Fuchsia Tag Tournament, in the arena

The Thunderbolt and Shadow Ball flew towards their target, even as a barrage of wind and stone came in response.

His buddy's attack pierced the winds easily, striking his opponent's Pidgeotto head on.

The Shadow Ball crashed into the stone barrage, cancelling themselves out.

The wind blew the resulting explosion away, blowing the dreadlocks of Mudsdale in the wind.

Pidgeotto hit the ground seconds later, sparking and defeated.

"Pidgeotto is unable to battle!" the ref declared as the bird was recalled. As the Flying-type was recalled Ash thought for a moment about Pidgeot, and where she was right now.

He knew she should be safe, but it would be nice to see her again. Perhaps even in time for the final round. After all, now that it was two against one it should be easy, even without Red cheating….

"Heavy Slam!"

After all, Pikachu was fast as was Haunter. They could easily avoid Mudsdale.

"Dodge…" Ash ordered, only for Mudsdale to appear in front of Pikachu so fast that Ash wondered when someone had used Trick Room.

Glowing yellow with a slight metallic sheen Mudsdale slammed into Pikachu, sending his buddy flying through the air. With a flip Pikachu did land on his feet and not his stomach, but he still looked rattled.

"What in the…." Ash wondered out loud.

"Tailwind is a move that speeds up one's allies for a while. That Mudsdale's lacking speed has been made a non-issue. It is obvious if one isn't looking at life with only one eye."

Red's snark was not needed at this time. He got enough of it from the Pokédex frankly.

"Night Shade!" Red declared as a black ball of energy formed at the tips of Haunter's fingers. The black lightning shot right at Mudsdale.

It struck Mudsdale in the chest, pushing the great horse back. Oddly enough a slight aura began to form around Mudsdale after the hit.

Red looked surprised by it, which made Ash feel satisfied for some reason. Even if he couldn't claim credit.

Time for more satisfaction, this being the sort he could in fact claim credit for.

"Use Heavy Slam!"

"Mudsdale may be fast now, but so are we! Pikachu use Quick Attack!"

Mudsdale once again appeared quickly in front of a Pokémon, this time Haunter, like Trick Room was in play. Even as the wind behind it had the dreadlocks flow in the wind, Pikachu flew right into its forehead like a silver bullet.

Unlike a silver bullet however, Pikachu's collision was odd. It barely phased it, and just knocked him back like a young Scraggy's headbutt to Snorlax's gut.

Just with less jiggling. The aura's glow intensified around Mudsdale.

"Pi pi pi pika…." Pikachu rubbed his head after that one, even as the Heavy Slam was slammed into Haunter sending the ghost into the dirt.

'I feel like I hit a Steelix.'

"What was that?" Ash wondered aloud.

"Stamina, one of the three abilities of Mudsdale. When a move makes contact, Mudsdale's defensive capabilities increase, a slight aura developing around them to soften physical blows that some theorize is connected to a phenomenon in Alola called Totem Pokémon, but you don't have time to be explained what those are. Punching a Mudsdale was a common idiom for 'exercise in futility' in Alola during the previous century, though it phased out sometime forty years ago."

What!?

An ability like that existed!?

"Clearly then this isn't the time to half-ass it, use Nightshade again!"

Haunter emerged from behind Mudsdale, having apparently gone into the ground after the impact from Heavy Slam. The attack fired once more, striking Mudsdale in the back. Mudsdale let out a cry of pain from the strike as the aura once again flared up.

"Nightshade is an attack that doesn't do damage based on a Pokémon's power level, but the enemies. It is a useful attack for defeating stronger foes," the Pokédex explained Red's attack choice.

It was a clever idea, even if that did remind Ash of his irritation with the guy. He could clearly figure that out like a normal person.

Speaking of which…

"If that defense keeps going up, we're just going to have to take it down! Pikachu use Iron Tail!

Pikachu looked back at him in confusion at this, but none the less jumped into the air with a steel solid tail.

The tail slashed into Mudsdale flank, causing a ripple to form across Mudsdale's aura as it diminished a bit.

Iron Tail, potential defense decreasing was a side effect, just like burns in a fire attack or special defense in an Energy Ball.

That was a question on Oak's test! Even if Ash was kind of curious if that was the case before time blew up, he didn't think that ever happened with Pikachu and himself even once.

If it was the case, perhaps he could cash in that karma.

The aura did flare back up to its old sheen moments later, he'd have to figure a way around that.

Only one way to find an opening.

"Again!" Multiple strikes.

"Oh no you don't!" Lilo shouted, not willing to just let him go about his merry slashing sort of sciencey-way. "Use Double Kick!"

A mere moment Mudsdale's flank was replaced by two glowing hooves. They looked rather painful.

"Break away Pikachu!" Ash's correction came seconds before Iron Tail and a hoof clashed. The two attacks collided, with the force propelling Pikachu a good few yards from Mudsdale's hooves.

The ripple effect from earlier again rang across Mudsdale, this time without it rebounding.

Ash grinned. He had found an opening. He just had to time his attacks correctly and exploit the loophole.

"Toxic!"

"Block it out with Mudsport!"

Mudsdale's body exploded outward with a wave of mud flying everywhere. This collided with the Toxic ball of muck that Haunter had spewed out, diluting it to nothing even as mud landed on Haunter.

The ghost began desperately rubbing itself free of the mud coating, even as the mud weighed the ghost down and forced it down towards the ground as Ash remembered that potential hiccup.

Red was liable to throw off this plan.

"Pi…." 'So, you want to tell Red to stick with Toxic? You know, communicate the problem?'

"Use High Horsepower!"

Mudsdale was on Haunter once again, this time with a pair of glowing hooves more intense than the Double Kick.

"Hit Mudsdale's hooves with Thunderbolt!"

'You know I'm not Squirtle, right?' Pikachu pointed out, but he let loose the electric attack none the less. The bolt flew across the field and struck the closest hoof less than an inch from Haunter's face.

Said hoof was knocked back into the other one by the force of the blast, dislodging the attack from Haunter and causing Mudsdale to collapse from the misfooting.

Haunter didn't have an opening to exploit however, because the removal process on the mud had been faster than Ash had expected.

The bolt passed right over Haunter's single cleared up hand, the other still well coated in mud. While not a direct hit, there was still an effect.

"Ha!" Haunter, cringing, floated ever lower, a static covering it now.

Paralysis.

Red glared at him in response. No words were passed, but the look had all in it that needed to be said.

Exasperation. Disbelief. Annoyance. A healthy question of how an electric attack even moved a body part of a ground type. A look that suggested that he had shot them in the foot to a point they couldn't hope to recover from this.

The final turn a movement of 'Well, now that you made this twice as hard, stay out of it so I can fix your mess'.

"There's your answer," Ash declared to Pikachu's earlier question. Red was not going to be open to talk now, and likely hadn't been earlier.

"Wow! That backfired! Teamwork had led to the paralysis of his partner's Pokémon?! Can they recover from this?"

….

"…. That was bad luck!" Yellow declared, sitting between Iris and Misty with a look of worry on her face.

"That it was, and at the worst possible moment too." Iris sighed.

Bad luck had a bad habit of popping up at the worst times. It never happened when it could be best afforded.

'It's that fight. They haven't been in sync this entire battle, and that paralysis isn't helping., Anabel observed. 'Both are fighting as best they can, Red's comment about Ash not fighting his hardest is hardly applicable here if you omit what Red was specifically referring to. However, they aren't working as a team. The only difference between this fight and a battle royale is the fact that Ash and Red aren't striking each other intentionally'.

"It's not going to get that bad, is it?" Yellow asked quietly.

"It won't. Neither of them would get that bad," Misty reassured her. Between Red's logic and Ash's determination to win there was no reason for them to resort to that.

She neglected to mention how out of it Ash was like when he did get angry, like that time with Paul. Or that, according to Ash, that someone else was like that as well.

Someone who looked as much like Red as she did Ash.

….

The Tailwind was staring to peter out.

Mudsdale snorted as Lilo looked them over. Ash felt her gaze shift from himself and Pikachu, who was still going strong, to Red and Haunter, the later hovering close to the ground and still paralyzed.

Did she have something planned?

"Let's end this in one shot, Mudsdale!" Lilo declared as Mudsdale snorted in agreement. The response made Ash tense, and he noticed Red do so as well.

Did she have some sort of final move hidden for this? Giga Impact? Earthquake? Some version of the laser thing Arceus did?

Lilo held her hand out, even as a yellow glow formed around her, starting from the band on her arm.

So, not the laser thing?

Was this how Mega Evolution worked?

"Interesting. The power of Alola is being applied," the Pokédex noted as Lilo turned and leaned to the left, the glow intensifying as she touched the ground in a brilliant flash. The light shot towards Mudsdale now.

"The power of Alola?"

"Yes. Alola is famous for techniques known as Z-Moves. Z-Moves are formed with the aid of special crystals that general end in 'ium Z', such as Normalium Z and Firium Z, to deploy powerful attacks. The specific energy required is built up by a ritual form of poses to maximize their power, though I am told you can do a Z-Move without them, if to less effective results. But the difference between breaking a tree in half and punching a hole in an Ironclad is hardly relevant to most Trainers."

"What!?" Ash declared as Mudsdale was now glowing.

"If I am not mistaken, that's the Ground Z-Move. It's called Tectonic Rage if I recall."

"Get out of there, Pikachu!" A move called Tectonic Rage did not sound like a good thing to be hit by.

'You don't have to tell me twice!' Pikachu jumped back and used his tail to leap high into the air. Ash recalled that move, the one that had saved their tails back in the Orange Trophy Match.

"Haunter…." Red called as the paralysis flared up, and Mudsdale slammed its full weight into the ground, sending the yellow energy from itself into the earth.

The earth then exploded with energy, blinding him with its intensity.

"Good heavens!" the announcer declared.

The blinding light began to fade as Ash squinted through the light, trying to see if Pikachu was okay. He gripped his hand together tightly, worried about his partner. There was no way he could know what had happened…

Oh wait; he could do that telepathy thing! He completely forgot, so if he could just….

"Pikachu is detected. No additional damage seems to have been sustained."

Or that. That could work too.

The sound of a familiar pair of feet hitting the ground was additional relief.

Lilo was becoming visible now, exiting the final pose and looking over the battle field. Mudsdale stood next to her, looking visibly exhausted.

"A Z-Move does exhaust the user however, and can only be done once a battle. Attempting to do another one is unwis," the Pokédex noted.

Pikachu was now fully visible, and Lilo was now staring at him in shock. Ash relaxed his hand, using it to rub off a bead of sweat that had formed on his forehead as a result.

Oddly enough his hand felt grainy. Holding his hand up to his face he noticed some sort of brown dust covering his hands. It sort of looked like sand crystals (Quartz if he recalled correctly), but it didn't quite look like it.

Where had the dust come from? Lilo's stunned statement broke his thoughts on the dust however.

"How…" she asked as Ash grinned. Pikachu filled in for him by doing another tail boosted jump, spinning as he did so before landing with grin.

"…. You jumped, with your tail?" Lilo repeated, stunned that such a strategy could possibly work.

"Fascinating. Recording data for future analysis," the Pokédex noted.

"Now that your Z-Move failed, let's finish this. Pikachu use…."

"Haunter is unable to battle!"

The ref's call stopped Ash's call as the dust cleared, revealing Haunter, knocked out and covered in mud and dirt. Ash was pretty sure it could have been worse if Haunter had a physical body to be hammered.

Red stared at his defeated Pokémon, shock etched in his face. His Pikachu looked similarly stunned, and Red's movement towards recalling Haunter felt oddly stiff.

"…This, is what you had up your sleeve?" Red asked Lilo quietly, who nodded.

"Yes. Many Trainers in Alola have passed trials and gained access to Z-Moves. They are our trump cards in battle, the ultimate expression of the bond between Trainer and Pokémon."

In Kalos, a tower managing old man named Gurkinn felt aggravated for reasons he knew not why.

"You were going to use this in our battle before," he continued as she again nodded.

"Yes. You proved to be a tough enough challenge that I found it warranted."

"I see." Red pocketed Haunter's ball as he took a deep breath and let out one final sentence.

"So, I lost then."

The way Red said this rang in Ash's head for a few moments as a realization came over him.

Red had never been defeated before. Even if Red had Pokémon get knocked out, it was never to the resounding ring of his Pokémon team being all knocked out.

Every battle he had fought had been won, and now he was realizing that a battle that had been interrupted would have ended in a loss.

Just as he seemed to think this fight would be.

Reaching for his hat, Ash knew what he had to do.

Prove Red wrong. Also win too, but the two things did go well together so there was nothing stopping him.

"You're talking as if Pikachu's already lost. My buddy's still ready to go, and I intend to win this."

Red and Lilo looked at him in surprise, as if he was a bit delusional.

"Error! The odds of a Pikachu defeating a Stamina using Mudsdale are…."

"Pi!" 'Screw the odds!' Pikachu snapped as Ash turned his hat around.

"Not important. I said I was going to win, and I intend to see it happen," Ash declared as Lilo pointed at them.

"Let me answer that question, Stone Edge!" Stones began to orbit around Mudsdale.

"Send them back with a Counter Shield!"

As the stones fired Pikachu began to spin around on his back, electric streams shooting out in a powerful net. The stones were caught in the electric net, before reflecting right back.

Mudsdale and Lilo shared stunned looks just before the stones impacting into Mudsdale, even losing their charge on contact they still stung.

Pikachu stopped spinning and hopped back onto his feet, grinning in unison with Ash.

----------------------------------------

Meanwhile in Alola

"Impressive, but perhaps foolhardy. I can certainly admire his valor, but does he really think he can defeat Lilo's Mudsdale with his Pikachu?" Hala questioned, reaching for the popcorn bowl held by his companion.

It was snatched away as Tapu Koko continued to eye the match, and Hala couldn't help but wonder if it was a good thing Tapu Koko was over having a Z-Ring rejected or a bad thing, given that a depressed Tapu Koko didn't hog the Popcorn as much as the regular Tapu Koko did.

"I mean young Frax's Pikachu could do it. She's weaker, but Swift would be more effective than anything I've seen this Pikachu possess."

Tapu Koko nodded in agreement with his assessment of Frax, but still looked at Ash with some confidence. Confidence that Hala would exploit.

"Of course, perhaps you'd be willing to make it a wager. If you are so confident in Ash managing to win, perhaps you'd be willing to put your root beer on the line for a year?"

His root beer if he was being technical, but Tapu Koko operated on a different sort of possession logic than a human did. What belonged to Tapu Koko, was what Tapu Koko wanted to have.

Hala's question caused the island guardian to look at him with a thoughtful look, before speeding off.

Hala guessed it was probably for a 'if I win' thing, though he wasn't sure what Tapu Koko would want. A specific type of Root Beer? The keys to his fireworks shed? The Santa costume Greg wears?

Tapu Koko returned, but not with a flier or a set of keys. Instead dangling from a hand hung a Z-Ring, barren of any crystals.

"Oh ho ho, a Z-Ring. I see, so if Ash wins you want me to send it to him? Very well, though would you rather send a ring with a crystal on it?"

Tapu Koko didn't respond, just darting back to his Popcorn.

A Z-Ring without any crystals? Hala wasn't sure what Tapu Koko was up to, but the bet was on so he'd oblige.

Perhaps it was meant to encourage the boy to come to Alola, though for what purpose Hala had no idea. Ash still had to win first though, and Hala did not see how that would happen.

----------------------------------------

Back to the battle

"Focus Blast!"

Ash took a moment to realize that such a move was called to really register that his opponent's Pokémon had a glowing orange laser ball forming in its mouth.

"Thunderbolt!"

The two attacks collided with each other, with Thunderbolt winning out and pushing through the Focus Blast. However, the attack did nothing once it managed to connect to Mudsdale.

"Mudsdale is not known for ranged maneuvers. However, countering it with a move of your own does not seem to be a strategy that will cause damage," the Pokédex noted as the ineffective electric attack fully fizzled out.

Pity a Mudsdale didn't have a horn. Then it might have worked, somehow.

So, what now then?

Did Pikachu go in close, putting itself in range for more of Mudsdale's attacks like Heavy Slam and High Horsepower? Ranged didn't seem to have any options for them….

Did battles have time limits?

Ash had no desire to find out.

"Okay Pikachu, get in close!" Ash called as Pikachu sped towards the massive enemy of theirs, white streaks following in his wake.

"Use Mud Sport!" Lilo called as a wave of mud burst forth from Mudsdale like a popped lid, moving towards Pikachu like a solidified dust cloud.

So Lilo was aware of the 'get close to the slow Pokémon, perform Pikabatics until tripping ensued' technique.

How was he going to get through it? Should he order Pikachu back?

Then Ash noticed something, the mud was slowly rising as it moved forward.

"Roll under the mud wave!"

"…PI?" 'Huh….' Pikachu trusted his instincts and transitioned into a roll. The rolling Pikachu and the Mud Sport wall met, and Pikachu only got a few flakes of mud on his back as he burst out from the other side and charged towards the unfazed Mudsdale.

"Pikachu slips under that Mud Sport like a pro! What will Lilo and Mudsdale do in response!?"

Pikachu began to run around Mudsdale, ready to take advantage of Mudsdale's actions and unease from the speeding target it couldn't follow.

Thirty seconds later, and Mudsdale hadn't changed expression at all, and Pikachu stopped in front of the giant beast in surprise.

"No reaction?" Ash questioned. That wasn't how this was supposed to work. Even if Lilo wasn't fooled it should at least be bothering Mudsdale. Making it agitated and uneasy, vulnerable, stuff like that.

"Mudsdale are quite emotionally sound. They do not startle easily and are quite good at ignoring distractions. Poker players are known to study them to prepare for competitive matches," the Pokédex informed him.

Well that was just great. Apparently trying to unnerve the Poker Face Pokémon wasn't going to get anything accomplished.

The stare down continued, no command ordered from Lilo or his own end. A fast Pokémon who was struggling to find a way to do damage, a slow Pokémon struggling to land a hit to do damage.

In other words, a stalemate.

"Both Trainers are carefully planning their next move," the announcer snarked.

Well what was he supposed to do? Most of his plans needed Mudsdale to react to them, and Mudsdale was the kind of Pokémon who no one would want to play a poker game with.

Attacking without it would just make Mudsdale either counter attack on Pikachu hard, or get even tougher.

There had to be some way to hit Mudsdale hard enough before a counter attack could do them in. Maybe he could try and use electricity to enhance Iron Tail: would that work?

Looking around for some clue, he first noticed Red, eyes hidden under the shadow of his hat rim. The stands had what sort of looked like Jessie, James, and Meowth in the cheap seats, and above them was Gary, a look on his face that said 'okay Ashy boy I have no idea how I'd get out of this so if you lose I won't mock you too much about it' or something like that.

Next to him was Paul, who was looking as friendly and helpful as ever….

Paul.

Paul!

That was the answer.

"Pikachu, gather as much electricity in your tail as you can!" Ash declared. Pikachu looked back at him with a look of 'did you forget types again', but none the less began to do so.

Electricity sparked across the tail, a tail that began to glow brighter than any lightbulb. The glow began to expand further and further, charging stronger and stronger by the second.

"And Ash Ketchum is doing…. something. It's something folks, but I am not sure what it is supposed to be." The announcer was no longer bored, just confused.

"Human, you are aware that spontaneously trying to get Pikachu to evolve into an Ampharos is impossible, right?" the Pokédex asked cautiously.

"That's not what I'm aiming for!" Ash declared even as Red and his Pikachu tilted their heads in confusion.

"Now slam your tail into the ground right at Mudsdale!"

He felt a spark of 'oh, that's what you were going for' flash in Pikachu's head moments before the tail struck the ground, the electricity bursting into the earth and speeding towards the mighty horse Pokémon.

In the wake of it, hundreds of massive chunks of earth and stone, all flying towards Mudsdale from the front and above in a massive rain of devastation.

"Holy Sh…." Lilo was cut off by the impact striking her Mudsdale in a massive barrage. One large rock flew her own way, but was stopped by a blue glow and lowered before it could hit her.

Clearly security was in place for such things.

Ash was willing to call the technique super effective. True it was from Paul, but it was effective. Especially when he charged the electricity used first to really give it some force.

…

"And this is the something Ash Ketchum came up with!? He's turned the battlefield into an attack! Good thing tournaments are legally required to have emergency Psychic-types on standby for debris!"

"…. Well, I didn't see that one coming," Misty declared.

"I doubt anyone did." Iris agreed.

It wasn't just his immediate friends who were stunned and amazed by what they were seeing. All over witnesses to his comeback were reacting to Ash Ketchum.

….

"…Well what do you know, that Ash really is as good as you said he was Histy." In an apartment Krista blushed as a much taller woman laughed and took a swipe of her popcorn bowl.

….

"Perhaps I underscored his compatibility, even for how well I had judged it. To know that his partner was capable of such a feat," Burgundy mused as the match continued to play across the ship's television. She had nothing to do until the next port after all; she had time to admit she was in error.

….

As a Charjabug hummed underneath a pot as her boyfriend and his Pansage seasoned and stirred in their Alolan vacation residence, a tall blond with an Emolga sleeping on her lap watched the battle in amazement.

"They have Pikachu in Alola, right?" she asked no one in particular. That was what the internet was for.

Though when the camera focused on the Trainer's face, she couldn't stop her hand from reaching her face and lightly touching the marks on her face.

The ones that this boy, and that Ranger jerk, had.

Weird.

….

"…" Looking up at an available screen at her airport gate Janine frowned.

She'd be seeing him soon, she suspected. She'd have to be ready for his challenge.

….

In the stolen hideaway of theirs, Belladonna was cheering loudly, Aurora had an impressed look on her face, Evanna had fallen asleep, and Vedia was quietly munching on popcorn (though her eyes were focused on the blaring LCD screen).

….

"…. Looks like I'll be seeing him one day soon," Brock looked at his fiancé in surprise at that declaration.

"What else can I say dear, Scott knows how to pick them like you know how to pick produce."

"…. Say the pun and I will kick you," Forrest cut off his brother before any produce puns could surface.

….

"This year at the League going to be an interesting one," a book writer mused, even as his Swampert snored behind him. A bushy bearded Chesnaught nodded in agreement.

….

"That kid's pretty good, isn't he sis?" A brown-haired girl in a waiter's outfit noted to a rather similar looking maid.

"Yes, he is, isn't he? In fact, I've heard that there are a lot of promising Trainers this year. Have you heard anything?"

The two maids inquired their sole customer this non-peak hour had given them, who was sipping on a cup of hot chocolate after several bites out of a cake. The woman lowered the cup from her lips as she spoke.

"Quite a bit." Sabrina grinned, amused at how neither girl knew her identity.

"I'm told that this year is quite a remarkable one. A generation of miracles, or so I've heard the bookies claim, and they are usually right."

And not just in battle, she had seen these two (Rhoda and Rhonda) in the kid, also known as Ash Ketchum's, memories and had been debating which of them, if not both or neither, to remove.

Apparently however a boy and his Pikachu named Sparky had come through and managed to fix their act.

The boy, Ritchie, got them to improve themselves, the second time that had happened to her. The same Trainer had convinced a lout named Keith to make something of his life and had just defeated two mid class Gym leaders and was training for Erika next. He had saved their lives, and now she had to actually pay for this meal.

Good thing that Seymour had money on him when she removed him. The food was both well-presented and well flavored; it really did deserve proper payment.

….

The exact translation of what Lt. Surge was shouting in excitement could not be properly made outside of some sports stadiums. It was positive though.

Negative stadium sound emissions were much different.

He learned both from Granny Surge, the current arm wrestling champion of Agate Village twenty years running.

….

A giant of a man with long gray hair looked ready to comment about the move, eyes glittering with excitement.

"Dear, no. You're just get more bans on your record," his wife gently chided. "Also, do you even have an electric move to do that with?"

"I have a Salamence. I can blow up plenty that way…also is it just me or does…."

His wife frowned.

"Yes, those boys do sort of look like Ritchie. Just with dark hair. It is sort of weird."

"They have strange names though, who names their kid Ash or Red?"

"Perhaps the same people who named you Silver dear."

The man looked a tad miffed, but struggled to find a good rebuttal to how Silver was a better name than Ash or Red.

….

On top of a Kalosian mountain Vermell stroked his chin in deep thought as the internet stream continued to play the match.

…..

Hala reached for Tapu Koko's Popcorn. Surprisingly the popcorn was not jerked out of reach as they watched the stones fall.

Perhaps Tapu Koko would not be kept away from root beer after all. He'd also have to pay for shipping, and given Tapu Koko it would probably not be the cheap kind.

'A Tapu only shipped express' had been a joke someone had once said on a late night talk show. As said talk show host didn't wake up with a Bruxish in his toilet it was probably accurate.

Perhaps Tapu Koko would be willing to come with him to the post office. It would probably help reduce the cost. After all, who would charge shipping to Tapu Koko?

…..

"Crazy," was all a young female Trainer, a Growlithe attached to her wrist by a leash and a pair of dark shades covering her eyes; had to say at the description she was given. To think someone could do that in a battle.

"I'll say." Alex Davis agreed, sitting across from her and looking at the screen.

….

Still recovering from what he wasn't sure was a hangover or a bad fall, Dan noted what he was watching in the Saffron Pokémon Center.

This Ash kid was going to be at the Indigo League, and he was going to be someone to watch.

He already could see them meeting in the Top 16. That would just hurt.

May he be someone else's problem.

…..

"…. My riot senses are tingling," a cop muttered as he reluctantly stood up, dislodging two sleeping black Meowth in the process.

They looked at him in annoyance, but he ignored them. They would probably get back at him later. Tis why he didn't have drapery after all.

"This is going to be a troublesome drag. Well, might as well dig up the riot gear."

"Per!" a Persian of similar coloration with a massive head yowled, gesturing at the T.V before he could figure out where he had put his club (mostly la'au palau) proof helmet.

"What?" the man complained as the cat gestured back at the kid on T.V. He looked at it for a moment.

"Yeah, he does sort of look like Balaur, doesn't he? It's probably nothing." For one thing the similarity was marred because of the kid's lack of scars and the fact he was smiling. Balaur never smiled.

Also, he only managed to arrest the guy twenty-odd years ago because he got a tip off from a vasectomy place. The guy had only escaped prison twelve years ago anyway. So, this kid was kind of impossible to be his without some real nonsense involved.

Still it was odd the kid looked like Balaur, a nephew maybe? He could care less, he had a riot his senses were telling him was going to happen and someone had to save the kids. Balaur's family tree wasn't his problem.

…..

Giovanni nodded before changing the channel. The commercial break was nearly over at this point.

His choice, though perhaps jumping the gun at the first one to cross the path of non-crucial personal, was proving fruitful. All that remained was the question of inspiration.

….

Back in the stadium Ash had a battle to win.

The earth had finally stopped falling, and Mudsdale was still standing.

Shaking horribly, looking really beaten up, and with pebbles stuck all over the fur like gray mumps, but standing.

However, the protective aura hadn't gotten nearly as large as Ash thought it might after all those blows. Did it have a limit?

If it did, then perhaps the simplest solution was the best.

"Pikachu, let's win this! One more Iron Tail!"

"Pika!" 'Agreed!'

In a shimmering light Iron Tail manifested and Pikachu charged towards the barely standing Mudsdale, whose Trainer shook herself out of the stupor that resulted from being hit with a battlefield.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"High Horsepower!" Lilo declared as Mudsdale's hooves glowed and the mighty beast reared up.

But it was an even slower movement than before. And they had an ace to use.

"Use Quick Attack as well!"

White streaks manifested along with the Iron Tail sheen. Pikachu was now speeding even faster at Mudsdale, who dropped the hoof attack with the force of multiple pile drivers.

Moments after Pikachu was already passed by, to the horror of the Trainer.

Pikachu ended the attack behind Mudsdale, taking a tired breath after it was all said and done right in front of a stunned Lilo.

A ripple formed across the aura as it diminished a tad, the side effect of Iron Tail. The aura faded in full moments after he ripple had cleared away, as Mudsdale collapsed in a great heap.

The arena was filled with stunned silence for one moment, then a second, a third….

"Mudsdale is unable to battle! The winners of this match are Ash and Red in a major upset victory!"

Before erupting like a volcano into explosive excitement and amazement. Also, some swearing.

….

As the cheers rang through for the surprise win Paul left, his face unmoving.

It was not to say that he didn't have any thoughts on the battle. Ketchum had handled that situation better than anyone could have expected, and Red had performed quite well until the Alolan had done that…. thing.

He had left his Pokédex at his hotel room so it hadn't told him. He'd ask it there later where people couldn't overhear the abomination.

Had Lilo won he would have studied up on the Alola native Pokémon with it, but she was gone now so he didn't need to figure out what on earth she did with all the posing.

Magical Girl Lyrical Lilo aside….

One win and he'd be fighting them next. It would be tough, but he would win.

This battle had shown Red's weakness. He didn't handle unexpected factors well. He was a budding savant with what he knew, but the new would always throw him off.

He had one Pokémon that Red would have no idea how to combat. It was a one-time only weakness, but it was time he cashed it in.

He'd need something different for the League, but the Safari Zone should provide for that.

As for Ketchum, for all his technique power could stop him cold. His best Pokémon would suffice there. His partner would be suitable cannon fodder.

Though that battle had only continued to raise the question.

Why keep bothering with Raichu?

….

"Red!"

The door to his room cracked open, revealing a sliver of light into the darkened room, and Yellow's head poking in. After a moment of considering him, spying him in the darkness leaning against the bedside wall of the bed he used in their double, she spoke further. She was not wearing her hat, he noted idly.

"Ash and his friends are going out to eat before Misty and Iris's battle. Ash said you can come too. I think it's his way of trying to break the ice, he seemed to have thought about it for a while."

Yellow was clearly trying to get him and Ash to talk.

"I'm not hungry."

It wasn't very effective.

"Liar. We're always hungry."

"I have crackers." He did too. Good quality crackers, and he also had a block of cheese and a jug of milk.

"Are you still upset about the match? Red…. if you are, this isn't how you deal with it," Yellow empathically declared.

"You guys had trouble because you weren't working in sync and kept stepping on each other's toes, and a sandwich solves that problem more than moping."

"…. That isn't the problem," Red declared as Yellow shook her head.

"From where I was sitting, that was the problem. I'm not saying you need to turn to the way Ash thinks, or make him think like you. Honestly, I'm on your side here. I think you were correct in the argument. You two just need to at least work together for the final match tomorrow."

He gave her silence.

"…. or you can just sit here instead of building bridges of cheese and rolls. Hopefully you are thinking of a way to win on your own then." And with that remark Yellow left, the sliver of light vanishing and leaving the room in darkness.

'Is everyone the same in the ring? No. You are right, there are people there who are stronger, faster, and tougher than me.'

He heard her voice. His mother's voice. If he closed his eyes, he could almost see her; feel her hand on his shoulder like back in the old days.

He remembered saying that it wasn't fair if she had to fight people like that, and her words after that had always stuck with him.

'What makes it fair Red, is that none of us are equal. No one is the same. We all have something special about us. We could be stronger, or faster, or be just like me and refusing to go down. It is always fair, as long as we all give it everything we've got. When you give it everything you've got, and your opponent does as well, the loss will always be fair. It's when someone smacks someone down without giving it their all that isn't fair.

He had given his all in that fight, even with the lack of information and the bad luck on that paralysis. So had Lilo and her battle partner.

Ash hadn't, but he still ended up taking the fight. He had gone from Pallet Town to Fuchsia, and had rarely ever given it everything he had.

Pewter, Vermillion, Celadon, this tournament: he had defeated his opponents not even fighting at his full potential.

From what he heard, it sounded like the only time he had ever fought an opponent with his full strength had been by accident.

Ash was going around saying that everyone wasn't worth his full ability. Himself, Lilo, Brock, Surge, Solidad, A.J, that blue-haired guy named James….

None of them were worth his time.

He only beat Ash because Ash decided he wasn't worth giving it his all. The Trainer who would have legitimately beaten him had their first fight been interrupted, and fought them with all the power of her region and a powerful Pokémon the likes of which a Pikachu should have not beaten without Grass Knot, wasn't worth giving it his all.

And that really bothered Red. For all that his fellow Pallet Trainer, Gary, put on an air of superiority and smugness at the start of their battles, in the end Ash was fathoms more arrogant than Gary could ever hope to be.

….

Gary tried to not look at Paul, instead focusing on the two girls they were up against.

From what he had gathered they were traveling with Ash. Gary had no idea why and for what purpose that could serve, and he had noticed a lavender-haired girl quite often around them.

So, Ash was traveling with three girls? While Gary was fine with Ash never thinking about his sister ever again, the idea of Ash having cheerleaders bewildered him. That was just…. weird.

Did Ash obliviousness to Serena's attraction to him at camp reverse itself with interest or something?

It could only be weirder if Ash was riding around a red sports car worth more than his house.

At least, he had heard Paul snarkily call them that. Gary didn't see it. The taller one was certainly no cheerleader.

He knew what cheerleaders looked like; the girl looked more like a track team member.

The other girl…. well she was closer but still not quite cheerleader material.

While the silent lavender girl was an unknown (though he swore he saw something akin to her training with Ash so she was a Trainer of some skill), he had an idea on these two.

The tan skinned girl originated from Unova and was named Iris. As such she had Pokémon he didn't recognize, though she did not seem to have as many.

The orangette was a local girl named Misty, who specialized in water Pokémon. A hopeful at the Cerulean Gym perhaps?

Regardless his observations left him with several options of Pokémon to use today, though frankly it would depend on what Paul was going to send out.

He was not exactly being forthcoming with his choices. It was really getting frustrating.

Sure, at this point Gramps would get what he wanted regardless of the outcome, but was it worth dealing with Paul?

"Raichu, stand by for battle!"

Gary felt one of his eyebrows shoot up as Paul shot out his Raichu.

The same one from an earlier battle, from what he could tell.

He did remember that most people rotated their Pokémon, right? That was just…. stupid. Even Ash at his dumbest would realize that watching the battle, or asking about it, would reveal what to expect.

"Excadrill go!"

Also, the fact that one of the few Pokémon the Unovan girl had was a Ground-type, and she was partnered with a water Trainer.

Even Ash at his dumbest, quite possibly without sleep, would see that coming.

Magneton was out with a ground-type around, so he'd need a Pokémon that could handle Excadrill and Water-types…

Perhaps even turn the Unovan girl around with her own medicine while he was at it too. Yes, that would work.

"Porygon, I choose you!"

In a burst of light appeared a rare sight. Cubist like a painting and colored like a newborn ward at a hospital, a living conundrum of virtual and reality known as Porygon floated before him.

A reward for obtaining a Ditto for a scientist named Akihabara. He already had a Ditto so it was hardly a problem to catch one for a man of science.

Iris stared at Porygon with confusion and disbelief, as if trying to figure out what it was supposed to be. The Excadrill tilted its head, but otherwise was managing.

"Poliwrath!"

His trick was matched however by the release of the Water-Fighting type, which posed and flexed before him threateningly.

Well maybe Paul would be able to handle that problem. Then again with how Paul was acting he'd be lucky if this fight didn't recreate what Ash got up to with Red earlier today.

Could he emulate the…. thing Ash did with the field if need be?

"Begin!"

He'd have to figure that out if need be.

"Use Metal Claw on that Porygon!" While her command sort of fizzled out as she said Porygon, Iris's command rang through as the mole's claws were enhanced with metallic force.

"Conversion to counter!" Gary would admit it took him a while to figure out how to use Porygon, but that trick was worth it.

Porygon shimmered with molecular change just as Metal Claw struck it, ringing through the arena like a sledgehammer on a block of iron.

Iris looked on in confusion as to what just happened, even as Raichu burst out of the earth behind Excadrill.

Since when did Paul use Dig? Did he manage that trick Lt. Surge did with his commands or something, or did he just whisper really well?

Before Raichu could make use of the surprise, a pair of white gloved hands had grabbed the mouse around the waist.

Poliwrath had jumped to meet her own leap.

"Seismic Toss!"

And with that call Poliwrath spun in the air a moment before flinging Raichu to the ground with a harsh thrap.

"Already we're seeing better teamwork on both sides than the last match folks!"

That wasn't teamwork on his end, that was Paul and his orders managing to work together. Nothing about what had just happened was planned.

As Raichu struggled back up from that blow Gary continued, idly noting Paul's disapproval.

For what exactly, Seismic Toss?

"Fire a Charge Beam!"

The electrical bolt was fired from Porygon's nose right at Poliwrath, which Excadrill jumped in to intercept without prompting before contact could be made.

Gary was unsure if that was good training or bad training there. He'd ask his grandpa what he'd lean towards after this battle.

"Brick Break!"

"Dynamic Punch!"

Poliwrath and Raichu clashed with fighting attacks fist to fist behind Excadrill, obscuring the view of it from him as Iris gave her own command.

"Drill Run!"

Drill Run…. Oh shit. Conversion was in effect for a Steel-type attack.

That was going to hurt.

"Quickly use Co…" and the Drill Run hit too fast. Before his command could even get far enough to be recognized by Porygon in full Excadrill already had turned itself into a missile and slammed into Porygon.

Triangular (or whatever one called a three-dimensional triangle, it was escaping him at the moment) legs spun like wheels as Porygon was sent tumbling back from the super effective strike.

Porygon righted itself moments before it hit the wall, eyes trained on the Excadrill as it exited Invincible Mode.

"Shadow Ball!"

"Metal Claw!"

Porygon fired the ghostly sphere attack towards Excadrill, who sliced it to ribbons. The dark mist that clung to the claws in the wake of it was nice looking, and he was sure his sister would be taking notes.

Or at the very least holding up one of those judge numbers used for grading people. He recalled she got a set for a holiday joke gift last year.

"Thunderbolt!" Paul called. Excadrill looked ready to intercept, and as much as Gary would prefer to not help Paul….

"Shadow Ball!"

A second shadow blast was sent right into Excadrill's side. The blast knocked Excadrill down, just as the electricity began to fly.

"Use Mud Shot, then Bubble Beam at both of them!"

Pointing a glowing glove at the electrical attack Poliwrath fired a dozen brown bullets of energy into the path of the electrical attack. They once again cancelled each other out.

Poliwrath's second glove began to glow as well as each hand was pointed at a different opponent. From the fingers shot out dozens of bubbles in either direction.

The bubbles struck Raichu in a torrent of pops, though Porygon floated out of the way.

Excadrill remained on the ground for the duration of the attack. Gary had caught it stop trying to get back up the moment the attack was called.

Paul was growling over the hit.

As the barrage ended Raichu teetered a bit, but was otherwise fine.

"Quick Attack!"

Poliwrath was staggered back as a white blur struck into its chest.

"Now close-range Thunderbolt!"

"Intercept it!"

Raichu was about to glow yellow, Gary could see the necessary muscle tensing from his spot. However, a clawed arm grabbed it by the tail and flung it away.

Gary somehow doubted that was a Fling attack. It didn't look right.

"Tri Attack!"

Regardless of what it was, a triangle glowing red, yellow, and blue in shimmering patterns was shot from Porygon. Said triangle slammed into Excadrill, sending it flying just like Raichu.

Raichu hit the side of the arena with a hard thump before falling down, an action shared by Excadrill.

However, Excadrill managed to land on its feet and glare back at him, Raichu hit the ground and lay there.

"Raichu is unable to battle!"

Excadrill then burst into flames before collapsing as well.

"Excadrill is unable to battle."

Tri-Attack's potential extra effect, one of three status conditions. It was the first time Gary had ever seen the burn one.

"And just as we thought our team of lovely ladies was about to take an edge in this fight, a burn condition evens up the score! This is real folks!"

Gary observed both Paul and Iris return their fallen Pokémon. Iris was clearly bothered that her Pokémon was defeated, but she nonetheless looked proud. She muttered something to Excadrill's ball, possibly a thank you, and looked back at Porygon as she still gazed at it in unease and uncertainty.

He could see why Ash and her got along: he'd react to a loss the same way Gary felt. Also, he'd look just as confused at a Porygon, he had heard from Gramps that Porygon were a weak spot on his test all those months ago.

Paul on the other hand, glared at the ball that his Raichu was in.

"Well, I guess that's it." He said abruptly. That's what, the match? That seemed like something Paul would say.

Though something about it didn't seem right.

Regardless…

"Bubblebeam!" Misty was quick to order as a two-handed bubble barrage came at Porygon.

"Charge Beam!"

The electric streak shot right into the bubbles, popping through a number of them before dissipating. Porygon had to avoid the remnants of the barrage.

"Mud Shot!" The mud barrage was next. Odd how Poliwrath wasn't going in close.

"Shadow Ball!" Was Misty being cautious because of Conversion? It wasn't a common technique so it might have thrown her off.

The shadow laden sphere and the mud collided in an explosion, obscuring vision between the two.

Porygon beeped nervously as Gary got a sneaking suspicion.

"Dynamic Punch!"

And there it was. Cover to avoid being blasted.

"Conversion, quickly!" A super effective Dynamic Punch was something to avoid, just in case. He could call a dodge once Porygon could sense where Poliwrath was

Porygon's form shimmered, just as Poliwrath got right up to it, a glowing fist ready to strike.

Too close to dodge.

Damn it! Was that even enough time to change type?

Regardless of that, there was the other problem. Dynamic Punch would leave confusion unless Porygon had an anti-confusion ability (what abilities did Porygon even have? His Pokédex wasn't sure.), and that would pretty much be game.

Well, Ashy boy would have the most casual tournament match in history tomorrow it seemed.

Porygon let out a loud shriek, like that of a really determined app activation, as the shimmering around it changed a bit.

The fist of Poliwrath collided, but it phased through Porygon.

"Poli!"

"Huh!?" Gary's huh was in tandem with the huh of Misty and Iris both. Paul didn't react, because that would be too pedestrian or whatever reason Paul didn't do things regular people did.

"Interesting. Porygon appears to have upgraded the base Conversion into Conversion 2 master. A Conversion 2 changes type to one that is good at combating the enemy in question than the previous type used. Porygon appears to have become a Ghost-type."

Conversion 2 huh…. Well look at that. Lady Luck was on his side today.

Perhaps Porygon had just gotten that stronger. Perhaps that work he'd done with Porygon before coming here was worth it.

Regardless of the reason, he had an opening now.

Sorry Ash, but it looked like that super chill final round of yours had just been cancelled.

Courtesy of Gary Oak.

"Charge Beam barrage, go!" And Porygon, with Poliwrath's hand still inside itself, had a beam of electricity fly, striking Poliwrath right in the chest.

It was the first of many, the blasts firing like a barrage of lasers. Lasers that occasionally got stronger.

Gary caught at least three times the Charge Beams grew in power during the constant barrage.

Poliwrath was blown out by Porygon, and collapsed after the sixth blast.

"No!"

"Poliwrath is unable to battle! The winners are Gary and Paul!"

"And what a comeback! Porygon pulled a comeback through sheer determination!"

As the crowds cheered Porygon turned to Gary, and Gary did something that he didn't often do.

He wasn't Ash after all, normally to him praise would be fine. But in this case, even if it did mean one more fight with Paul he'd have to stomach against Ash simply because giving up to the guy would haunt him like a specter for the rest of his days; he'd make a public and large show of it.

He ran to Porygon, and gave the digital Pokémon a joyful embrace.

….

It sucked that Misty and Iris lost, but they didn't seem to take it too badly.

Maybe it was just the fact that it wasn't Paul who won, or perhaps because his words from Lavender were still there, or perhaps the lack of crazy Clefairy involved causing mental damage to Axew.

Regardless it left only fight to go, and with that thinking.

Thinking required walking along the edge of the woods at night, talking where no one could hear him.

"So, buddy, do I use Servine next? I don't think Gary knows about her and if he has Blastoise…"

'What if he uses something else though? Would he have Nidoking now?'

Good point. If he used Nidoking, Servine would not really be a good matchup.

"So Squirtle then…."

'Squirtle, maybe Krabby if he wants a go'.

"Then of course Paul…. I haven't seen Grotle at all during this tournament, or Torterra if that's the case now. Man, I wish I hadn't used Charizard already…."

'Nothing's saying you can't use him again.'

"But if Paul goes first, it could be Torterra and Blastoise vs Charizard." That would hurt. A lot.

It would also probably require a break in to the Safari Zone.

'Red's a thing, remember?' Pikachu reminded Ash. 'It would not be a two on one fight. Perhaps that Pikachu of his could handle Blastoise and Charizard Torterra'.

"Yeah, I remember," Ash muttered bitterly.

Pikachu grumbled something. Apparently in humans if you held out an olive branch (instead of an oak branch or a hickory branch for some reason) and it was declined, that made things worse.

The bushes rustled in front of them, causing Trainer and Pokémon to tense.

It could be something dangerous.

"A Pokémon. Capture for analysis," the Pokédex insisted.

Before Ash could rebuke the request the bushes parted, revealing the Pokémon in question.

"Rai."

It was a Raichu, though bruised up a bit.

Pikachu darted down and began sniffing the Raichu in interest. The Raichu's eyes glittered in unease, and looked ready to bolt. Pikachu's sniffing seemed to be the main thing keeping it here, for reasons Ash could only guess at and hope he was right to keep them family friendly.

"The Pokémon is a Raichu. Raichu is …."

The Pokédex gave information he already knew, which Ash ignored to look over the Raichu. The Raichu was bruised, as if it had just been in a fight. It was also female from what Ash knew of Raichu tails from the Pokédex and Paul's Raichu.

"This Raichu is female, and had been recently released. Traces of Pokéball radiation are detected."

That caught Ash's attention. A recently released Raichu. One who was bruised from a fight, and female….

"This Raichu's moves are Quick Attack, Thunderbolt, Dig, and Brick Break."

"Pikapi!" 'This is Paul's Raichu Ash!' Pikachu and the Pokédex gave their information at the same moment, each confirming it.

Paul had released his Raichu.

"That was the Raichu Paul used, isn't it?"

The question came from behind him. Ash did not look back to know that Red was behind him, his own Pikachu darting down to sniff at the now even more terrified Raichu.

She looked ready to bolt, though a cringe suggested the injuries were impeding her.

"…. Yeah," Ash replied tersely.

"I heard the Pokédex. He released his Raichu, and without healing it apparently. Why?"

Red seemed genuinely curious.

"That's how Paul is. He releases Pokémon that don't perform well enough for him. Or just because they don't know the moves he wants," Ash explained as Red frowned.

"…You know, I can see some of that. If you notice two Rattata, and one of the Rattata knows Flame Wheel, you capture that Rattata over the other. Releasing them for it, instead of simply choosing to not capture…I can't understand," Red mused, passion slowly entering his tone as he did so.

"If you capture a Pokémon that doesn't want to fight, release it for mutual agreement. Maybe trade it to a Coordinator, or give it to a person who didn't battle but needed a carrier Pidgey or something. I've done that, a Pidgey I captured in Viridian Forest did not like battling and now works at a ski resort flying messages to remote cabins."

"Rai…" the Raichu mused quietly.

Pikachu listened patiently before turning to Ash.

"Pikapika." 'Raichu's like that. She never really wanted to fight, but Paul never got the hint.'

"You never wanted to…" Ash asked Raichu, who nodded sadly.

"You can understand Pikachu? You have two bloodlines, just like me and Yellow?" Red observed. "You have Electric Heart? I can't understand any of them, I'm a species bloodliner."

"It's not that." Ash didn't elaborate as Raichu flinched in pain.

"Perhaps the Heal Ball duplication program is warranted. I doubt Raichu can be taken to the Pokémon Center without further injury aggravation," the Pokédex suggested in a rare professional tone. Ash nodded as he removed his backpack from his left shoulder, causing it to sag as he reached inside it for what he'd need for this.

"Raichu…. I'm a Pokémon Trainer too. Even if you don't want to battle, you are still a good Pokémon. I may not agree with Paul, but I've seen you battle. You are strong. People will notice that, and they'll probably catch you again. They may not notice that you don't want to fight, or not care at all."

"The Pokémon I catch stay with Professor Oak when I'm not using them. His place is wonderful, with open fields and fresh water, and all the food you can eat. It's safe too, and if you are there, especially with a Pokéball, you will never be captured again."

Raichu looked at him in nervous interest as Ash placed the H.O.P.E Glove on, followed by the placement of one of his two remaining Heal Balls.

The glove lit up with a color he had not seen it do before, as the Heal Ball was popped out, leaving behind an after image of itself that rapidly solidified into a new Heal Ball.

Red's Pikachu looked at in with a raised eyebrow, but no reaction beyond that.

"This ball can heal you, and send you there. If you go, I will never make you battle. What you do is your decision alone," Ash told her as he held the new Heal Ball out to her.

Raichu sniffed it, eyes wide and nervous, before jerking forward.

Her forehead tapped the ball, and activated it. In a burst of light, she was sucked into it.

The ball landed between his and Red's Pikachu twitching for a bit before stopping with a ding and teleporting to Professor Oak's Lab. Somehow Ash doubted it was going to break open.

"…We are going to beat Paul."

Red's statement drew the attention of both Ash and the Pikachu.

"Gary will be no problem, but I am not going to let Paul win. Ketchum, I still think you are both a fool pointlessly weakening yourself, and disrespectful to everyone you fight, but that is nothing compared to Paul. I have no problem with him being an antisocial ass, but his actions cross a serious line. Tell me everything you know about him, and let's have a solid set of plans to smack him down." The edge of Red's lips flickered as if on fire, and idly Ash wondered if that was why Red didn't talk much.

If he said too many words, he'd breath fire?

Regardless of that question, or the new barb at him (disrespectful?), he couldn't help but agree.

"Okay. So first off Paul's from the Sinnoh region, so his starter was something called a Turtwig. It evolved into a Grotle and could have become a Torterra by this point…"

Even without giving away information that was potentially wrong to this universe (such as 'has a Electivire'), information flowed about everything he knew about what Pokémon Paul had, and also a few observations of his tactics where he didn't avoid the pre-reboot Paul as much.

Red added in his own observations of Gary into the mix, and from there plans began to form.

Tomorrow began the final battle, and for the moment Ash and Red were united once more.

….

As the final battle inched into the beginning, Ash finally got a good look at Gary.

He was struck by how uneasy Gary looked. Part of him knew how bad Paul could be, and wondered if that was what was causing Gary problems.

And he thought Red had become hard to deal with.

Speaking of, part of Ash was wondering if he should have brought up at any point the fact they look similar, and what Belladonna had suggested. The entire mad theory there that looked more and more true every time he ran into people who fit into it.

But he hadn't. There was no way to bring that up easily, and even with their 'Paul must not win' truce the idea of them actually getting along was distant.

A murderer and a cheat, he had no luck with random family members. Lovely. Perhaps he'd meet his thief brother Larch Grabbin next. He could steal Dexter and his right shoe and come to instantly regret it.

Okay, John Archer from what he had seen was a good guy, but he was dead. He didn't see enough of Ashley or those twins from MissingNo's fun show of frozen ice cubes to say anything else, or that Johto guy Gardevoir had found.

Still, one more battle. He just had to win one more battle.

"The final battle is about to begin. Who will win access to the Safari Zone? Let's find out shall we? Begin!"

"Torterra, stand by for battle!"

Paul was first up, throwing out his first Pokémon. The great turtle landed in a hard thump.

Ash idly noted Red react a bit. He had been right.

"Torterra, the Continent Pokémon. Torterra move slowly across the land, often having other Pokémon nest upon it. A famous fable in Sinnoh talks of a man who built a cottage upon the back of one and woke up one day on the opposite side of a mountain." The Pokédex provided information as ever from his jacket pocket.

"Charmeleon, go!"

The red flaming lizard was next, staring down the Grass/Ground type with a snort.

"Blastoise, I choose you!"

Joining the first turtle with a loud thump was Gary's starter, poising with armed canons. It looked at Red's Charmeleon and glared it down, as well as Red's Pikachu. Both of them stared back in equal seriousness.

It was a look of mutual ambition to fight and get stronger against each other.

In past battles between the Trainers they had competed against each other, pushing each other in every challenge, always looking for that final showdown to prove which one of them was the best.

It was something he had never seen with his Pokémon vs his rivals' Pokémon. It might have required multiple one on one battles, something with even Paul had hadn't managed.

Maybe he would have one day, perhaps Froakie would have encountered a rival like that in Kalos, but he was seeing such a face off for the first time today.

"Blastoise, the Shellfish Pokémon. Blastoise are slow and powerful, using their highly accurate water cannons to blast with immense force. Do not get sprayed by one," was the Pokédex entry to interrupt his rivalry thoughts.

It was now his call, and per his and Red's planning there was one Pokémon to use.

"I choose you!" Ash sent his Pokéball flying, or more specifically his Great Ball. It burst open, revealing Servine.

Her arms were crossed as she sized up their opponents. She seemed moderately impressed.

"Torterra, Seed Bomb!"

Torterra rolled its head before letting loose a volley of seeds right at Servine, who tensed in preparation for the counter.

"Duck!" And with that call Servine bent over close to the ground as the seeds flew over her, crashing into the wall behind her with audible bangs.

"Use Aerial Ace!"

Still low to the ground Servine charged forward, her tail glowing with a bright blue glow.

"Ice Beam!" Gary called for an intercept. Blastoise pointed its cannons right at Servine and fired icy blue tendrils of energy right at her.

"Flame Burst!"

Midway to Servine a fiery orb struck the Ice Beam, neutralizing it.

Red's save allowed for Servine to get in striking distance of Torterra, who was glowing purple again.

Curse it would seem, and it was called without shouting it.

Apparently, Paul learned more from Lt. Surge than it first appeared.

Servine slashed Torterra's side with her blue tail, though Torterra didn't react much to it. Servine glared at the massive turtle, who stared back.

"Use Attract!" Paul shouldn't have a way of stopping that. As far as Ash could remember, such an attack had never come up.

As the hearts began to form around Servine Paul apparently did have a response in hand.

"Stealth Rock, formation 4!"

As the hearts began to orbit around Torterra, small stones flew out of Torterra like projected spikes. They pierced each and every heart around before flying out and piercing the ground every which way around itself.

"And Paul turns a move that would have no use in this fight into a powerful defensive measure!"

Servine darted away from close quarters to Torterra, running towards Charmeleon and Blastoise.

'Ash, I take it even you can see it would probably be best we handle this two to one. Let's get rid of the Blastoise first.'

Ash nodded in agreement to Servine suggestion as Charmeleon avoided a Scald from Blastoise's cannons.

"Servine use Leaf Storm!"

Servine nodded as the cloud of leaves formed around her, which was promptly fired right at Blastoise.

The Water-type was struck, sending it flying back.

"…. That was hasty Ash. You blew that Leaf Storm too quickly and it's only down from there, Blastoise use Ice Beam!" Blastoise shot the dual icy blasts again, this time at both mid-stage starters, and apart enough a single Flame Burst could not wipe both out.

"Leaf Storm!"

"Flame Burst!"

The two attacks flew into the Ice Beam, shattering it with ease and flying right into Blastoise. Both attacks sent the turtle flying even father back.

"What!?" Gary was stunned, as if a rule of reality was broken. Apparently he did not know about Contrary.

"Seed Bomb!"

The wide range seed attack flew from behind them, striking both in the back and knocking each other down face first into the dirt.

Nothing knock out, but certainly damaging.

"…. You personally knew the blue kid with the Pikachu and you didn't even know that Servine has the Contrary ability? I figured that out just by watching a news program. Pathetic," Paul snarked at Gary, who growled back in annoyance.

"Well sorry, but I have other things to do than watch Ash all day!"

And Ash thought he and Red had some issues.

….

Gary Oak was a Trainer he fought often.

He was a decent opponent, but there was something lacking with him. He had never gotten a fix on it, but Paul put the finger on it.

Power.

Gary had the knowledge and range of Pokémon that could fight any type of opponent, but there was a missing kick to them.

Ash was like that too. Both came from Pallet Town, maybe there was something in the air. Though he'd be amidst to say it was the same issue.

If he had to think about it he could probably point out the origin of each of their power issues, but it wasn't the time or place for that.

They had a fight to win.

It had not started optimally: he would have preferred Servine go after Blastoise. He could see why Ash made the call to go after Torterra, and he approved the move to help on Blastoise.

Torterra had taken advantage of the absence to get them from behind, but once Blastoise was dealt with they could focus all on the Sinnoh Pokémon.

"Scald!"

The water attack was fired at the downed two. He'd make a call once Ash did whatever strange choice he came up with.

"Slice the stream aimed at Charmeleon with Leaf Blade!"

There. Now he could make a blind call on what to do.

"Dragon Claw!" Should he have done Shadow Claw?

Well he wouldn't know, but as Servine spun in the air and sliced the boiling water in a great slash, Charmeleon darted forward and slashed at Blastoise with the draconic claw.

The claw clattered against shell. Red suspected that the damage was limited.

Perhaps he could consider a Thunder Punch for the next battle. He could get Pikachu to teach it.

Probably.

Blastoise stared down at the lizard with a smug look, one that promised something nasty for being so close.

"Use Earthquake!"

Gary's command was followed by Blastoise giving a harsh stamp to the ground, sending a shock wave.

The shock wave knocked Charmeleon down, and continued across the field. It approached Servine, who hopped over it casually with little fanfare as it moved towards Torterra.

"Block it!"

Paul's command caused Torterra to stomp similarly, creating a similar shockwave that crossed the field.

The two attacks met in the center, where Paul's overpowered Gary's and continued towards Charmeleon.

That would hurt, and he doubted it would be productive to Charmeleon having a long term presence in this battle.

"Break the shockwave!" Ash called, and for a moment Red's brain skipped a beat.

Break the shockwave? How…. he doubted Servine could use Earthquake.

Servine, to whom the shock wave of the Earthquake was coming towards her, stuck a glowing green Leaf Blade into the immediate path of the Earthquake.

The green energy pulse that followed was momentary, but it did break the Earthquake up. A gap opened up, with said gap freeing up Charmeleon from a second hit.

As well as Blastoise, but that was an acceptable flaw.

"That's one way to stop an Earthquake. Note however folks that will not work on a fault line!"

As Charmeleon got back up Red decided it was time to finish things. Torterra was a slow Pokémon who did not make rash calls. From what little he saw of Paul's battle style that seemed more an adaption for Torterra than his general fair.

It was time to put Blastoise down for the count.

"Get your distance and fire a Flame Burst!" It wouldn't be close enough to send collateral damage to Torterra but it would free up Servine from what he suspected was blocking the finishing strike.

Charmeleon darted off to the side in the wake of the last bits of the earthquake before inhaling and spitting out a large Flame Burst. The fire ball struck the side of Blastoise with the usual release of fiery shrapnel, a few bits of it striking into Blastoise's cheek.

Nothing majorly damaging, but annoying none the less.

As Blastoise flinched it looked like Ash understood his transparent and obvious set up.

"Servine, let's finish this. Use Leaf Storm!"

"Pika!"

"Ser!"

Ash's Pokémon let out calls in tandem as Servine began to form a storm of leaves around itself, ready to fire.

"Seed Bomb!"

The seeds flew at Servine, who twitched herself to the side to avoid them. The seeds knocked away a few leaves but the attack was otherwise unaffected.

"Intercept with Focus Blast-" A note of panic entered Gary's voice. Red assumed the change of call was due to noting how Ice Beam was blocked previously by Charmeleon, and the fact that Paul's terse help had failed.

As the fighting attack charged however, it wasn't fast enough. Leaf Storm flew right into Blastoise, striking just as the Focus Blast reached firing stage.

Blastoise was sent flying back, the Focus Blast firing into the sky the entire way, as Blastoise struck the side of the stadium with an air popping thump.

Blastoise fell to the floor.

"Blastoise is unable to battle!"

"Tccht," was Paul's reaction as the battlefield changed. It was now two to one, as Servine turned towards Torterra, with Charmeleon mirroring her.

"Curse." Paul responded to this challenge with another flare of the purple enhancing move.

"Flame Burst!" Ash had proved that physical attacks were not going to work even after one curse, so going into a ranged attack was the logical response.

"Seed Bomb!"

The flame ball didn't even make it halfway across the field before the seed barrage pierced through its center, scattering the flames and striking Charmeleon in the chest.

Charmeleon staggered back from the impact as Ash gave his own foray into defeating Torterra.

"Leaf Storm!"

Servine's ever growing power attack charged up once more as Paul looked at the attack with annoyance.

What was he to do though? At their level he had four options with his Torterra.

Curse would not help.

Seed Bomb would only blow away a few leaves at best and she could easily dodge a Seed Bomb to prevent staggering.

Stealth Rock was not an offensive tool, and he wasn't sure if it could be used as a defense beyond for Attract. Why hadn't Ash used it against Blastoise anyway, had it not occurred to him to try?

And Earthquake was also something Servine had demonstrated an ease of avoiding.

Torterra was out of options, plain and simple.

Paul grinned as he gave out a simple command.

"Stone Edge."

Torterra let out a grunt. It was not a grunt of inspiration, it was not a grunt of pulling power from within itself. It was a grunt of 'I will be doing this thing I know to do and can do at will'.

Following that grunt dozens of floating rocks formed around Torterra, which flew at Servine in a massive storm of stones.

Leaf Storm flew into the Stone Edge, with leaf meeting stone.

The stones pierced the leaves before both exploded, the constructs vanishing.

A fifth move? At their level?

"And a four-badge Trainer manages a fifth move! Folks we've seen some serious talent today! I can already hear my cousin who does Indigo drooling in anticipation for this year's announcing!"

"Curse." And Torterra shimmered purple again, as if matching what Servine was gaining with its own trick.

A dark thought wafted through Red.

What if that was what Paul was doing while they were finishing off Gary? Or, was this Torterra's raw power they were truly dealing with?

….

There were many things Ash could say Paul was bad at.

Smiling, conversation, socialization, skipping, conflict resolution, etc.

But one thing he could not fault him for was training Pokémon to be strong. He failed on many other levels, but strength was something he was not at fault for.

Clearly that hadn't changed.

Still they weren't going to lose to him. Not here, not now.

He could not afford to.

Ash glanced at Red, wondering if he could give him an opening.

"Servine, use Attract on Torterra!"

'Repetition I see.' She observed, but she seemed to get the implication that this was a distraction. Hearts bubbled around her once more as Paul growled.

"Formation 4!"

The Stealth Rock formed in response, swarming around Torterra to shatter the hearts before impact.

Hopefully Red picked up that he was doing that to try and distract Torterra to prevent countering, not him randomly throwing things at random at…

"Flame Burst!"

Good.

The fire ball struck the stones, splitting into small bits upon impact through the stones in slivers. Dozens of these slivers of flame struck into Torterra's shell.

Torterra didn't cry out, but the attack did hit.

"Earthquake!" Torterra slammed down on the ground, clearly meaning to get back at them for the Attract and Flame Burst trick.

The shockwave flew towards them, faster than before. Servine and Charmeleon jumped over the wave, though Charmeleon had to jump later to stay airborne over the shockwave.

The wave even went towards them, forcing both himself and Red to leap over it.

"Seed Bomb!"

Torterra fired the blast while airborne, striking Servine midair.

Ash learned a new swear word courtesy of his grass type as Servine was sent rolling across the field, taking a serious hit.

The attack had hurt, and Servine probably should avoiding taking more of those.

Charmeleon landed safely however, and a command by Red was followed up with a Rock Tomb thrown Torterra's way.

Torterra shattered the attack with Stone Edge, sending a rain of stones down on the field.

"Ser." 'So, got any ideas on how to get through that defense?' Servine asked the question of the hour.

How indeed? Attract was covered, and physical attacks weren't doing anything even before the multiple power boosts. Leaf Storm and Flame Burst were blocked…

Should he just have Servine keep using Leaf Storm until it was so powerful that he created some sort of grass tornado that Torterra would need a pair of fancy shoes to get back home? Or maybe he could destroy the field again…

Servine narrowed her eyes, before smirking. It appeared she had something, and darted towards Charmeleon.

"Stone Edge!"

"Leaf Storm!" Ash's command didn't throw Servine's idea off as she blocked the stone attack once more. As the attack cancelled itself out Servine darted over to Charmeleon and began speaking quickly, gesturing wildly and with importance.

He quickly got the message, and turned to Red.

"I have a plan, but first you need to get Charmeleon to evolve."

Red looked at him like he was asking him to make Mayonnaise.

"I have a Charizard, you saw him during the battle earlier. I know what a Charmeleon who is about to evolve looks like, and so does Servine. She was there when he evolved: and your Charmeleon looks ready."

"You can't be serious," was all Paul had to say.

"And Ash Ketchum decides it is time to employ…positive encouragement. A step down from blowing up the field ladies and gents, but at least it will keep the repair bill from rising any higher!"

"You slept alright, right Ash?" Gary asked with genuine concern. But Ash was not backing down.

"Pokémon don't just evolve when they hit some single point, they evolve with a combination of power and will. Your Charmeleon has the power; you just have to make the will flow out like an unstoppable flood."

"…This isn't your only plan, is it?" Red questioned.

"No, but I think it's worth trying at the very least."

Red sighed.

…

Ash Ketchum, Trainer from Pallet Town and possessor of four badges and the qualifications to enter the League from the Cerulean Gym, was absurd.

There was no better word for it.

But if he was so insistent on it, him and his Servine….

Well Red didn't have the ability to see how likely this was to work, so maybe by some strange fluctuation of logic this was very likely.

If not…. well Ash might not be lying about having better plans.

True, he knew what Ash was talking about. Pokémon did usually require a stimulus along with power to induce evolution, outside of cases like a stone or something. But to do it with just talking….

Well might as well shut Ash up before he suggested he dance or pray to induce victory next.

"Charmeleon." His starter tensed as he heard his name.

"You were the first Pokémon Pikachu and I caught. We've been through a lot together, haven't we? We've won a lot of battles, and this might be our toughest. Let's win."

It was a bad speech. Somehow, he figured Ash would have made a better one. Or Yellow, she did chipper better.

Pikachu gave a short terse statement that was something along the same lines, but blunter.

"…. Are you done giving voice overs for weekday morning television? Torterra, Seed Bomb!" Paul declared as a bright blue light suddenly engulfed the arena.

"What!?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha hahah!"

"Ser."

Paul, Ash, and Servine reacted as they were want, as he and his Pikachu stared in shock as Charmeleon began to grow. Torterra did fire the seed bomb, but the seeds disintegrated before they could get close to the evolution.

Was that from power, or just why Pokémon didn't attack mid-evolution?

A pair of blue wings burst out of the flexible blue form, before exploding and revealing a brilliant orange form of power.

"Roar!"

"Charizard, the Flame Pokémon. The final evolution of Charmander, this Pokémon was the symbol and main military strength of the ancient Charific Kingdom. Charizard will only use its full power against a worthy opponent!" Ash's Pokédex declared

"That. Just. Happened!" the judge declared in astonishment.

Ash's plan had succeeded, at least at evolving. They still had to take down Torterra, and now Stone Edge would be even more dangerous.

"Stone Edge!"

And speaking of…

"Leaf Storm!" Ash called the counter as the leaves and stones clashed again, though this time with a bit of leaf pushback on the stones.

Perhaps the Stone Edge couldn't be powered up any more. So maybe Ash could have used a different strategy than having him weaponize positive encouragement, though he was fine with what that had gotten him.

Ash turned his hat backwards as he declared for a third time, possibly for the charm.

"Attract!"

Paul didn't even need to give the order as the Stealth Rock shield destroyed Servine's affection.

Part of Red chucked as he realized what was to happen next.

"Flame Burst!" If it had gotten some damage in before, what about now?

Charizard roared and flapped his wings, releasing a surge of heated wing instead of Flame Burst.

That looked more like Heat Wave…. his Charizard had learned Heat Wave from evolving.

The Heat Wave surged through the stones, the intangible wind barely deterred by them and striking against Torterra in a great burning heat.

Servine scooted out of the way just in time, avoiding an accidental scorching.

Torterra's cry in pain was matched by Paul's growl of shock and disbelief, mixed in with a bit of worry for Torterra if he wasn't mistaken.

Humanizing aside, there was only one thing left to save.

"End this now Charizard, Heat Wave!"

Charizard gave a mighty bellow before giving one final flap, and unleashing the scorching wind of Heat Wave.

Torterra and Paul glared into the attack in unison as it engulfed Torterra in a burning heat.

It lasted for a good ten seconds before the wind faded, revealing a defeated Torterra and a somewhat red Paul from the heat.

"Torterra is unable to battle, the winners of this match and the tournament are Ash Ketchum and Red Tajiri!"

The sound of Paul returning Torterra were muffled by a stadium erupting into cheers as Ash waved to the crowd with Pikachu, stopping only to pet Servine as she came over to him in a cheery grin.

Charizard declared victory with a burst of flames into the sky.

----------------------------------------

Later

Ash had never felt so bitter after a tournament victory. The issue didn't seem as simple anymore. He always believed to have a well-defined sense of right and wrong, and made sure to stick to it. But now… he wasn't so sure.

It had flared up after Red had given him a nod and left, followed by Yellow not long after they escaped the throngs of people and obtained the time and place for tomorrow's day in the Safari Zone, and had been growing ever since they retreated to the privacy of the hotel.

"Still thinking about that?" asked Misty. Ash glanced at her. Iris and Anabel were also looking at him with concern. The Trainer sighed and sat up to face them all. Now the tournament was over they could all take their sweet time in discussing it.

"You never had to rely on your powers to win competitions," said Misty. "I don't see why you should start now."

"I'm not planning to," Ash replied. "I made a promise, I'd never use it for personal gain."

"Even if I admire your sense of honor and pride, Ash, you have to admit that Red is right," said Iris. "Your powers do not break any rules set for your competitions."

"That doesn't make it fair." Misty crossed her arms. "I mean, he beat us and who knows how many others, and no one knows how!"

"How is that different from a Pokémon hiding a move to use the right time?" asked Iris. "You know, when you have to survive in the wild, the less your enemy knows about you, the better."

"Iris, we're not talking about survival in the wild," Misty pointed. "Even if there's a prize, this is supposed to be a friendly competition. Everyone should have a fair chance to win. Having that kind of power to analyze his opponents puts him miles ahead of everyone else. If Ash can win without using his powers, why can't Red do the same?"

"Because that is how he learned to fight?" Iris replied. "He is just doing what he can do, the way he knows."

"So does Ash, if you put it that way," said Misty. "You know, with my powers, I could have easily made a career as a professional swimmer. Do you know why I never did? Because it wouldn't be fair for those who spend years training and learning how to float, move and breathe."

"Exactly my point," said Ash. "Just because I can do something nobody else can, it doesn't mean I should. Plus, my Pokémon have worked really hard to reach their current strength level, and I know for a fact they want to win by their own effort. Using my power would mean that I didn't trust them to fight their own battles."

"How is that?" said Iris. "Is it not the Trainer's job to help their Pokémon in any way they can during a battle?"

'Guys, I think this is getting a bit too far…'

"Iris, the rules say a Trainer can't interfere directly in a Pokémon battle," said Ash. "The way I see it, my power does exactly that. Even if it doesn't break any law or rule written on paper… it doesn't feel right to win that way."

"Exactly!" Misty agreed. "If Red fights using his power all the time, he probably doesn't understand. He's got a hidden trick up his sleeve and his opponents can't even tell when he's using it!"

"I get the impression you are just upset because he beat you," Iris remarked.

"Aren't you too?" Misty snapped back. "After what his Clefairy almost did to your Axew?!"

"That is different!" Iris retorted. "He had him beaten but was almost going for the kill, so…!"

"Hey calm down!" Ash said raising his hands before this got ugly, and then quickly added in a calmer tone, "Please, the last thing we need right now is to fight amongst ourselves."

"Sorry." Misty and Iris looked at each other apologetically. Once they calmed down, Anabel decided to give her own thoughts.

'I don't think I can take any sides here. Ash, maybe you shouldn't judge Red too harshly. There's too much about him you don't know. The kind of life he had, how he grew up…'

Ash and the others glanced at her. Even without using telepathy she could tell what they were thinking, and she had her response ready.

'I didn't pry into his thoughts, but I could still feel it. He's carrying a lot of pain inside. Maybe he just did what he felt he had to do to survive, and got used to it. He's probably had it much harder than you, Ash. You had a happy childhood, a loving mother who taught and raised you.'

Ash didn't reply. If Anabel was right, maybe it was Belladonna all over again, if to a lesser extreme. That being the case, he couldn't blame him for doing what he felt was needed to survive. Still, it didn't feel any less right.

'On the other hand,' Anabel continued,' I don't think he has the right to judge you either. You know of people with a handicap, like losing one of their senses or a limb, yet still manage to pull through and sometimes perform even better than those who have their full capacity? There are people who become stronger by purposely giving themselves a handicap, such as training their hearing to fight in the dark without relying on the eyesight, or to fight using only their legs to avoid injuring their hands, for instance.'

Misty and Iris glanced at the telepath. They had been arguing all day about it, and they never stopped to think things from the other side. They still held their views, but at least now… they could understand each other better.

'What I'm trying to say is, your viewpoints might be different, and you might have different ways of doing things, but neither is necessarily wrong.'

Everyone remained silent, taking their time to ponder and let everything sink in. Combining the memories of both timelines, Ash had always seen himself as a human, not as a bloodliner. To him, using his powers was taking the easy way out, and he never liked to do that. He didn't have to rely on supernatural powers in his previous life, and he had decided not to do it in this one either. If Red wanted to do things on a different level of morality, that was his choice. He might not like it, but then again… Red wasn't actively seeking to hurt anyone either.

"I don't expect him to understand, but I won't force him to agree with me. These powers might be part of me as a person, but not as a Pokémon Trainer. I want to believe in my Pokémon, that they can grow to their full potential with their own hard work. If they grew too reliant on my powers, what's gonna happen if they fail one day? I'll do things my own way. I am not Red, and I'll never be."

The girls' eyes widened at his answer, but they all smiled. That definitely sounded like Ash. There was no point in keeping this argument. Regardless of what was fair play or not, he'd stick to what he believed in, no matter what others thought. Like he always had, and he'd always do.

…

Gary wandered towards the edge of the city, ready to get the hell out of this place, when the sound of a motorbike rung from behind him.

The vehicle pulled up next to him, revealing the green dressed bard in the silly hat. Oddly his bike now had a sidecar with a few pieces of junk inside it, did he have that before?

"You're leaving too, Blues Boy?" the bard asked.

"Yeah. I've got places to be and challenges to face. I'm thinking of heading up to Celadon City for my seventh badge."

He needed to prove something, and going for a tougher badge was a start. He'd have gone to Cinnabar if the ferries weren't so full.

"Celadon huh…." the bard parroted, before reaching over to his side car and shuffling a few things to the side. His guitar, a harp, a fishing pole, a net, a lantern…. until there was some room in it for a person to sit.

"I'm actually heading up that way myself. There's a music festival in Celadon in a few days I like to attend to fill up my coffers. You're capable of scaring off Beedrill swarms, right?"

"Yeah." Unless they blocked out the sun with their sheer number of course. Then he might not be up to snuff for it.

"Good. If you agree to keep the bugs off me I'll drive you up there in my side car."

…

The aftermath of the great battle however, had more eyes upon it than what it seemed at first.

"Science is amazing, isn't it? Even without being here, you were able to see exactly what happened here. Even past the King's watchful gaze," a girl stated, her tone with a slight edge beyond traditional feminine sounds.

Looking out onto the clearing stands, where the monitor still showed the faces of Ash Ketchum and Red Taijiri both, she smirked as she continued to speak into her cellphone. Jutting out of it was a charger, transferring power into the device even as she spoke through it.

"Of course science could make a better battery, but you wanted to see as much of them as possible, and video eats up battery. I'd suggest if you want to rewatch the videos to save them somewhere, with backups of course, because I'm going to have to clear this device out again. It eats up both battery power and memory space so well you'd think it would be a crime."

"…But I have to agree with your assessment earlier. The King really is wrong about the potential of that Ash. He's remarkable, something else entirely from the 37 other brothers of his you had me check out for you already, or the 17 sisters I've seen so far if we count the one Red is traveling with. Though to be fair Red is hardly that far behind him, both of them are quite interesting and full of potential. Perfect for deciding the fate of the world, wouldn't you say?"

Fast paced chatter came out of the phone, causing the girl to frown.

"My bad, the 39th and 40th brothers, and the 26 sisters that came as a result. It's hard to keep track of them all, they aren't all exactly the tall, dark-haired, and red-eyed type, and I have no way of telling if they've got the Dominion of Power. Also, that fraction you gave for how many more there are was as small a number as it was annoying to pronounce. Really, did he really have to have so many? I know he solved the riddle of the ages, but seriously 66+, and that's just what I've counted since I left. The only good thing about the total amount of humans he mated with is that at least that's a fraction I can actually wrap my head around. 10% of every region's Bloodliner population of the younger generation are of the dual Bloodliner line. They came first, and then the single bloodline bloodliners followed as is their want and duty. Simple and easy to remember, a proper fraction if I may say so."

More muttering from the phone ensued from that statement as the girl huffed.

"Yes, it is a proper fraction. Proper fractions can be said in three syllables or less. One tenth, three syllables, that is simple and easy to say. I am not going to argue with you about that. I'm the one out in the world where people complain about math and linguistics like a college academic. Putting aside fractions, do you want to see what their mothers look like next or do you want me to find the 27th sister to your list…"

The phone vibrated with chatter as the girl grinned.

"I thought you'd find them unimportant. You always do. Very well, Belladonna it is then." Looking around for a moment the girl glowed a light red for a moment, her appearance to the outside viewer becoming that of a teenage girl of average height for her age, with brown hair and arms adorned pair of wrist bands. Her clothing consisted of red and black boots, jean shorts, and a white tank top covered by a black vest. A white hat covered her head.

"And before you ask, yes I am using my favorite look. The one with the illusionary shorts."