As a day passed, then a second and third, Ash Ketchum prepared for the next Gym battle.

Training for all sorts of possibilities and tactics that he had come across in his history with Poison Pokémon, from Roxie's direct poisoning strategies to Paul using Toxic Spikes he prepared for them all, and finalized what Pokémon he should bring with him based on advice the Pokédex had to offer given the Poison types of the Kanto and Johto regions.

However during this time he was not alone in preparing for the future.

...

Paul was taking a more casual approach to his day today.

After the fiasco that was the tag tournament he had needed some breathing space from the place. Having left the city, he had traveled and found a minor Gym.

He promptly released his anger on it, and now had five badges to his name.

Nidoking had performed excellently there. It had done as well as to be expected when fighting with an advantage, and Paul had felt the need to properly thank him.

Competency must be rewarded after all.

It had coincided with a needed toe trimming, so Nidoking was currently in the next town over being given a nail trim, plus additional frivolities that came with the package that he was sure Nidoking understood the meaning of.

Good performance, good treatment. Bad performance, Raichu.

Of course even his casual day had to have something of merit to it, hence his project.

"Karp." The Magikarp at the end of his line declared. Behind him he could hear Torterra's head rise up in slight interest.

Paul tapped the thing in the face with his Pokéball, sucking the fish inside. After a few moments of pointless struggling against it he held the captured fish in the ball.

"No way!" the Pokédex informed him. "This fish will go nuts when it evolves. It will be powerful, but way too cray cray."

Paul scowled at the choice of his Pokédex's words, but released the Magikarp regardless.

If he was going to have a Gyarados, he needed to find a Magikarp that would not be as untameable when it evolved. It was a weakness of his training style that a Gyarados he evolved would probably not respond to training well, and thus finding one with the right temperament was a must.

It was time-consuming, but the only strenuous part of the process was his Pokédex's voice.

….

While Paul enjoyed a calm day fishing, two others were experiencing a much more fiery contest for a fifth badge.

The light within the Gym was unnaturally tense as the bald Gym Leader pointed at his challengers.

"You won't be blocking this as easily. Rapidash, Solarbeam!"

Green light flickered around the horse Pokémon for only moments before firing at the Sandslash, who tensed in imminent pain.

"No, we're just switching the roles around! Scizor!"

Between the grass blast and the ground type appeared a red bug-type one would not usually see at this Gym. With a glowing white claw, the attack was deflected away, blasting into a nearby wall with a loud boom.

Blaine chuckled at the sight of the two Trainers.

"A simple but effective solution, but it takes more than that to win here. Arcanine!" Leaping up from behind the horse was the massive canine, fangs blazing with fiery rage.

And so the double battle for two Volcano Badges for the pair of Jeanette and A.J continued.

...

"Say kid, you wouldn't happen to know two other guys in hats with Pikachu, would ya?"

"No." At a different port of call known as Vermillion City, a boy named Ritchie was confused at Lt. Surge's question, even while their Charmander and Voltorb stared one another down.

"Huh, well I guess hats and Pikachu must in fashion then. I'll have to remember to break out my old army hat then."

"I'm pretty sure that isn't the right type of hat. Zippo, Dragon Rage!"

"Char!"

...

Far from the coast Pewter City had its own Gym, and its own Gym battle in progress.

Dan's memory of Saffron had been a bit hazy. Had he fought the Gym Leader there or not?

Regardless of what he may or may have not done, a quick check of his records showed that he didn't officially do anything and could try for another challenge.

Hence why he was in the city of stones.

"Rhyperior!"

The Gym Leader's bellow was followed by the massive behemoth of a rock-type holding out both of its arms, the openings in each letting loose a volley of sharp Stone Edges.

"Get out of the way!" Dan shouted.

"Jump!" his floating partner chimed in agreement, descending away from the first volley, then twisting out of the way of a second.

The Cottonweed Pokémon continued to float around the much larger Pokémon, who didn't take its eyes off her for a minute.

"Bullet Seed!" Dan called as Jumpluff opened her mouth and unleashed a volley of seeds. They struck Rhyperior's right arm in a series of minute explosions.

Rhyperior didn't flinch.

"Did it lose the Ground typing when I wasn't' looking?" Dan questioned.

"Rhyperior can have Solid Rock when it evolves from a Rhydon. It takes super-effective damage and turns it down," his Pokédex informed him.

"That is correct. My Rhyperior's tough as they come, it's not just any attack that can hurt him. If you want to get to the Indigo League, you are going to have to find a way around his solid defensive power, and his equally potent offense! Rhyperior, Flash Cannon!"

White light began charging up in Rhyperior's cannons as Dan grimaced.

So far this battle had been two in his favor, one in the Gym Leaders. His Ampharos had taken out his Omastar, but the Aerodactyl had forced a double knock out. They both had more Pokémon after this, but he didn't want to fall behind.

This Rhyperior might make that difficult.

…

In the hills around Pewter City where a Rhyperior was not forming a massive obstacle to overcome, a large boulder was lifted into the air with a psychic glow.

The Slowbro that was doing so was focusing intently for the sluggish species, even as its Trainer pointed at the stone.

"Lapras!" Solidad commanded. Seconds later from behind a blast of water flew at the boulder.

It shattered, exploding into shards and remains that radiated from the spot Hydro Pump had struck outwards, before the blue psychic glow intensified and pulled the pieced back together into a uneven mass.

Unrecognizable as the boulder from before, but still the mass that had once been said boulder.

"Excellent," Solidad told both of her Pokémon seconds before the sound of dislodged stone caught their attention.

The Trainer and two Water Pokémon turned, spying a Trainer standing atop a nearby rock ledge, glaring down at them.

Alongside him was a Pokémon unfamiliar to them, a large red and black Pokémon with a belt of flames.

Their eyes had met, and that meant only one thing.

Battle.

...

As one battle began, the aftermath of another was still being felt.

Gary Oak sat at a table, a cup of coffee half drunk and a croissant only nibbled at. A dark mood hovered over him.

His pocket vibrated.

"Would you like me to replay the Professor's message again sir?" it asked.

"No," Gary told it, and silence returned to the dining booth, even as a bell rung at the door, signaling a new customer.

"Oh Erika, the usual I assume?" he heard the lady at the front greet.

"Yes, that would be wonderful Edna. I'll find myself a table."

Gary didn't react to the sound of the Gym Leader's arrival, still staring at his coffee as the steps of expensive shoes rang through the restaurant.

He did react when they stopped, and seconds later were met by the sound of someone abruptly sitting down.

"Well you seem glum," the Gym Leader commented from the other side of the booth.

"Hardly what one normally sees from someone who's won a Gym battle. You look like you didn't earn your badge." Erika observed.

"...I barely did," Gary muttered to himself, which might have worked at not being heard if he was still with the bard.

But no, he had gotten the lampshade off his head days ago and no longer could hum a dozen songs. He had recovered from the experience.

"You know there's a walking PSA on gambling who says a lot of stupid thing, here's one of them. "A beautiful loss is still a loss, and an ugly win is still a win" Personally I don't like ugly wins and can work with beautiful losses in business and politics, while as a Gym Leader it is much the same. Your win was hardly an ugly one."

"It was down to the wire," Gary recalled.

"It's worrying when a Gym battle isn't concluded that way. That suggests either a subpar Leader or a subpar challenger, and rarely a challenger sneaking a Dragonite against an Oddish. Your Growlithe, Pidgeot, Golbat, and Magneton performed well, you performed well."

A cup of tea was delivered to the Gym Leader as she finished, and the conversation was paused for a sip before she continued.

"Something else is on your mind, isn't it?" she asked. Gary moved to stand up after that, only for a leg to stick out from seat to seat.

"Don't be rude."

"Says the stranger who sat down randomly at my booth without asking," Gary muttered.

"You haven't finished your croissant," she responded evenly. He didn't move, to leave or to consume said pastry, and so the Gym Leader took a sip and continued.

"I have a suspicion of what is bugging you. You feel like you should have beaten me better. That you should be stronger, smarter, more efficient. That against someone whose type has a myriad of weaknesses, that a victory would be child's play. If I may quote someone who isn't a walking PSA on how not to behave, "Depending on which Pokémon you choose and what moves they use, I could be your most challenging opponent yet or I could be a total pushover". He was talking about Ice types, but it apples to me just as well."

"By word alone that was in play. You had the correct Pokémon, and the correct moves. However there is an element missing, one that is more in spirit than in phrasing. You just have to figure it out and fix it, unless you want to mope over a croissant after your next Gym battle, and then the League."

A plate delivered to the Gym Leader ended the conversation.

….

"Wait, Koga isn't the Gym Leader?!"

Ash's question rang through his room the night before his challenge for a Soul Badge.

After all that training, even after hearing of challengers who had their Pokémon poisoned by the Gym Leader, it wasn't Koga?

"Correct. Koga was in fact the Gym Leader, but he recently left the position to prepare to challenge for an Elite Four position. It's why there has been a spike of Soul Badges given out, as is custom for new Gym Leaders learning the ropes. Unfortunately for you the learning curve has peaked, so you are not at the optimal time for victory against her."

Ash would argue about new Gym Leaders, but he did recall how long it took Flannery to get into a proper rhythm for their battle. It was probably not an issue exclusive to her.

"The new Gym Leader is his seventeen year old daughter, Janine," the Pokédex noted as it brought up an image of a purple-haired ninja girl in garb one would expect of a ninja.

"He has a daughter?" That was new, or did he just not know that the first time?

"Yes, he does. Humans tend to multiply if you leave them alone after all. As fathers tend to do when they are present, he taught her all he knows and her battle techniques should still mirror his greatly, though as time goes on one does expect to see further divergence."

"So be ready for spore attacks, confusion…"

"Correct."

Ash nodded as he rested his head on a pillow, the information processing as he prepared to get the sleep he'd need for tomorrow.

Koga's daughter huh….hope Aya liked being an Aunt.

'So, what are Gyms like exactly? I've never been in one...' Anabel asked as they walked along to the outskirts of the city. Slowly looming before them was the white painted, old fashioned structure where Koga once dwelt.

Now it was the domain of his daughter, while he was off doing whatever it was one did to prepare for the Elite Four.

"In my experience, a lot of trees," Iris commented. At Anabel's confused look Ash elaborated.

"Gyms tend to be different depending on whose running them. Sometimes they are simple, sometimes they have other aspects to them. A few of them even have guards you have to fight before you can even..."

BOP!

Right in the middle of the road Ash walked into something solid.

Solid, and invisible.

Rubbing his head in pain he absently noticed Misty run over to his head and touch it, as if making sure it wasn't bleeding profusely.

It wasn't, profusely or otherwise, but still...what did he walk into?

Iris walked up to the spot he walked into and poked at it. She mimicked the motion to both the left and the right of where he had hit, and she came to a confused conclusion.

"It seems to be a wall, a wall that we are unable to see."

'An invisible wall?' Anabel was surprised to hear of such a thing.

Ash had to agree, that felt new. Last time there were just Voltorb pits, maybe?

The Fuchsia Gym was a bit blurry. Back in Kanto most of the time his visits to Gyms were one and done things, and he really didn't get a chance to see them that much. Maybe they did have invisible walls the first time and he had just forgotten...but he was pretty sure even if they did they weren't supposed to be out front.

"I'm suddenly nostalgic for Surge's thugs," Misty muttered as she was reassured he was not bleeding and let off the skull checking.

"Yeah, Charmander handled them pretty well, didn't he? Not sure that Charizard would work here," Ash said.

"Charizard should be able to destroy this wall," Iris countered as she felt up the invisible wall again.

"It feels quite breakable, and flammable."

"That's vandalism, and arson. Both are highly illegal," the Pokédex retorted.

"Isn't arson vandalism?" Misty questioned.

"It's special vandalism, and breaking the Gym Leader's invisible walls either with muscles or combustion will still likely net you all legal trouble. Also I suspect that wrecking the property of a Ninja is a bad idea even if it was legal."

"So, do we just go through this invisible maze?" Misty did not sound thrilled at the idea.

'I could teleport us through it right to the end.' Anabel offered. This suggestion was repeated aloud to the Pokédex, who was silent for a moment before it began letting out sounds akin to a dial up feature.

"I've just scanned the area. I've found several holes in the camera grid system that open up at several opportune intervals. There is one in front of the gate that will open in about 35 seconds. Teleport then and you will not be detected."

"Hopefully there will be no pitfall traps there." Ash had the urge to listen for the sound of rhyming and puns. He hadn't seen Team Rocket in a while, and they were overdue to be bothering them again.

"No, I just hacked into her rotating schedules to the Gym's subordinate ninjas. Pitfalls are tomorrow's hazard that poor smucks will have to deal with. We just happened to come on invisible wall day. Luckily her traveling skipped duplicate day."

"Ninjas keep a schedule?"

"Only so far as to have about two dozen ways of annoying Trainers and telemarketers that are randomly assigned each week. Sometimes pitfall day is Tuesday, sometimes it's Friday, and sometimes they entirely skip over it. Now, inside we go."

…

There was a battlefield in the Gym. That was new.

While Ash couldn't remember if there were invisible walls last time, he did know the battles he had with Koga (or one battle split in two by Team Rocket being Team Rocket), he knew that for sure.

The first battle was on wood, the second in a garden.

This time a Gym field was present, a dirt field that stood in the midst of a large center room. Faint light filtered in from the windows, and seemed to be getting fainter by the moment.

Iris had said she had smelled rain on the way here, and the weather man did say something about possible showers yesterday. Hopefully this battle would either end before the rain started, or last until it ended.

Ash would prefer to not have to deal with the former, he liked a longer, more fun battle. Regardless of if he utterly beat someone, or was utterly beat by them.

"Too high

Can't come down

It's in the air and it's all around

Can you feel me now?"

He'd ask where the Gym Leader was, but the sound of loud, blaring music was first priority.

'This song, really?' People still listen to it?' Anabel didn't seem to like this particular piece of music, her face contorted into a cringe of displeasure.

Pikachu was cringing from the sheer volume, though Ash had no idea if his buddy liked the music or agreed with Anabel's opinion.

"Why is it so loud?!" Iris complained as Axew let out a whine from inside her hair.

"Oh,

Taste of your lips

I'm on a ride

You're toxic I'm slippin' under

With the taste of a poison paradise"

"Up there!" Misty pointed to the ceiling. Her own volume was suitably loud, as to be heard over the loud singing.

And so all of them looked up, to find the source of the loud music.

And also the Gym Leader, bobbing her head with the lyrics, standing on the ceiling with a scarf dangling down from her like a streamer.

Just above said scarf was a purple hair bun atop her head, and the garb of a ninja he had never learned the exact term for despite the surprising amount of ninjas he met in his time.

What wasn't covered by said ninja garb of unknown name, or a pair of black gloves and boots, was netting of some sort on her arms.

'I can't pick up anything that suggests she noticed us'. Anabel still had a bothered tone from the loud playing of the song.

"How is she even staying up there?" Misty wondered aloud.

"Specialized shoes and ceiling. I'm detecting magnetism," the Pokédex explained.

"Why?"

Misty's second question was interrupted by a series of events that Ash wasn't sure the exact catalyst for. The girl who was probably the Gym Leader continued to bob to the music as normal, but suddenly Iris tensed and glared up at her like she was expecting her to suddenly throw a bomb at them.

Anabel, as he noted in the corner of her eye, was looking at Iris like someone who had just seen someone do a complete one-eighty, probably in relation to whatever was going on.

"Pi?" 'I'm confused'.

Pikachu was just as lost at what was going on as he and Anabel were (and probably Misty), as the music stopped and the girl-who-was-probably-Janine flipped down and landed square in the end of the arena where she would be battling him from in perfect form.

Theoretically.

She opened her eyes as she stood to full height, looking a bit taller than Anabel but shorter than the rest of them, revealing the same eyes as her father, and looking pointedly at Iris, who was still glaring back. A smirk popped into existence on her face as a pair of small objects slid out from between her clenched fingers.

Shuriken.

"You know, most people don't pick up that I'm doing that when I choose to wait for them that way. It doesn't matter if they came for their first or their last badges, very few people can see my subtle motions, motions I've trained to such perfection I don't even have to think to do them. You have good instincts, who trained you?"

"Nature," Iris responded cooly, still staring the girl down, ready to call on her Bloodline if necessary. Ash felt a bit of unease at that statement, but he'd ask Iris more about her life later.

The girl pocketed the metal throwing stars before looking his way.

"You've got a valuable companion there. Friend, sister, girlfriend, whatever she is I'd suggest always trusting her instincts, they may one day save your life. You never know when someone is a threat, and a good set of instincts are among your most valuable tools. My name's Janine by the way, the Gym Leader of Fuchsia City. You're one of the winners of the tag tournament, Ash Ketchum."

Strange, he heard Misty let out an odd sound at Janine's statement, but regardless he nodded in confirmation.

"Your partner fought me just before I left for business. He has a good head on his shoulders, though neither he nor his friend picked up on my little test. he came away with a badge, will you manage as well?"

The reminder of Red caused a upswing of bother to swell, but Ash forced it down as he grinned confidently back.

"Of course!" he declared as Pikachu let out a secondary declaration with a powerful spark. Janine grinned, before her gaze wandered to the Z-Ring that was now on his wrist. Her gaze left it once she noticed the lack of accompanying crystal, seconds before a burst of smoke covered the judge's area, before clearing to reveal another ninja a few years older than either of them.

'He came in from a spot in the ceiling while the smoke grenade went off.' Anabel informed him of where the ninja had come from.

"This Gym battle will be a four on four contest with substitutions only allowed by the challenger. The Gym match will be over when all of either side's Pokémon are unable to battle. There is no time limit. The Gym Leader will make the first move. Are these conditions acceptable?"

"Yes!" both of them declared at once.

"Then begin!"

"Go!" Janine shouted as a Great Ball flew through the air.

It exploded, releasing a large blue and cream Pokémon that seemed shorter than Ash remembered.

"Nido!" Bellowed the Nidoqueen that was shorter than him by a significant margin.

Was that just a puberty thing?

"Nidoqueen, the Drill Pokémon and the final evolution of female Nidoran. Their hard scales protect them from harm and use microscopic spikes to poison foes on contact. Nidoqueen are difficult to breed in captivity," the Pokédex noted as it began taking in the data.

Regardless of height or microscopic poison spikes this was a Gym battle, and he already had planned in case of Nidoqueen, or Nidoking for that matter.

"Squirtle!" Ash called as he threw his first choice of Pokémon out.

The ball burst open mid air, popping back to his hand as his first water-type appeared, staring down the Nidoqueen.

"Nidoqueen use Shock Wave!" Janine led off with a sparking horn on Nidoqueen's head. The blue electricity quickly built up, ready to fire at Squirtle, who tensed.

"Block it with a Counter Shield!" Ash called, but before Squirtle could begin spinning the Shock Wave struck Squirtle straight in the chest, stopping Squirtle in his tracks and stunning the turtle.

It also caused Squirtle to swear things Ash would not repeat.

"Now use Poison Jab!" Nidoqueen roared before charging at the stunned turtle, purple energy gathering in her right fist.

"Water Gun!" Ash called. Nidoqueen continued to charge forward, likely under the belief that Squirtle needed more time to recover from the Shock Wave.

However that was a mistake, and a rapid Water Gun flew from Squirtle and struck Nidoqueen under her jaw, knocking the Pokémon back into a stumble as Squirtle hopped back into a full upright stance.

"That was a fast attack speed for a Water Gun," Janine noted as Nidoqueen noted Squirtle warily and began taking a few steps back, aiming to regain distance.

"Squir!" 'Fast and accurate, that was the perfect spot to hit that thing.'

"Shock Wave!" The electricity quickly began building as Nidoqueen continued to, without prompting, get distance on Squirtle again. The intent was clear, to fire Shock Wave before Water Gun could get in too close and stop it the same way Shock Wave had stopped the Counter Shield.

"Use Water Gun again!"

The water blast flew at Nidoqueen, easily passing through the space she would had been in had she not begun stepping back before Nidoqueen could have gathered even a few ions of electricity.

It was ions, right? Ions were something connected to electrity and not, like, light?

Gaps in his knowledge aside, the Water Gun struck Nidoqueen before the charge was even halfway complete.

In the same spot as before.

What had charged from the Shock Wave flew up into the ceiling, smashing into it with sounds that he was pretty sure Janine would rather not hear in her own home.

Janine did in fact flinch at the sound of damaged structures, but eyed Squirtle and Ash in approval.

"That attack was excellent. The accuracy was impressive, even by my standards. Clearly that Squirtle suffers from no lack of training."

Was that a dig at a lack of evolution?

"However accuracy and speed are not the only factors in winning. Strategy is also a factor, Nidoqueen use Double Team!"

Nidoqueen clapped both hands together and was surrounded by a small army of duplicates, all of whom who darted forward at once in a massive surge.

...

Anabel bit her lower lip, even as Misty looked worried about what this tactic looked like it was aiming for.

Iris shouting at Ash exactly what this tactic was meant to look like, using duplicates to confuse another (a tactic used both by predators and prey), wasn't helping.

It was a good strategy. It was a clever strategy.

It wasn't, however, what Janine was planning. What she was planning was something completely different.

There was a reason Nidoqueen had gone first, it was in the front of her mind and radiating out like a neon sign to her. Just as Ash had done some planning around what Pokémon Janine could have, she had also been looking him up.

What she was doing was a combination she had recently been working on, one triggered by her saying something specific (she'd have to actively look to tell what combination of words it was specifically), that would be very difficult for Ash to deal with.

Particularly with the Pokémon that were good for this Gym battle.

She wanted to shout out, as loud as she could think, to Ash what was going on. To tell him what Janine was planning, and that he had to stop it now.

But she couldn't.

'Anabel, if you accidentally overhear the strategy of someone, can you do me a favor? Don't tell me. You can tell anyone else, but try and make sure I don't hear it. I want to see my opponent's strategies myself,' he had asked her nicely the day after the tag tournament.

He didn't want such information.

She would agree that such a thing would be quite unfair, a rougher extreme that Red would probably admit was toeing the line he followed. Even with this knowledge as an accident, the sharing of it was something that many would consider unfair.

Probably more so than overhearing someone's plans accidentally, if only because someone could at least realize where the information might have come from.

However what she had heard was the sort of information that, even if Red thought the sharing of was a bit hard to swallow, would be something he'd still want to hear.

After all, it wasn't a simple case of when to zig or instead to zag, but a single move that would ruin the day for half of Ash's Pokémon he had with him.

...

"Squirtle, use Water Gun as thin as possible!"

"Squir!" Squirtle declared as the turtle's lips narrowed as much as possible with only the thinnest of openings for water to fly through.

The Water Gun that resulted flew through the field extremely thinly, instead of the solid beam of water as was usual.

It was also wider than normal.

Squirtle had mentioned this fire fighting method to him a few weeks ago, and it was finally time to try it out in a battle.

The thin water attack cut through dozens of Nidoqueen that were charging his way, working to expose where the real one was hiding.

The water attack flew all the way into the back of the group, popping two Nidoqueen clones to reveal the original, who took the thin water attack head on while retracting both of her arms from the now disturbed ground.

Nidoqueen wasn't looking so hot after the third water attack, though it was oddly smiling.

"Way to go Squirtle!" Ash complimented the turtle, who let out a affirmative grunt.

The grunt was followed by a disturbance in the field right in front of them.

Squirtle tensed as Ash's eyed widened and Pikachu chirped out in alarm.

"Pikapika!" 'Squirtle, jump with your tail! Nidoqueen must have used Toxic Spikes!'

"Tle?" 'Jump with my tail?' Squirtle wondered in confusion as Janine smirked.

"I see I don't have to spell it out for you. My Nidoqueen was in fact setting up while Double Team was active. As I said, strategy is a factor in winning as much as speed and accuracy, perhaps even more so. The fact you brought your Squirtle suggests you studied up on what I might have on me, and choose Squirtle instead of Krabby to avoid Poison Point." A sly glint appeared in Janine's eyes. "However, I also happened to look up what Pokémon you might bring too. You have several Pokémon that are particularly a problem for my Gym, and I took precautions."

The disturbed ground finally broke open, revealing what Janine had set up for him.

A pointed stone, of which he could see many others like it poking out of every area of the field.

"Nidoqueen has used Stealth Rock," the Pokédex surmised.

Janine grinned in confirmation.

"Yes, yes she has."

….

Iris was glaring at Janine, a faint tremor in her arms as she clenched her fists tightly.

Misty was aware she had been glaring intently since the ninja had pulled those Shuriken, but after revealing that trick of hers the glare was intensifying.

She was surprised Janine wasn't at all concerned. Iris's glare was unsettling, and she wasn't even the target of it.

'Janine is well aware of it. She's amused more than anything, though she does suggest that she should learn to be more subtle in mentally figuring the best way to dismember someone,' Anabel offered, sounding a tad uneasy about the 'be subtle in plotting to kill people' message.

She saw Squirtle blast Nidoqueen clean in the jaw again. Janine's Pokémon went down, meaning Ash had taken the first win.

However somehow it didn't feel that way. The win felt like it was more Janine's than Ash's.

After all, all three of them had helped Ash come up with what Pokémon he would use at this Gym battle.

They had suggested the likeliness of Toxic Spikes, and as a result had Ash work around it. He had thought about bringing Muk to clear them out, but Anabel had pointed out the issues with that.

Namely that Muk would not be able to do much, and if Janine managed to take out Muk or leave Muk as the last Pokémon he'd have a tough time. Muk was not an offensive Pokémon, and would not be able to out last other Poison Pokémon as well as it could other types.

Bulbasaur had also come up, but apparently tensions flared up at the ranch just before the Gym battle and getting Bulbasaur back would be problematic.

So the discussion had turned to focusing on avoiding Stealth Rock with flying-types.

The same Pokémon Stealth Rock would tear apart.

Half of the team did not want to deal with Stealth Rock. The other half included Squirtle and Pikachu…and if this battle went on full he'd have to use a flying type at some point.

…

"Squirtle," Ash questioned as Janine returned Nidoqueen and thanked her, "you can stay in for a while, right?"

"Squirt!" Squirtle gave him a thumbs up. 'I can.'

"The odds of Squirtle soloing a Gym of this nature is highly against you," the Pokédex snarked.

"Got any good news?" He read somewhere Rapid Spin was bad for Spikes and Stealth Rock. Maybe Squirtle could remember how to use the move?

Maybe it could say 'if Squirtle does X, you can get rid of Stealth Rock even without Rapid Spin.'

"Actually yes. Your Pidgeot just returned to Professor Oak's ranch, and has a letter on her. If you were to transfer her ball over, you will get the letter as she is currently in a healing machine to help her rest from the flight."

Oh, that was good news. Not what he was necessarily hoping for right now, but still good news.

Janine had a Great Ball in hand, so she was about to send out her second Pokémon. Hopefully it would be Nidoking.

"Go!" Janine shouted, throwing the Great Ball and letting it explode out into her second Pokémon.

"Weez!" declared a multi-headed Pokémon Ash hadn't seen in ages.

He somehow didn't think this would go as easily as he remembered it.

"Weezing, the Poison Gas Pokémon. Weezing consumes pollutants and trash to sustain itself, and is highly explosive. Do not electrify."

So like Koffing then. Do not use Thunderbolt. That meant if Squirtle got knocked out, he only really had one option that wouldn't take Stealth Rock as well as Brock took a reminder from Croagunk to not flirt.

"Pikapika." 'Don't overthink it. You won't have to worry about blowing up the place if Squirtle takes out Weezing,' his partner advised.

Good point.

"Sludge Bomb!" Janine called as Weezing made a horking sound from both heads.

"Dodge it!" Ash declared. Squirtle hopped to the left of a first shot, than the second from the other mouth.

The sludge sizzled on the ground for a few moments in a manner that reminded Ash of an egg. Ash wasn't sure if that was bad or weird or normal….so he'd just ignore it for now.

"Water Gun!"

"Double Team!" Janine called as Weezing duplicated itself.

The water attack struck a Weezing right in the little link below the smaller head, dissipating itself in the process. Squirtle fired two more quick blasts, striking two other Weezing in the same spot.

Both dissipated as well.

The Weezing dupes were still floating around Squirtle, orbiting him like gaseous moons.

Were there gaseous moons? They had gaseous planets, did they also come in moon form?

"Sludge Bomb!"

"Dodge the real one, then use Brine!" Ash ordered seconds after volleys of sludge came at Squirtle. Squirtle watched the coming sludge for a moment, before hopping out the way of one set.

Two others struck him, but flew right through him as Squirtle narrowed his eyes on a single Weezing opposite the first dupe lost.

"Tle." 'Got you.' And with that, a salty blast of water flew right at said Weezing, striking it dead of center in the small nub.

It didn't poof away, and instead was sent spinning to the ground in constant spinning motion. The duplicates faded away.

"Yes!" Iris cheered at the success.

'Squirtle has really good eyesight,' Anabel complimented him.

"Bind Squirtle with Infestation!"

Janine's call made the cheer go away though, as Weezing's eyes glowed a light green, followed by a green light rising out of the ground beneath Squirtle, binding the turtle as the ends dug into Squirtle with what almost look liked teeth…

"Those chains are made of bugs!" Misty shouted in horror as the energy that came out manifested, and indeed it looked like a chain of glowing bugs had arose from the ground and bound themselves into Squirtle, with the ends of each bug chain biting into Squirtle's shoulders and knees with teeth.

About half a timeline of joking at Misty for her fear of bugs faded instantly. While the idea of fearing a Caterpie would still be hilarious, glowing energy bug chains did make her fears look justified.

"Squir!" 'What the, ow! This freakin'….'

Weezing hit the ground head first, before bouncing back up only a tad dazed and floating back up as if it was filled with light gas….

Which it was, come to think of it. So that did make sense.

"Now Sludge Bomb!" Both heads of Weezing swelled a bit, before horking out two sludge bombs bursts.

The poison bombs struck Squirtle, shattering the Infestation chains and sending the turtle skidding across the field.

Squirtle didn't move, and so the ninja ref made the call.

"Squirtle is unable to battle! The winner is Weezing!"

And with that, the battle was now tied 1-1, and Stealth Rock would now begin to take its toll.

"Return," Ash declared as he called back the turtle.

"You did a good job buddy, I don't plan on letting it go to waste." Ash declared as he eyed the Weezing.

This was going to hurt, but there was only one Pokémon for this job.

"Go!" Ash sent out his second Pokémon, who appeared on the field in a burst of light.

"Free!" Butterfree declared. 'So I'm up? Good, hope this goes better than the last one.'

Butterfree's optimistic statement was followed by stones shooting up from the ground and impacting into him like fireworks, sending him spiraling towards the ground with a downed plane.

He recovered before he hit the ground, but wasn't flying all that well in the aftermath. Nor that high.

'Ow!'

Janine smirked before pointing.

"Bind it!" Weezing's eyes glowed Infestation green once more.

"Get out of the way!" Ash declared as Butterfree fluttered up, a few winces from the Stealth Rock damage but none the less avoiding a pincer movement of bug chains.

"I know this is going to be rough, but I need you to pull through it," Ash told Butterfree, who nodded and seemed to fly a bit steadier than before.

Still, the burst of will from encouragement won't last forever. He'd have to be quick.

"Sleep Powder!" At Ash's command Buttefree's wings glittered with the green powder, before unleashing it in a massive wave.

"Use Smokescreen!" Janine called for James's original signature move. Weezing obliged, unleasing a thick cloud of black smoke from itself in a massive gust.

The smoke collided with the powder, blocking it and rendering it inert. The Smokescreen itself lingered around Weezing, concealing its exact position.

Buttefree eyed the nostalgic technique with some thought.

"Free?" 'Should I start using Psybeam until I hit it?'

No, that would waste time and leave an opening. They'd be better off just getting rid of it now.

"Silver Wind!" Ash exclaimed instead. Butterfree again began flapping his wings, releasing a glittering wind of silver dust instead of sleeping powder.

The wind collided with the Smokescreen cloud, pushing it back and exposing Weezing, while also covering the poison gas beast in stinging scales.

The cloud was pushed back right at Janine, who covered her mouth with her scarf moments and shut her eyes just before the cloud blew over her.

She'd be unable to give commands for a few seconds, and that was the opening to take advantage of.

"Now Psybeam!" Ash's declaration began even as the light began to gather in Butterfree's eyes.

He knew the plan even before he had to say it.

The Psybeam blasted right between Weezing's main head, knocking it to the ground even as the Smokescreen dissipated and Janine could see again.

The first thing she got to see….

"Weezing is unable to battle! The winner is Butterfree!"

Was the match go 2-1 in his favor.

"Way to go Buttefree!" He heard Misty cheer and he gave his own thanks.

"Free…." 'Thanks….' However as the thanks was given Ash noticed just how tired Butterfree sounded.

"Pika…." 'Butterfree sounds more tired than Squirtle was after battling Nidoqueen, and it didn't even get hit by an attack.'

Such was the power of Stealth Rock it seemed.

"I need you to hang in there, Butterfree," Ash told his flying bug.

"Especially given that if you are recalled you will just be returned to the field and hit by the Stealth Rock again," the Pokédex absently informed it.

Pikachu glared at the Pokédex for that comment as Janine threw out a third Great Ball.

"Go!" Janine called as the Great Ball released a large blue bat, who fluttered in the air more stably than Butterfree.

"Golbat, the Bat Pokémon. Golbat's speed makes it very annoying to cave travelers. If you find a Golbat with a missing tooth, that means it attempted to get blood from a Pokémon with hard skin, like a Golem or Steelix. The missing tooth is nature's way of telling Golbat to not do it again."

"Free." 'Not exactly helpful to me.'

"Use Sleep Powder!" Ash went for the crippling blow first. Butterfree released a wave of the powder attack towards Golbat.

"Use Double Team!" And it did hit a lot of the resulting Golbat dupes, but about a dozen of them avoided the powder sweep and began flying around the injured Butterfree, swarming around like a looming demise.

…

"She sure likes using Double Team," Misty noted the third straight use of the technique.

'It appears to be an effective way of distracting the opponent while she sets up her trickier moves,' Anabel agreed as she watched the speedy dance of the Golbats.

Keeping track of where the real Golbat was in all of that was not going to be simple. She wasn't even sure how Janine managed it.

She'd look, but she'd rather not risk blurting it out to Ash. No one would be happy with her about it, except the Pokédex and Iris.

Speaking of whom, the latter was back to watching Janine with her regular level of 'you were going to throw dangerous metal objects at Ash' anger.

…

The Golbat were going to need to go away.

"Use String Shot like a whip on all of them!" Ash made the call as Butterfree spat out a long wad of silk.

"Taunt!" Janine ordered. Golbat's eyes flashed red, as the String Shot went limp and fell to the ground.

"Now use Steel Wing!"

"Dodge it!" Ash ordered as the Golbat swarm began to descended, pursuing a similarly dropping Butterfree.

The Golbat however, were faster, and a dozen Golbat flew into Butterfree at once.

The dupes faded away, leaving a single Golbat after the Steel Wing made contact. Said Golbat used Double Team to return to swarm status as Butterfree hit the ground with a loud thump.

"Butterfree is unable to battle! The winner is Golbat!"

"Return!" Ash declared as Butterfree came back.

"Thanks for everything. Perhaps I should have made the call for Silver Wind instead," Ash reflected as the Golbat continued to swarm above head.

"Chu," Pikachu tensed, ready to jump out and battle.

"Hold it," Ash told him quickly, causing his best buddy to look at him in confusion.

'Electric beats Flying, and Stealth Rock won't hurt me much. What's the problem?'

'Well for one thing, if she's been studying me, that means she might have seen Pidgeotto's Steel Wing to counter electric attacks trick. She might have that, and even if she doesn't Golbat's Double Team copies are moving so fast together it''ll be hard for you to blast them all. Come to think of it…' Ash felt an idea coming along.

"Pikapi." Pikachu stared at him.

'Ash, stop overthinking things. Sometimes the simplest solution is the best. Just go with your gut.'

He was, and his gut was telling him that it was best to take a gamble here.

And so, he reached for one of his two non-regular balls on him at the moment, and clicked it.

"Stop you fool! That strategy isn't rational!" the Pokédex declared.

Ash ignored the device and threw the ball forward.

"I believe this is the best way to deal with Golbat's Double Team, you'll see! Yamna, I choose you!"

The Park Ball opened, revealing his fast Bug-type from Crimson City's Park.

As the rocks flew up and struck Yanma, the Pokédex growled something.

"I'd like to say that you are being an idiot and trying to lose, but you have proven oddly resilient to it and even your single true loss so far had you fair better than you should have. Should this gamble fail and you find yourself with only one Pokémon to best this Golbat and the following choice of Janine's I will give you a rant, until then I have a paleontology paper to download and analyze."

As the Dex began muttering something, almost under its breath, about the idea that Fossil Pokémon did not naturally have Rock-typing and gained it via how they were preserved and revived, Ash ignored it and looked towards the uneasily recovering Yanma.

"Yanma I know that stung, but this is the perfect battle for you! I know you can do it."

Yanma looked back at him, Yanma's large eyes reflecting back at him a different sort of look than what he saw in any of his original Pokémon.

It wasn't quite trust. It was still being developed, still being forged, though a foundation was there. Built on previous successes and the respect Ash gave to Yanma's preferred battling style, a proto trust.

Yanma nodded back as Janine smirked.

"Perfect battle huh? I'd like to see what makes you think that, Golbat use Air Cutter!" The Golbat swarm flew towards Yanma, wings shimmering with wind slices that were sent flying towards Yanma in a torrential downpour.

Only a few of them would actually hurt, but they'd hurt a lot. If they hit it at all at least.

"Use Detect and fly right through them!" Ash called. Yanma flew forward without hesitation, eyes glowing with the sensory power.

The first few Air Cutter flew right through Yanma, but the next volley was avoided with a sudden sharp turn. Said Air Cutter's flew into the ground and exploded into a burst of displaced dust.

The real Air Cutters.

Janine wasn't deterred though.

"Detect isn't consistent for rapid use, I doubt you can avoid this. Steel Wing!" The Golbat's flew towards Yanma, who had pushed through the swarm of Air Cutters to find a solid formation of Golbat flying towards him like a giant ball.

The ball would hit Yanma in a giant fist, the real Golbat delivering the physical blow from somewhere within it.

It would probably hurt.

"Dodge it at the last second!" Ash told Yanma, who buzzed in place tensely as the ball came at it head on.

"You'd have to be very sure about Yanma's speed if you want to pull that off," Janine pointed out.

"Yanma are on average faster than Golbat, though they in turn are slower than Golbat's evolution Crobat and Aerodactyl. Though a 'Extant Aerodactyl' without the rock attribute could very much be faster," the Pokédex mused the last bit as it read through the document it had obtained for analysis.

Regardless of how fast a 'Extant' Aerodactyl was, eventually Yanma began to bank downwards. The banking was heralded by a slight green glow, and just as the fist got within punching distance Yanma had sped right under it, moving behind it with the enhanced speed given to it by the power of Speed Boost.

"Perfect! Now Yanma, use your wings to destroy the Double Team!" Ash declared.

He did not mean with Wing Attack.

Yanma knew what he meant, and began vibrating his wings faster and faster with the glow of Speed Boost egging them on. Powerful shock waves became visible as they raked through the air, striking into Golbat swarm like a tempest.

The Golbats were rapidly dispelled, and the one that remained was left disoriented.

A raindrop fell from the ceiling, hitting just beyond his foot.

"Pi?" 'Rain?' Pikachu questioned as all present looked up.

Janine visibly flinched at what that sonic attack had done to her ceiling and upper walls, before looking at him with an odd expression.

Given that her ceiling and upper walls now had gashes in them that looked like someone had throwing a giant flailing Meowth at it, it was not an unwarranted look?"

"You know, my father said this would eventually happen, but it is still a shock to see it having happened."

"Sorry about that," Ash apologized as Janine shook her head.

"No, you should be apologizing to Yanma."

"Yanma?" Ash questioned as he looked at his fast Bug-type. "You okay?"

Yanma let out a confused call at the cause of his concern.

"I meant you should have apologized to Yanma for not attacking in the midst of my brief surprise, Taunt!"

Golbat flashed red eyes at Yanma, who shimmered with the effect of Taunt as Janine immediately gave a second command.

"Swift!"

Golbat was now flapping its wings rapidly, releasing dozens of homing stars courtesy of a fifth move. Said stars were now heading right for Yanma.

"Dodge!"

Yanma flew to the side of the stars, who promptly turned and began following Yanma in pursuit. Yanma sped around the edges of the arena, the stars continuing to follow him like a set of heat seeking missiles.

"While you were worried about your opponent's repair bill, she got an advantage! You can't act distracted!" the Pokédex declared.

"It's called empathy, and you're one to talk." Ash muttered to the device that was still probably reading about 'Extant Armaldo' or something.

As Yanma continued to race ahead of the stars, Ash had an idea.

"Yanma, use Quick Attack to speed right at Golbat!" Ash ordered. Yanma hummed a reply, before turning at a square angle and charging at Golbat, the Swift following behind it.

"Pikapi." 'Ash, if you are aiming to hit Golbat with its own Swift that's one of the oldest tricks in the book.'

"Golbat use Steel Wing to protect yourself!"

Clearly it was also known to Janine too. However…

"Use Feint Attack!" Ash told Yanma, who sped right towards Golbat and vanished momentarily.

Moving too fast to be spotted Yanma appeared behind Golbat and the Steel Wing charge, and pushed into Golbat with all the force it could muster. Some green glow from Speed Boost was lost in the push, but Golbat was still sent tumbling into the Swift.

They impacted with explosive force, knocking Golbat back towards a still hovering Yanma without control.

"It's an old trick, but that just means I've had more time to think of how to make it interesting. Yanma use Wing Attack!"

Yanma let out a loud hum of excitement, before flying towards the knocked around bat with glowing wings. Golbat began to regain a stable stance, but Yanma sped by it with glowing white wings before it could complete its recovery.

The attack sent Golbat crashing to the ground in a thump as Yanma spun around and around atop, the red haze of Taunt fading away.

"Golbat is unable to battle!" the ref declared as Janine returned the bat. "Yanma is the winner!"

"It appears you did have a plan that was functional," the Pokédex sounded like if it could shrug it would.

Janine thanked Golbat before looking his way.

"Well, I wish you could have taken that win without damaging the roof, but I'd be remiss if I suggested someone shouldn't take advantage of all possible tactics. Also I'd be a hypocrite. Still, this isn't over yet," she mused as she looked up at the spinning Yanma.

"A fast opponent who can break up my Double Team. You know, I said I was going to try and make Double Team a signature of mine, sort of like Fantina and Hypnosis, but I'm going to have to use a different trick to finish this." She held up another ball his way, though one he recognized from Johto.

The Fast Ball. He had one of those that he never did use.

"This Pokémon doesn't have Double Team as an option in battle, unlike another Ariados I have for people at you're actual, as opposed to legal, level. That of course means four, or maybe even five tricks up my sleeve you need to consider."

"Pikapi!" 'Ash, she is trying to make you overthink!' his buddy snapped his way.

"So, hope you enjoy! Go!" She threw the Fast Ball, revealing in a burst of light a red spider with long yellow and black legs.

"Ariados, the Long Leg Pokémon and the final evolved form of Spinarak. A species that tends to be mutually exclusive with the Joltik and Galvantula Lt. Surge prefers, their thread is highly valued across the world. They suck fluids from their captured prey."

….

"Fluids," Misty said weakly.

"Blood mostly," Iris told her absently, as Misty grew even greener.

…

The rain drops that were slipping in picked up in intensity as the two bugs starred one another down.

One from high above, the other from the ground.

"Hey, would Yanma be going into this with any Predator-Prey disadvantages?" Ash asked the Pokédex absently as the bugs stared each other down.

"Yanma are infrequent prey items of Ariados, yes. They aren't targeted as their wing vibrations irritate them and destroy weaker web fibers."

"So only sort of then. Okay, I can work with that," Ash declared as he looked right at the Ariados that stood between him and his Soul Badge.

"I would be careful going ahead," the Pokédex noted in a serious tone as Yanma continued to speed around the ceiling. "Yanma has not acclimated to you fully yet. It will likely still show wild habits of hiding weakness. How much stamina it has lost since the battle began, even without a hit, is difficult to gleam."

"I'll keep that in mind." Ash appreciated the advice.

"Pin Missile!" Janine called. Even as the rain that began sneaking into the battlefield picked up a bit Araiados's back legs glowed green as sharp streams shot out of them, upwards towards Yanma.

"Detect!" Ash's call for the protective move was met with glowing eyes, as Yanma avoided the streaming attacks with deft dodges to the side of each attack.

"Now Wing Attack!"

The dodging was of course followed up by a charge downward, Yanma's wings glistening white and green from the speedy air attack heading right Ariados's way.

"Smart Strike!" Janine called for a new move to him, and so he had no idea what that meant….

"Smart Strike is a powerful steel attack, manifest in a horn. Trying to avoid it is more trouble than it is worth in the end," the Pokédex offered as Ariados's front horn glowed.

"Got it. Yanma, meet it head on!"

"Yan!"

Yanma turned so that his wings were pointing both at the ground and into the air, before slamming them right into the horn.

Yanma flew out of the impact, just as Ariados hopped out of the attack.

"Circle around Ariados!" Ash called for a second strike, this time without a horn to fight it off.

"Agility!" Janine countered as Ariados glowed white. Yanma sped around to Ariados's back, only to find Ariados facing him there.

This repeated several times, each time Ariados's white aura flaring up again as Ariados grew faster and faster. After a while it turned into a spinning mass of bug types that was frankly starting to make him dizzy.

"Pi." 'That isn't working Ash, you need a new angle.'

Ash agreed, trying to avoid looking at the disorienting bug performance before him as he came up with a new strategy.

His eyes came upon a Stealth Rock.

"Yanma, start pulling out the Stealth Rocks and dropping them on Ariados!"

Yanma stopped orbiting Ariados for a moment to stare at him in confusion, before somewhat reluctantly flying off towards a corner of the field.

Landing on top of a Stealth Rock Yanma began flapping his wings hard, before pulling up with a loud pop, carrying a Stealth Rock.

Yanma then flew back towards the no longer Agility using Ariados, stone ready to be dropped like a bomb.

"An interesting strategy, though I'd save it for when you have a Psychic-type…..Smart Strike!" Janine observed as Yanma sped up and sent the pilfered Stealth Rock flying right at it.

Smart Strike shattered the Stealth Rock on impact, though Yanma flew right over the stunned spider to begin the process again with a second stone.

"Poison Jab!"

Ariados was on Yanma like a speeding comet, a purple burning horn ready to stab it, before the sonic waves that Yanma generated with wing flapping stunned it mid attack.

Yanma took advantage of this by charging forward, Stealth Rock at the ready as a blunt weapon.

The stone was slammed right into Ariados's face, knocking the spider down as Yanma flew for a third one.

….

"Could this actually work?" Misty was curious.

'Yes, but it would take a while. Janine isn't wrong when she says a Psychic-type would manage it better.' Anabel confirmed. 'Regardless, I don't think this battle will go long enough for it to really take effect.'

….

"You know, if you want to play with my rocks, fine. I can play too, Ariados!"

"Ari!" And with that Ariados sped over on top of a Stealth Rock, on top of which it squatted.

For some reason…..

"Yanma, I have no idea what Ariados is doing, and I am not sure I want to find out. Attack!"

Yanma, who had taken out a third Stealth Rock, sped right at Ariados, who hopped off the Stealth Rock it was on top of to the next one.

Yanma sped by said Stealth Rock, only to suddenly wobble and crash on the ground. The Stealth Rock it had taken clattered away from it, as a purple sheen developed over Yanma.

"Yanma!" Ash shouted in surprise at what had just happened.

"Human, perhaps my zooming camera mode will help you figure out what happened," the Pokédex offered.

"You have that?"

"Yes, now look through me!" And so Ash held the Pokédex up to his face, revealing not a data stream but a video of the area Yanma had been poisoned in.

With an audible zoom the Pokédex centered in on it, and he got his answer.

He also had to bite back what he saw.

Attached to the Stealth Rock, held there by glistening white thread, was a little purple spike.

It hissed out purple venom.

"Toxic Spikes?" he said aloud as he lowered the Pokédex from his line of sight. To find Janine grinning at him, as Ariados continued to speed across the field.

"Yes, tied to the Stealth Rock by Ariados here. This is the first time we got to test it in a battle, and it seems to be quite effective. Now when you release your final Pokémon, it will not just be struck by Stealth Rock, but Toxic Spike as well. It will feel, Toxic Rock!"

A distant thunder strike echoed her declaration of Toxic Rock.

"Yanma is unable to battle!" the ninja ref eventually called as Ash returned his third Pokémon to his Park Ball.

"So, tell me, what will you do? You have Pikachu, but can Pikachu run while loaded with toxins? I am sure you must have Charizard, but how long would it even be able to stand up after meeting Toxic Rock head on?"

A flaming fury seemed to emanate from his Pokéball belt. Charizard heard this challenge, and wanted to meet it with burning flames.

However the rain began to really kick in, drenching the field in a powerful downpour.

"Yeah, I would not use Charizard in this battle," the Pokédex recommended, even as the rain failed to dissolve the binding holding the Toxic Rock together, though Ariados did slip as it returned to a starting spot in front of Janine.

For the final battle….in the rain there was only one option.

He reached past Charizard's Pokéball and took up his final Pokémon.

"Charizard, you are strong and I will battle with you next time. Cinnabar will be perfect for you, but for now there is only Pokémon who can win here. Go!"

And with that, he threw the Heal Ball into the air, releasing the final chance he had today.

"Sli!"

Janine rose an eyebrow at the appearance of Sliggoo, the slimy purple dragon of Kalos.

The Stealth Rock shot up and struck it, including a dig of Toxic Spikes. Sliggoo winced, even as the rain covered Sliggoo and basked him in a green healing glow.

"This is what internet searches are for, letting me know what that exactly is. Dragon huh…..Pin Missle!" Ariados's back legs glowed once more for attack.

"Counter with Dragon Breath!" Sliggoo took a deep breath, before firing back with the whirling dragon wind.

The two attacks collided, with the Pin Missiles blown away and Ariados was struck with the powerful wind attack.

Ariados stood back up after the hit, only to wince as yellow static covered its body.

"Ariados," Janine stated in concern.

"Dragon Breath, a Dragon-type move capable of paralysis. I am programmed with seven jokes at the expense of Clair for the reason of paralysis, courtesy of post launch updates," the Pokédex mused as Ash was confused.

Clair jokes? Dragon Breath? Why?

"Good going Sliggoo! Unlike you, Ariados can't heal with the rain!" Ash declared.

"Sli!"

"Ar…" Ariados winced as it struggled through the condition. It was weak, and not all that intimidating. Even Misty would probably not scream if she heard it randomly.

"Goo…."

However it wasn't Misty freaking out. No, it was Sliggoo, who was suddenly fighting like mad, backing away as far as it could from Ariados, tripping over stones and flailing on a ground in a manner more suited to a Magikarp than…a non Magikarp.

Sliggoo sounded…terrified.

"What's going on Sliggoo?" Ash called, but Sliggoo didn't see to hear him amidst panic that only Sliggoo knew the origin of.

…

"What's going on? Did Ariados use a move?" Misty questioned.

"No," Iris noted seriously as she looked at Sliggoo, a look of pity in her eyes. Axew popped out of her hair to let out a worried grunt. "Ariados didn't use a move to do it. It didn't need to."

…

"Ash, I only know you got your Sliggoo as a Goomy not far from Lavender Town," Janine spoke even as Sliggoo continued to freak out.

"Yeah…." What did that have to do with anything?!

He'd appreciate any idea what was going on. This was a new one for him.

"Do you know what happened to Sliggoo before that?" Janine continued as he shook his head.

"Goomy was in the posession of a thief, but beyond that."

"Pika." 'Ash, I think Sliggoo is scared of Ariados, and a lot more than Misty is.'

Pikachu's interpretation of Sliggoo's fit was followed by Janine's own.

"If I'd have to guess, I think your Sliggoo suffered a trauma at some point, probably as a Goomy. It seems that hearing Ariados triggered it, so it was probably related to one. Maybe one ate its entire family, I don't know. Normally this would be when some stuck up ass tells you that you should have known better and that you fail as a human being, but Ariados aren't common enough around here to really test for such a fear out in the same way a trauma terror on Raticate would be. I do hate to win because of such a phobia, but do remember that you have no way of knowing such a fear was there at all."

"Poison Jab!" Ariados charged at the flailing Sliggoo, poison horn at the ready to strike. The strike took Sliggoo in the center, impacting with a loud thump.

Sliggoo didn't budge, but he did briefly glow poison purple before the rain washed away the status with Hydration.

Sliggoo continued to wail in terror only it could see behind his blind eyes, even as Ariados prepared another Poison Jab, only to be stalled by Dragon Breath's lingering paralysis.

"Sliggoo!" Ash called, trying again to reach his terrified Pokémon. His hand reached for his Heal Ball, wondering if it was time to let this challenge go.

This defeat would sting, but he'd work from it. He'd help Sliggoo overcome this fear, he'd be ready for Janine's tricks in round two. He could do it.

But would Squirtle want to see his hard work lead to no win? Butterfree? Yanma?

He pulled his hand away from the Heal Ball, he'd try a bit more before throwing in the towel.

"Sli! Goo! Goo!"

"Sliggoo!" Ash declared with all the concern and care he could muster, maintaining it as he set his sights on bursting through Sliggoo's fears.

"I don't know what an Ariados, or many Ariados…"

"Ariadosi," the Pokédex offered.

"Sure, did to you. I can't possibly even begin to imagine…but this isn't the same Ariados. It's a different one, and you are stronger now. You, me, Iris, Pikachu, the others…we've all gotten stronger together. You played a huge part at Celadon, and I need you to help me again. I don't need you to no longer be afraid of Ariados, that's more than I can ask anyone to be if they fear something that much, I need you to show me how strong you are. Strong enough to fight your fear, hold it at bay, and defeat an Ariados! You are stronger than this Ariados, don't forget it! Your Dragon Breath overpowered it, don't ever forget that!"

"Moving, but I don't think that will be quite enough…" Janine stopped talking, even as the paralysis on Ariados recessed, as Sliggoo began to stop wailing.

He had heard Ash.

Sliggoo slowly molded his lower body to push himself back up, standing tall. Sliggoo was still quivering, still twitchy, but he was standing.

"Sliggoo of Earth, you have the ability to overcome great fear," the Pokédex let out a small compliment.

Sliggoo wasn't over his fears, but he was trying to stand up to them. Knowing that a terror existed before it, yet was ready to fight against it.

"Let's end this in one attack, Sliggoo," Ash declared. It would probably be best to not drag this out anyway, in case something else in Sliggoo was overwhelmed by trauma.

"Sli." Sliggoo declared as Janine stared back at him.

"I'm all for you managing to push past Sliggoo's surprise trauma for a moment, but a single Dragon Breath or Sludge Wave won't defeat Ariados."

"We'll see about that," Ash declared as Sliggoo began to glow.

"Again!?" the Pokédex stated in surprise as Ash stared at the changing form before him in surprise.

"I don't plan these thing," he told the machine.

"Charmeleon, Pidgeot, Red's Charizard, and now this. Ever try evolving Pokémon when they are supposed to?" the Pokédex asked as Sliggoo began to grow.

"Sliggoo evolved from Goomy outside of a major battle, same with Sewpa, and Butterfree both times. Charizard and Servine didn't evolve in the midst of a battle."

"I don't have to explain the faulty logic for the latter two's inclusion as defenses on your part, do I?" the Pokédex questioned as the light surrounding Sliggoo faded, revealing a new Pokémon.

"Goo!" The Pokémon declared with a deeper voice, now a massive purple Pokémon who stood taller than anyone in this room, with a large tail and a pair of arms having grown. A large head had a pair of length antennae sticking out, and as the Pokémon turned his way he could see a large pair of green eyes look at him with friendly intent.

…

"Sliggoo can only evolve during rainstorms. Ash probably was not aware of it when he used Sliggoo, though I am sure he will enjoy the results," Iris explained with a wicked smile, her glare disappearing for the first time since Janine appeared.

"A Pokémon that needs rain to evolve?" Misty questioned as the broken roof of the Gym continued to contribute what had led Ash to this point in a great downpour.

'Assume we can avoid the ninjas, I will be teleporting us back,' Anabel stated simply, though all the while looking at Ash with a grin on her face.

…

"Goodra, the Dragon Pokémon. Goodra's evolution is triggered in the rain, and uses the water to help build up its new form. Goodra are friendly creatures, but possess great power." The Pokédex gave the evolution a name as Ash smiled.

"Let's win this in one go."

"Dra." Goodra gave him back a nervous smile, but one that said he was quite willing to do so.

"Pi." 'Assuming that the Ariados doesn't attack while we are….'

"Ariados use Poison Jab!" Janine proved Pikachu, Ariados lunged at Goodra, poison power glittering upon its horn.

Goodra yowled and swung his new tail, the limb hitting Ariados mid-lunge and knocking the bug to the ground with a thud.

"Now finish this off with Dragon Breath!" Goodra yowled as he sucked in air, before unleashing the massive dragon tempest right at Ariados.

Ariados made to leap out of the way, but the gust struck it and sent the bug flying.

Ariados flew all the way to the distant wall, hitting it with a thud and knocking it to the ground.

Goodra shivered a bit until the Ariados had sunk to the ground and remained still. Then he calmed down a bit.

"Ariados is unable to battle! The winner is Goodra! The match goes to the challenger Ash of Pallet Town!"

Before Ash could even say he won, he was charged and hugged by Goodra, who picked him up and held him close to his chest.

"Draa!" Goodra let out a call that was both joyful in victory, and releasing all the remaining horror from hearing and then seeing an Ariados again.

"Goodra that's great but.." Goodra hugged him tighter as he talked.

"Goodra like to hug people. People hugged by Goodra are coated in slime," the Pokédex muttered as Pikachu stared at the spectacle in amusement.

A look shared by Janine, who returned Ariados to the Fast Ball it came from and moved towards Ash, before stopping.

…

Misty didn't miss the glare that Iris re-applied in vigor as Janine walked over to them.

In Iris's defense though, Janine did slip out a pink heart from between her fingers the same way she had with the shuriken from earlier. That wasn't going to get Iris to relax around her.

"I'd get in there, but I don't want to be sucked into that hug. So when Goodra lets him go, give him this for me, would you."

"Sure." Misty agreed as she was handed the badge, as Janine turned to witness the further adventures of Ash in his new status as a human sized plush toy for large dragons.

"I thought I had a pretty good plan, and it probably still was. Yet he managed to work through it, and even something I didn't plan for. It is probably good he found out about Goodra's phobia now, instead of at the League."

"He's not quite ready for it yet, but he's getting there. One more good battle should do it. He mentioned Cinnabar, that should do it. He will get far, but he won't win."

With that note, Misty found herself joining Iris in glaring at Janine. She noticed in the corner of her eye that Anabel was also giving Janine a 'what the hell' look.

"He's good, and he'll only get better. But he choose the wrong year to start. You see, my father is competing for the Elite Four, and to qualify you need to win a League. This is my father's year, and he will win it. Ash is cleverer than most, but he can't outwit a master like my father. Perhaps next year he can win."

"Your father can just try again next year," Iris declared as Janine smirked.

"I fully expect we will see. Take as long as you need to get back, I don't mind you staying until the rain ends."

And with that note Janine hurried off, possibly to call in someone to repair the place.

"Goodra please, can you let me go?"

Even as Ash kept being hugged by the second coming of Muk (this time with physical mass).

'Someone check for cameras, I may have to teleport him out of there.' Anabel declared with the upmost seriousness.

AFTER THE GYM BATTLE, NORTHWEST OF FUSCHIA CITY

Elsewhere however, another's journey to a challenge given to him had yielded unexpected results.

"Clefairy," Red pointed at the shivering Team Rocket grunt, who stared at the Clefairy that had been thrown at him and his dark metal car waggling its fingers at him in an unimpressed manner.

"Look kid, I get you want to be the hero, but throwing some puff ball at me isn't how ya do now. I mean, thanks for the extra Pokémon for the boss but-Gahh!"

His flat statement was interrupted by Gravity intensifying around him, holding him against the ground as Red avoided the stunned Rocket and the slowly approaching Clefairy to said Grunt.

(Pikachu giving both an unusually wide birth, while Yellow was going for the front of the car with Haunter, who stuck a hand through the door and began fidgeting with the lock.)

Red and Pikachu instead were coming at this from the back of the car.

Pikachu's fist glowed with the power of Brick Break and smashed the door, The internal mechanisms crumbled, and Red took a hold of both door handles and pulled.

The doors flew open with protesting screams of metal, revealing the interior contents.

Just as said doors opened a colorful music note floated by them.

Clefairy must have used Sing. It would probably use Nightmare next.

That note aside Red hopped into the vehicle, followed by Pikachu.

The inside of the car had a variety of boxes, all labeled with the name Silph Co and 'Silph Co Storage and Testing Facility 4.'

Given what they had heard earlier from the last Trainer he had defeated (a good way to get some practical experience done with Kangaskhan, Rhyhorn, and Ekans), said 'Storage and Testing Facility' had been robbed by Team Rocket a few days ago, with getaway trucks driving off in all directions to avoid pursuit and the ability to be followed back to wherever it was Team Rocket hid itself away in.

Here was one of those very trucks, with all its stolen goods.

Thieving from a thief was hardly wrong after all, and he could use more stuff. Particularly if it was out in this thing for a week playing 'avoid the cops' and had done so well enough it could take ages for them to find it.

He scanned for anything loose first, and only noticed two things that weren't held in metal crates.

The first was a clipboard, with a slip from a ethics inspection. Facility 4 apparently had only last month been declared as performing perfectly ethical examinations of how Pokémon reacted to Repels, Potions, etc, but could use better break standards for its human workers.

The second was a red and white rounded container, which warranted further examination.

Tapping the front of it, it hissed and opened up, revealing a series of Pokéballs inside. Pikachu hopped up beside them and sniffed them curiously, before darting off again.

Curious, Red reached for the clipboard and flipped it over to see if it had anything.

The second page in fact did.

"Transport Pokémon K-01-12, K-106-4, K-131-2, K-132-2, K-132-4, and K-142-01, to Celadon University's Pokémon Genetics Department. Allowed period of testing on these specific Pokémon has been reached, and Pokémon are to be removed from Silph Co's possession and join breeding program for rarer species."

Nothing specific as to what they are, but these were Pokémon no one owned that Team Rocket had stolen.

A part of Red worried if any other such Pokémon were in the other cars, and if they'd reach Team Rocket. Nothing he could do about it in any case, but it was still a problem.

Closing the case and holding it in hand, he'd find out what they were later. It was time to see what was in the other crates.

Red opened the first crate (after a few moments of struggle and Pikachu pointing out the button on the side that said 'open' with an amused look), to reveal a box filled with scopes labeled with a golden S.

Not sure what those were, so Red skipped them and went to the next one.

A button press later revealed a trove of healing potions and similar medicines. He would be taking many of them momentarily, he was running low and these would just spoil if he left them here.

The third crate was filled with confidential looking bank statements. Red immediately closed the crate with a button press.

There was a difference between grabbing potions stolen from Silph Co, and grabbing the bank statements stolen from Silph Co. You didn't scavenge people's bank accounts.

The fourth crate was also filled with perishable goods, specifically crates of Pokémon vitamins and food. He would also take as many of these as he could, and would be feeding them to his Pokémon.

They were labeled, right? (They were, as he checked moments later)

The fifth crate contained a series of plastic cases, each holding what looked like USB drives.

He recognized said USB-like devices.

"This is a Technical Manual. I got it from Brock. It's great for helping teach Pokémon all sorts of moves. I probably should use it more, but when I do it's been a great help." Ash had shown off a similar U.S.B during their team up.

He immediately grabbed one of the Technical Manuals and ripped it free, discarding the plastic on the floor before poking at the next box.

There had to be something here that could read it.

Crate six was of no help, given it was just filled with fancy parchment for mailing to people.

Crate seven on the other hand, was a bit more fruitful.

Red lifted up the first boxed product that was in the box, flipping it over to see the exact specifics and taking note of what details he cared about.

POKE-GEAR ADVANCED SP

BLUE MODEL

DUAL SCREEN

USB-COMPATIBLE,

CD access requires additional add-on sold separately

MAPS OF THE KANTO AND JOHTO REGIONS, AS WELL AS DECOLORES, ORANGE, and SEVII ISLANDS INSIDE

Additional maps sold separately, require internet connection.

Another box was ripped apart, and the Technical Manual now had place to give him its information.

Before he could go on to crate eight though…

"Red!" He turned around as Yellow darted over to the back of the truck, excitement all over her face.

"The front is filled with all sorts of stuff. I found a crate of Pokéballs, and his wallet! Also, I can't seem to find the grunt or Clefairy…" He felt Pikachu shiver even from a foot away at that statement.

Two days later, on the road

The fact that there was a waterfall around was something they hadn't expected.

Heck he only found it while looking for a place to go the bathroom.

But he had found it, and it was a rare one.

It was a waterfall that wasn't too cold or too powerful, but was also large enough to fully engulf a person. It even was decently secluded.

A perfect place to shower in the absence of a showerhead and faucet.

He'd test it out himself first though, just to make sure there was nothing glaringly wrong with it.

"Should have brought shampoo or something," Ash noted aloud.

Normally this would be where Pikachu or the Pokédex asks 'who brings shampoo to go to the bathroom', but Pikachu was still sleeping (for what reasons Ash did not want to know, especially given the fact he knew that Anabel's Eevee had been late getting back, similarly late to Pikachu….), and he did not need the Pokédex telling him his kidney's function levels.

To dispel both mental images Ash lifted both arms above his head to try and get more of his body washed, opening his eyes through the waterfall's veil to find that he wasn't alone.

Iris was standing in front of him, looking him in the eye.

"Gah!" Ash quickly lowered his arms back to cover himself, causing Iris to look at him oddly.

"Not sure why you are doing that. Do you think I am looking down there? Is that a thing that humans do?" She continued to look him straight on, not caring for his state of dress.

Embarrassment was still swelling through him, and he was sure his face was bright red. What was going to happen next?

He noticed her eyes wander a bit, mostly at his upper body. He supposed that was good, given that he was not going to move his arms, though he wondered what she was looking at and why she had an appraising look in her eyes.

Was she looking at his muscles? He had them sure, and he was more defined in the chest than before Cyrus did his thing, but he wasn't a body builder or anything.

And why was he suddenly concerned about the fact he had chest hair?

Axew popped out of Iris's hair, making Ash wonder what was going to happen next.

She….wasn't going to strip down herself and join him, was she?

Would that be more or less awkward because Iris wouldn't see anything weird about it?

"You said that you wanted to get stronger, and that you would help me get stronger." She reminded him of what he had said to her when they first joined up post Cyrus.

"I have, haven't I? I've helped you and Excadrill and…" Iris nodded to silence his response.

"You have, but I think it is time for you yourself to get even stronger," she declared as she poked him in his right pec. Ash briefly wondered when she'd gotten so close but put the thought to the back of his mind as she spoke again. "You are not lacking, you never have been, but you need to be stronger yourself. Faster. I want you to be able to pick up on the next Janine." She said her name with distaste. The way she spat the Gym Leader's name spawned another question in Ash's mind but wasn't really important, there were more important things happening.

"She wasn't going to…." Ash reflexively began to raise his arms for the argument, but forced them down before Iris could see anything.

She might not care, but he did!

"The next person might. Ash, I know you have not fully been lacking in practice, but you need more of it. Misty and Anabel too. We all need to get stronger, hone our abilities so we are ready for whatever might happen next. You said it would take a while until your next Gym. By then, I am sure you will see notable improvement."

She finished her declaration by reaching for the bottom of her shirt and rapidly tearing it off. Ash quickly spun around before he saw something he shouldn't, Iris might not mind nudity but if his mother found out about this he'd die of embarrassment before he could save the world from Cyrus.

….

The next few moments were blotted from his mind by embarrassment, though he wasn't sure how he could exactly get out of this situation without having Iris feel rejected.

So now here he still was, under a waterfall. Naked. With a equally naked Iris on his right, washing her hair out with a lot less apprehension than he had. Ash was glad that the waterfall was cool so he didn't end up in a more embarrassing situation than he already was.

Ash felt very pleased with himself that he wasn't looking too far down Iris's body, though he wasn't able to keep himself from noticing some details.

He had seen Misty in several swimsuits on the S.S Anne (she had shown them off to him), and as a result he did see her body fairly clearly.

Misty had grown into the body type of her older sisters. There was no denying that she was a Sensational Sister, even if that implied some really poor behaviors this time around. She would probably surpass them in physical beauty as much as she had in personality in some time, if he had to be honest.

Iris was taller than both of them, with a body covered in wirily muscle all across a slim figure. Her body was uniform, not curvy like Misty's which many would probably prefer but Iris' form showed the appeal of a different body type and lifestyle, one of a more active woman.

Both of them may not be as prone to yelling at him as before time broke, but he still would not ever say which body form looked nicer. He was pretty sure there were no winners in that discussion, and he wasn't sure how one would even choose.

Her dark skin, a color so much different than any of his other friends except Brock, and even then it was a different shade.

If Brock had a skin tone like the earth, of fertile soil, hers resembled that of tree bark. What tree bark specifically Ash would have to think on, but one of the lighter, nicer bark types. Slight marks were all over her skin, which Ash was fairly certain were small scars acquired throughout her life. They weren't large or massive, like the ones that you'd see on blockbuster movie heroes, but they were numerous all over her body.

Yet so small Ash doubted there was much of a story to half of them, if not most of them.

Her long dark hair cascaded, soaked even as she ran her hands through it, hooking out with her fingers sticks and leaves from its extensive mass.

If just to keep his eyes from focusing on her breasts, he was male and stood next to a naked girl after all, he forced a question out to keep his attention elsewhere.

"Why is your hair so long?"

Iris stopped as her fingers and a twig left said hair.

"It must be hard to keep up. Wouldn't shorter hair be more practical?" He knew enough about hair care to know that.

"It probably would be. Axew could easily ride in a Pokéball."

"Ax." Axew let out a sound of complaint about that idea from the dry stones, having just put Iris's clothes on a branch near his own for airing purposes.

"But I like having him out with me. Plus, I guess I just like it this way." She shrugged as she looked his way again.

The fact her eyes were focused on his face and upper body kept his arms from reflexively covering himself again. Why draw attention there and start a scaring and possibly scarring conversation?

"You are taller," she observed.

"I am?" Well, that would explain why his ankles were getting chilly.

"You and Misty were basically as tall as one another when we first met, now you are taller than her. You are nearly as tall as I am, and I have not grown in a while. You will probably end up taller than me." She noted with no jealousy in her tone, just a matter of fact.

"How tall is that exactly?" How tall was he going to get? Sure Belladonna was an optional scale but he had no idea how tall she was compared to him….

"I was told I was some sort of measurement while I was in Oblivia about a year ago. Does one hundred eighty eight centimeters mean anything to you?"

"Not a clue."

"Same here. The person who told me that sounded like that was unusual, at least for a girl. I'm sure you will get even more of those centimeters." It was silent for a while as the water washed over both of their bodies, before Iris began talking again.

"I will not help you with your ability to strengthen Pokémon. I may think you should use it more, but it is your decision and I will not force you. I want you to be able to fight your own battles one day, not make it so you can have Pikachu defeat Rayquaza."

"I did tell you about that time I caught a Kangaskhan's punch, right?" Ash recalled his encounter with Felgrand as Iris grinned in approval.

"Like I said, you are not entirely without your own strength. I just want you to be able to throw the next Kangaskhan to the ground and hold it there."

There was something about the grin she was giving him that made Ash think she was being quite literal about what she wanted him to one day manage. Ash gave a her small smile in return, the idea of possessing that much physical strength has it's appeal and could come in handy at some point in the future.

….

It was an interesting experience. Ash had acted rather odd that entire wash, though he seemed to become a bit more relaxed as it went on.

A human custom was probably at play here. She'd have to work on it, the same as she worked him into a physically stronger Ash.

Good for him, good for her, good for Misty. Perhaps even good for Anabel, she did seem to be moving that way.

No matter what the outcome, she still had a bit of time she had given Misty to be the only one pursuing Ash. After that, she would see about working to making him her mate.

She would probably have to pick up a few more details on what Ash considered courtship first, but she'd do it. She never gave up on a hunt.

Saffron City, the next day

Sabrina teleported back into the depths of her lair/Gym, a bored look on her face.

In her hand was a straw hat, which she flung across the hall on its own power.

A blur teleported in its path as a Drowzee snagged the hat with its head and landed with a thump.

"You always wanted a hat. It belonged to a man named Moe over in Porta Vista. He wasn't really good at running restaurants," she quipped. Drowzee thanked her and teleported away.

Her act of kindness over, Sabrina tapped her foot as she mentally went over what she knew, occasionally skimming Ash's mind from Fuschia if something escaped her.

"Dario, Melvin, Seymour, Keenan, Norman the not Gym Leader….." She listed off the names of the pointless people she had removed based on what she had seen in Ash's memories.

"….Oswald, and Moe the failed restaurant owner. So many to remove, though how many have proven worthy to live."

It was almost annoying really. Half of the people she did look up for removal had improved in this timeline, showing signs of actually being worthy to live.

Joe, Keith, Rhoda, Rhonda, Mitch, even the Samurai made her question his removal at the moment.

Even that Hippie Ash met once with the Snorlax had actually proven to actually be impressive. Trained Snorlax extortion was a new one to her, and he did it well.

Good for the world, but still weird.

Though not as weird as the gap in memories Ash had of the first timeline.

Something happened to the boy just before the League, and he didn't remember it at all.

It wasn't hazy, it wasn't faded, it was simply gone, removed. Not that Sabrina knew how one could even do that without leaving a person's mind a utter mess.

(She would know, she had tried it on a few hobos when she was fifteen.)

One minute Ash and his friends were stuck outside a port as a storm raged, the next minute they were in the same place again, but hours had clearly passed.

After that it was a League of utter incompetence from the managing side, Orange Islands, crazy person thinking you could treat Legendary Birds like collectible bottle caps, Orange Islands, Johto and so on but those missing hours at the port…..nothing.

There was a memory about a mind wiping Pokémon on Mount Quena….was that it? Maybe it was what had been responsible for it?

Or perhaps the other one Ash had met in the Decolores. The other 'Mewtwo'.

Regardless of the cause, there was the other situation she should keep an eye on.

Namely, the girl who had been spying on Ash and Red. She wasn't good news.

While she was certainly better than the Emissary who served the Bloodline King, one of the servants of the Bloodline Prince was hardly what she wanted around. She may be nearly on where those four girls were currently, but that was still too close for her liking.

If he was looking around, that could only mean he was looking for a worthy rival to himself, and Ash could certainly meet the bill.

And if that was the case….she was well aware of what an end game would be.

"Well, I guess that means I'm going to have to get Ash to evolve." Sabrina shrugged as she floated down her halls, deep in thought.

"Altering his mind would be difficult, so perhaps I'll have to make him change some other way. Make him drop his self-handicap, that could certainly do. Yes, I do think that would be an ideal aim. Get him to realize that Red is right, and that Prince can never defeat him if he was drop the ideal. But is a badge enough of a lure….."

She stopped moving, but remained floating in air as a grin grew across her face.

"Perhaps not, but I have another. I may not be Olympia, but sometimes I do see things of benefit to me if I don't see how."

It was how she had realized that luring a unremarkable Trainer to her Gym from Vermillion would yield her a Alakazite the idiot had found and assumed nothing of beyond a shiny stone he kept in his bag.

That other premonition would certainly be irresistible bait, beyond a simple Marsh Badge, to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town.

She smirked as she felt the Drowzee she had given the straw hat to appear before her.

"Do move the Primeape, would you? I have a plan."