own fault. But with his most important Pokémon, he was not going to lose that easily to his underestimations.

“Porygon2, go!”

…

“Porygon2, the Virtual Pokémon. An artificial Pokémon created to improve on Porygon and to explore space, though Porygon2 cannot move effectively in zero gravity. It will, however, not die in the vacuum.” His Pokédex read out the information on the Pokémon he had never seen before.

“Why does it look like a bird? Was it to try and fly like one?” his mom asked Professor Oak, who shook his head.

“No it…well I don’t know why. It’s still a Normal-type.”

…

This was the last Pokémon. They were nearly done with this battle. He just had to get through it, and they would be through this. And an evolved Porygon he could understand. There would be no odd typing or strange movements.

“Lapras, use Ice Beam on the water!”

Though first, they had to deal with the water and the fact it was still hot.

Lapras blasted the water in front of him, covering the water with a solid sheen of ice that also formed a wall of ice on the exact impact spot of the attack between the two Pokémon. If the thing wanted to use a Thunderbolt or Discharge attack there was a wall between it and Lapras, and if not the water would still be cooled, and if Porygon2 used Teleport he’d be ready for it to reappear somewhere else.

“Flash!”

Flash?

A blinding light came from Porygon2 illuminating the field and hitting the ice that Lapras had created, which took the light and magnified the blinding burst. The resulting burst blinded him with a burning intensity.

“Laaaa!”

And the same went for Lapras.

“Now Psychic!” Alex continued as he couldn’t see what he was targeting with the attack, though he heard the sound of splashing water and something large being raised….

The ice.

What followed was the sound of a large body of ice striking Lapras and sending the dual type flying into the water on the far end of the pool and the cracking of ice everywhere. It did ensure there wasn’t any more blinding light, and he could see the field again. Ice was scattered all over, and he couldn’t see Lapras anywhere. Was he alright? Had he been knocked out?

After a quarter of a minute Lapras surfaced, looking bashed and dazed from the attack but still able to battle.

“Thunderbolt!”

“Return!”

Though more battling would come later, as he returned Lapras before the electric attack could land, and he sent Charizard out in Lapras’s place.

“And the final battle continues! Does Red hope that Porygon2 can’t use fire the same way it used his team’s ice against him!?” The announcer wondered aloud and very loudly as Charizard flew over the field. With the ice doing its job he’d stick to Flamethrower and Rock Tomb to fight at range. And speaking of which…

“Thunderbolt!”

“Rock Tomb!”

Charizard used one of the summoned stones to block the Thunderbolt, the solid rock eating up the electricity and blowing up harmlessly as Charizard flew in behind the rock, ready to strike it with a direct attack.

“Dragon Claw!”

Specifically, the one that would actually hit it, as he doubted it wasn’t still a Normal-type.

“Use Eerie Impulse!” Alex ordered a move he had not encountered before as a wave of visible electrical energy flew from Porygon2’s beak into the Dragon Claw, though the attack seemed to be harmlessly cut through and Charizard connected Dragon Claw successfully. The evolved Porygon2 spun a bit from the impact, but it looked like part of the upgrade was a lot more defense to what Porygon usually had as Porygon2 wasn’t particularly affected by the physical strike. He’d try a close range Flamethrower then.

“Flamethrower!”

“Thunderbolt!”

And the two attacks clashed and from there something unusual happened. The Thunderbolt, which had previously been blocked by Rock Tomb, just cut through Flamethrower and struck Charizard, who let out a pained cry at the electrocution before dropping to a knee.

“And Charizard’s impressive fire has been cut to size! Eerie Impulse lowers the special attack of anything it hits, and Flamethrower’s no longer firing on all cylinders!” The announcer explained what happened, which was of little comfort.

“Thunderbolt!”

He still had to get out of this situation.

“Use Dragon Claw to stop Thunderbolt!” His physical attacks would still be fine, and Charizard, with a roar, slashed the Thunderbolt apart before flying in closer for a second claw slash. Porygon2 slipped away from the claw attack, before charging up another Thunderbolt and firing it, which Charizard blocked with Dragon Claw once more. Alex was looking at Charizard ponderously, as if thinking of the best solution.

“Icy Wind!”

His answer was to have the fine, speed slowing wind be blown from Porygon2 into Charizard, who took the attack despite an attempt to cut at it with Dragon Claw. It was too fine and too widespread to be cut that way. Though on the second firing he’d go with a better solution.

“Flamethrower!”

Without Eerie Impulse, the two attacks would not be stalemating in the middle of the island they both were duking it out on. Flamethrower should have sliced through Icy Wind with ease, though he did have an idea in the meantime.

“Charge forward while using Flamethrower!”

Charizard took a step forward, then a second, then got into a trot for the third as it pressed ahead, slowly getting closer to Porygon2.

“Flash!”

The resulting flash of light wasn’t as blinding, but it did make it hard to tell if the light let Charizard hit Porygon2 first or not.

“Thunderbolt!”

Charizard flew over the electric attack, which landed where he’d been standing just moments ago harmlessly. He and Charizard soon spotted Porygon2 on another island. Hmm…

Heat Wave was going to heat the water up, Shadow Claw was useless, and Flamethrower was neutered. That left Rock Tomb and Dragon Claw. He could also return Charizard, though regardless of water temperature the Thunderbolt would remain a problem. The sixth move…well it wasn’t ready yet and he would not consider Blast Burn, even if it was working, optimal here.

“Thunderbolt!”

“Use Rock Tomb!”

Charizard formed two rocks, one in each hand, before throwing them towards the Thunderbolt. One rock ate the electric attack and, again, shattered into hundreds of pebbles that fell into the water below. The other flew right at Porygon2, who would take the solid hit and….

“Psychic!”

The stone lobbed at Porygon2 suddenly froze mid-air before reversing into Charizard and striking him, sending Charizard crashing down onto an island with a very much not gentle *CRASH!*

“Charizard is unable to battle!” The referee decreed as he returned Charizard, wincing. That was on him. He made a bad call, and he hoped it wasn’t going to cost him.

“Lapras, go!”

It was up to Lapras now.

…

“It’s really close,” Yellow worryingly noted.

“That doesn’t mean he’s going to lose, it just means it's going to be really hard,” he assured their younger sister, who didn’t seem to get much pep from it.

“It’s not unwinnable, though for either it is no sure thing.” Professor Oak observed the battle with a thoughtful look.

‘Though, between you and me…I think Alex has the upper hand here. It’s no sure thing but it's like…six or seven out of ten times I think he wins,’ Anabel admitted only to him.

…

“Eerie Impulse!”

“Block it with Ice Beam!” He countered, not wanting to fight this battle weakened either. So Lapras formed the solid wall of ice in front of himself to block the electrical wave.

“Psychic!”

Alex saw physical barriers as a means of attack, and he ordered a Smart Strike to slice apart the ice before it could slam into Lapras. With the ice gone Porygon2 was now visible one island over, staring down Lapras who did the same. Now…how to deal with Thunderbolt?

‘Could Smart Strike be used like Ash and Misty’s Iron Tail?’ Red thought, only to discard it immediately. That wouldn’t work, Lapras needed his neck more than Gyarados or Charizard needed their tails.

“Flash!” Alex called as Porygon2’s entire body started to light up. He was going to try and blind them so they couldn’t see where Thunderbolt was coming from. They’d be vulnerable to a sneak attack… and he had an idea to get away from that. Though if they were caught while doing it…

“Quick, slip underwater and onto another island!” He ordered as Lapras slipped into the water just before the Flash fully blinded him.

“Thunderbolt!”

*ZAP!*

The field was both quiet, and filled with the smell of electricity. It was also tense as he slowly got his sight back.

“Red executes a risky gamble! Will it pay off, or will it fail!?” The Announcer questioned as the water slowly revealed itself to no belly-up Lapras in the water, with the Transport Pokémon instead behind the Porygon2, horn glowing for a Smart Strike.

“Smart Strike!”

And Porygon2 was struck from behind, flying into the water it had electrified.

“Lapras’s swift speed allowed it to move faster and get behind Porygon2! Hit with its own juices, is Porygon2 still able to battle!?”

And the answer was….

“Por!”

Yes.

Porygon2 emerged from the water, looking right at Lapras with an expression that was clearly unamused. Its body sparked as a Thunderbolt was charged up, seemingly with the excess electricity from the electrified water.

“Thunderbolt!” Alex sounded both controlled as ‘let’s get this over with!’.

“Ice Beam!” He’d admit, he probably sounded more desperate than Alex did in this clash as the two attacks clashed, mixtures of electricity and ice streaming out from the impact sight as ther Thunderbolt slowly gained, though slowly enough for Lapras to slide out of the way of where Thunderbolt struck, leaving another scorch mark on one of the islands.

“Water Gun!”

Lapras quickly fired the water attack, which struck Porygon2 before it could respond, though when it did it with a Psychic, which pulled Lapras off the island and over the water.

“Drop It!”

“Use Ice Beam on the water!”

The battle, in hindsight, was determined by the fact that Lapras was high enough that the ice had enough time to form, and be thick enough that it didn’t immediately shatter, just crack into various bits. Lapras landed, somewhat ungracefully, on the most solid and largest block of ice. Had Porygon2 held Lapras lower, he would’ve been in the water.

“Ice Beam again!” He pointed towards the floating Porygon2 and Lapras fired the ice. Alex didn’t look amused.

“Repel it back with Psychic!” Porygon2’s eyes flashed as the ice turned around and flew back at Lapras. He grinned.

“Send it back with a Water Gun!”

Lapras blasted the returning Ice Beam with Water Gun, clashing with the psychic for a bit before the Ice Beam was sent right back, now in a single, larger bit of ice. It was more of an ‘Ice Ballistic’ now, and the massive ice block struck Porygon2 head on, sending it crashing into the still electrified water.

“Porygon2!” Alex shouted in worry at the hit that Porygon2 took, and winced as Porygon2 bobbed up to the surface as a very done duck.

“Porygon2 is unable to battle! The winner is Red!”

The crowd exploded into cheers as he felt a sudden tiredness come over him and he clutched the railing. That was too close.

…

“He won! He won! He won!” Yellow cheered, jumping out of her seat in unbridled joy. “Now he can beat you in the finals, Ash!”

He laughed at that, but he was happy for Red. Though he was not going to beat him in the finals.

…

“Return, Porygon2.” He said sadly as his time at this league was over. “You were excellent; you should all feel proud. This loss was on me.”

He had played too hard to the idea of confusing Red and less about just hitting him hard, and it had cost him.

“Excellent job Red. You will go places and I will see you at the next league, I’m sure,” he told his opponent, who nodded in acknowledgment. Should he say ‘I won’t underestimate you next time?’

No. That was probably known but unsaid.

...

That day had been an eventful one. Even if it had just been about the battles then not only did he get past the Top Sixteen and fight a very strange Marowak to get through it, but Misty had participated in her own tournament and had a lot to talk about in regards to her own runner up status. He had seen his rivals battle each other out in ferocious battles that made the future battles he’d face in the tournament up in the air and uncertain.

It was the most relaxed, simplest thing that he had gotten up to today that really seemed to weigh on his thoughts.

It hung over his mind like an endless fog that kept him from getting just relaxed enough to fall asleep. Hopefully with the intent of waking up and having a clearer head to process what he had been told.

“Ash!”

That lack of clear-headedness made him wonder just how he had gotten into the situation he was in. Anabel and Iris were pressing into him from either side, pinning an arm to his side as their smiling faces beamed so close to his face he could see their eyes sparkling with happiness and the whites of their teeth. He wasn’t entirely sure where they even were either.

“I’m so glad that you are onboard with my and Anabel’s idea! It’s so simple to just share that I can’t believe it is something strange to people!”

“I know it might seem a bit strange, I was on the fence about it for a while, but it makes us all happy!”

Iris was talking with contractions and Anabel was not using her mind or the Pokédex, so at least he knew what was going on now. This was a dream.

Which given the types of dreams he had and what sort of theme this dream had, was probably not a good thing.

Both dream Iris and dream Anabel kissed him on opposing cheeks, their hair flowing with their dipping heads to tickle his neck and sit atop his shoulders like individual capes draping over him. The motions made his body tingle with static that sent a rush of excitement through his entire being.

A new rush of tingling came over him as he felt a third person press into him, this time from behind. It was a very different feeling from Anabel and Iris. His eyes widened as he recognized who it was.

“Misty?!”

Dream Misty giggled from behind him as strands of orange hair flowed from behind her onto his shoulder. She must have undone her ponytail; he could feel the individual strands land on him like gentle feathers.

“Oh, you can tell it’s me just from my breasts? Oh Ash, you perv: guess all of that teasing actually worked. By all means though, keep it up. Tell us everything you think about us.”

He wanted to say anything to the dream Misty’s teasing, but nothing was leaving his mouth. Was it because he was too stunned by what the dream was doing, or because he was in a dream and it was often hard to really respond to the events of a dream?

Dreams were rollercoasters that strapped you in time and didn’t let you scream except when they let you.

“I’m so glad you agreed to this, Misty. Ash was worried he’d have to choose between the two of us and you and that it would be horrible for everyone.”

Dream Iris echoed his own thoughts from earlier today.

“It would be pretty horrible to be stuck on a decision like that. Imagine some horrible timeline if he was so worried about hurting any of us he couldn’t choose and hurt all of us. That would just be horrible.”

He’d be sure that dream Anabel was guilt tripping him, but he couldn’t imagine Anabel doing that so why would a dream version of her from his own mind do that? Unless it was some sort of subconscious thing he was far too uneducated to actually understand.

“Oh I don’t see why you’d say something like that. If anything I’d be the one to refuse and make myself be sad and alone while you both were happy. Ash wouldn’t make you both miserable just because I can’t share the guy we’ve already been sharing.”

With that she somehow spun him around, Iris and Anabel clinging onto him like he was a spinning turntable on a playground, and kissed him right on the lips. Then she spun him right around again back to where they were at the start and she took her old position of pressing herself into him and hugging him tightly, after the three of them spun around like a forcefully shoved rotating door for a few moments.

“Wee!”

Random cheers from Anabel and Iris aside, was this dream trying to make him excited or guilty? He honestly wasn’t sure at this point.

Did the Misty part about being sad and alone come from a full worry or was it some sort of dark and buried annoyance at one of their original timeline fights boiling up as some sort of subconscious revenge he would never normally feel?

Or was he trying too hard to figure out his dreams and he should probably stop while he was ahead?

“The only way any of us won’t be happy is if one of us just says no. Which would be silly, because why would anyone choose to be unhappy? Because people say it is wrong? Because some bad people do it? Because we don’t know what we are doing? None of us know what we are doing so we can figure it out all together!”

Dream Iris’s declaration was followed by one of Misty’s own.

“Yeah if neither Ash or I want to make anyone miserable all that’s left is to figure out everything. Boundaries, time sharing, covers for when we actually care about what others think, how to actually do couple things other than date, all of that stuff.”

“All that stuff?”

The one sentence that the dream let him say aloud led to the three dream versions to look at him with a grin that only looked normal on Misty, and that was mostly because it was the grin that Misty had when she wanted to tease him. The sort of teasing that usually involved swimsuits.

“Oh yes, all that stuff. We’re all but together, all of us, at this point so it will go beyond dates. We can kiss each other whenever we want and not just during dates.”

“We can all talk about what we want with our futures and plan it all out to face together.”

“Also sex. We can do that.”

Dream Iris’s bluntness broke the dream.

The dream shifted and he was no longer held in place by girls who wanted to share him while flinging around guilt attacks like it was a battle. He could actually see where he was now. It was a place that was as much of a worry to him as relationships, though in a different way. A much less fun way.

“School.….wait I can actually say what I want in this one!?”

Looking down, he also noticed something else was up. Instead of actual clothes, he was wearing some sort of school uniform. Which was weird, as the school room was the same as that of Pallet’s school and they didn’t have uniforms. The blue and white outfit outfit was entirely new to him. And nothing else seemed to be amiss about the schoolroom. The desks were as old as they were, the clock was still a bit crooked on the wall, the chalkboard had something written on it.

They are still connected to your heart even if you never met them. Your blood just fills your role where you were prevented to.

Whatever that meant. Who wrote that, MissingNo? He hadn’t seen the thing in a while.

“Okay so I’m finally having a dream that a normal person might have. So what, now I’m just having a dream where I forgot to study for a test or something. Okay bring it on dream! After that last one this is nothing!”

With that said he turned right around, just as the door to the classroom opened up and he found himself face to face with a girl who was also wearing a school uniform: some white and blue dress with anchor patterns for some reason. And the girl was Belladonna, and she was just as surprised to see him as she was to see her, and in surprise they had the same reaction.

“AAHHHHHHHH!”

Screaming.

…

By the time the two of them had stopped screaming they had found themselves sitting on the desks in a way Ash would have never done at home, but this was a dream so he could do whatever he wanted. Belladonna meanwhile was leaning back against a wall from her desk of choice and seemed to be more weirded out by the dream thing than he was.

“Do you have dreams like this all of the time? I mean I’ve had dreams where my Oddish and I somehow found an Ice Gem and it was in my hands when I woke up before, but dreams with other people in them, that you can talk to and stuff, and in school uniforms?”

“If you mean people in them as aware of the dream as I am, no, this is a new situation. Not sure where the uniforms came from though.”

Past dreams were with his Pokémon or MissingNo. Though did she just say she brought something out of her dream once? Could Charizard have been right about that Cofagrigus?

The sound of the school creaking was the only sound between them for a bit.

“Top Eight’s pretty good. I try to catch all of your battles and I’ve seen all of them, but that one with the albino kid was a bit of a near miss.”

Belladonna offered an ice breaker.

“I get your texts along with Midori’s every time.”

“Midori?”

The awkward ice was breaking up.

“Yeah you might have guessed we have a couple of siblings. He’s younger than me and started out just before Sabrina. He and his friends met up with us a couple of times, and they’re all really nice.”

“I’m going to guess that they’re all girls.”

Belladonna had perked up fully at this point, no longer seeming as bothered about being back at school as he felt. School was just…not his thing.

“Yeah…”

The noise that Belladonna made next was not describable in words, but ‘squee’ was probably appropriate.

A terrifying thought came to him as the squee died down. One that could quite possibly be the very reason this very sort of dream happened. It would be incredibly awkward even if they were not in this place, but it was entirely possible that if he didn’t get it off his chest now he’d have more dreams like this. And there were far worse dreams than going back to school.

“Belladonna, can I ask you for some personal advice? It’s something that I really can’t ask my mom about and I could use some advice.”

“Of course. You can ask me anything.” Belladonna said sincerely.

At her assured response he explained everything that had been going on. The dates, the proposals, every uncertainty and question he had about how it would even work or if it could work. About how his Pokémon and Misty’s had been teasing them, how he didn’t really even know how to approach romance or relationships or anything.

The dream with Charizard had gotten some weight off his chest, and this was the same but even more. In Charizard’s defense when they had that talk it was more squarely on a specific issue and that day’s bombshell hadn’t been a thing adding even more to his worries.

He finished with a long breath, pretty sure he had said everything relevant to what was bothering him that didn’t involve the old timeline in any specific way.

Belladonna’s immediate response was to hug him, and it was surprising, but not bad. She smiled when she let him go and gave a verbal response.

“Well if you are hoping your big sister can give you five easy steps to a flawless romance, honestly you are going to be disappointed. Every relationship has its bumps, and I could give you plenty from my own experience if you really want to hear them. There is one thing I think you really do need to keep in mind if you want to go into this with a healthy mind and your heart intact.”

She paused for a moment, giving what she wanted to say just a bit more impact.

“You can’t be worried about Misty saying no. No matter what she says you can’t really do anything about it. Nothing comes on dwelling on what could have been when it comes to love, and obsessing over it will just keep it from coming true at all. Misty could very well say no and change her mind, but if you turn into some obsessive creep she’ll never change it and you’ll probably end up alone after driving off Iris and Anabel. Plus, for all you know you are worried about nothing. Still the person you should be wondering about isn’t her here, it is yourself.

“You need to ask yourself what you want. A relationship only works if those involved want to be in it, and from everything you told me that isn’t the problem. They all love you, you love them, and it is just the details at this point. Those you can hammer out, I didn’t earn the love of Vedia, Aurora, and Evanna in a single day and you didn’t forge the relationships you have in a single day either. Everyone has to figure out how being together works, so the fact none of you know what you are doing is perfectly normal. What matters the most right now is what you want. You know what Iris and Anabel want, you’re only going to fret about what Misty wants, but what do you want?”

The question hung in the air for a moment before he had an answer.

“I… I want to be with them. When I left Pallet Town there were things I wanted to do, and things I wanted to see.”

He needed to make sure he’d be there to stop Cyrus properly this time, and he wanted to be a Pokémon Master. He wanted to find all of his friends again.

“I never really gave stuff like love any thought, but now I can’t imagine one without the other. I want to win leagues with them. I want to see the world with them. I want to help them achieve their own dreams while they help me with mine. I don’t know how to romance, but I didn’t know how to do anything as a trainer when I started either.”

“And look where you are now, mister Top Eight and climbing. You put the same effort into romance and you’ll be fine.”

It took him winning fifty-three gym challenges but he did get to the Indigo Top Eight eventually.

“One other thing and this is something I always want you to keep in mind, Ash. You know how there is always that thing in shows and books about someone thinking they aren’t worthy of the affection people give them? That is the most stupid thing ever and it is pointless. It isn’t your call to say if you are worthy of someone’s love. Only those that love you can decide that. Always remember that.”

Her tone was deadly serious, clearly meant to end any conversation on that matter. So it ended and he went to the next part.

“I got to be honest there are two things I’m still nervous about though. Seeing as the dream isn’t over yet…”

“Lay them on me brother. Just maybe save any questions about sex for when we aren’t cosplaying okay?”

Her tone lost any seriousness and was entirely teasing now.

“That was… I nev… that is… I mean… the two things I was going to say were not…”

He sputtered, as that was not what he had been thinking about asking about, but now that she had to bring that up…

The dream didn’t break this time, and he almost wished it had.

Belladonna chuckled at his continued sputtering.

“A relationship isn’t a checklist you go down in order so don’t try to plan around it, so about the two things you were actually going to ask me about?”

Once the sputtering was over he coughed to regain his composure and got back on track.

“Okay the first thing is any advice for other people. I mean most people only love…”

“Fuck ‘em. Not literally of course, but if you worried about how others see you do you’d be quickly left out of doing anything not just love. It’s no one’s business but your own what you do. Plus we’re both Bloodliners so who cares what humans think of us.”

Blunt, but to the point. He’d ignore the part about ‘humans’ though.

“Well the other thing is there is another girl who is possibly, probably, potentially attracted to me and we could run into her at some point soon. Her name is Serena Gabena and she’s from Kalos, which isn’t really important but I said it anyway for some reason. How does that work?”

“Same as Misty really. It isn’t your fault if she’s jealous or can’t share. I’m sure you prefer the happier thought of her not wanting to be miserable. In that case it is…a bit complicated. I didn’t meet Aurora, Vedia, and Evanna at the same time so relationships can add onto each other, but never expect that it will happen. Be prepared that it might, but if you plan for it that won’t end well and it will move at its own pace so keep that in mind too. I assume the others know about her.”

He nodded.

“They do. Honestly I think they are more interested in seeing her come along with us than I am sometimes, mostly because she can cook. Which is something I’d appreciate too, but I’m used to people fighting over romance so I’m more worried by it than Iris is.”

Belladonna shrugged.

“Some people can’t share. It’s dumb but that’s just how things are. Of course that is all speculative unless she actually shows up and ‘possibly, probably, potentially likes you’ so focus on what’s on your plate now. Win the league and, more importantly, don’t overthink things. They love you, you love them, and if Misty can’t share it isn’t your fault and you need to remember everything else. Also is the dream ending?”

Everything was rapidly turning white as indeed the dream seemed to be ending.

“Good luck brother. Good luck with everything!”

With that rushed end his eyes shot open in his bed on the day of the Indigo Top Eight, Pikachu asleep on his chest and the alarm still a while away from going off.

END CHAPTER