"Are you ready, Carbink?"

Carbink nodded their body at my side. Ahead of us, a rocky cliff opened up into a wide tunnel that would lead to Oreburgh itself; a shortcut colloquially known as "Oreburgh Gate.” I was more than looking forward to braving it with my team.

It helped that I was completely sure Ash and his friends never visited this place.

Stepping forward as Carbink floated along, we entered a rocky tunnel with a flattened road that straight through the cliffside. Stones and pebbles littered the path, and the walls were rough with a combination of both natural and carved-through stone. Along them, a chain of hanging lanterns lit up the tunnel, and a blazing light filtered in from the exit in the distance.

It was only about a few hundred feet away.

"Oh," I mumbled.

The disappointment in my voice was palpable.

Carbink, too, looked awfully upset. They lowered their body to the ground and tilted forward, upset. Still staring off into the nearby exit, I placed my hand on their back to comfort them.

"Sorry,” I said. “I shouldn't have hyped up traveling through a dangerous cave when I didn't know what to expect. Thanks for volunteering at least. We'll at least still need to travel through Mount Coronet in the future."

Mentioning Mount Coronet got their attention, so I gave them a small smile and a nod for confirmation. Their eyes had almost glimmered like Ponyta's could, and they even curved upwards a bit in a mimic of a smile. Their previous life in the Diamond Domain would be a big help when it came to traveling through a mountain that large.

It didn't take longer than a few minutes to reach the other side, and the only Pokémon we saw was a single Geodude disguising itself as a rock. There was no staircase down off to the side, or even a curve in the path itself. I knew it was short in the games, but even then, I expected... more.

Emerging out the other side, we arrived at the base of a rocky hill practically devoid of foliage. Laid out in front of us was a sprawling city that took up most of the space within this small valley. Smoke stacks stuck up from the far end and bellowed out steam. Even from here, I could see a variety of yellow vehicles moving in and out of a quarry that stretched downwards on the opposite hillside. As for the town itself, the buildings were all made of stone and rough metals, with very few of them reaching more than a few stories tall.

We were so close to arriving in Oreburgh.

Since Oreburgh Gate wasn't the primary path, but a shortcut, there wasn't anyone around us. At the same time, the road was hardly present as well. The path to travel was winding and obviously smoothed down by hand, so much so that I could actually see the imprints of the Machokes' attacks that helped build it.

I paused to let Carbink take in the incredible view of the community as they made a variety of amazed noises. Smiling, I stood there and didn't stop them from enjoying a sight they'd never even thought was possible before.

However, we couldn’t stay for too long. Eventually, I purposefully tapped the crystal on their head to grab their attention,and we made our way down. It would be prudent to make it to Oreburgh as soon as possible, just to make sure we could reserve a room in the Pokémon Center. While we had arrived earlier than I had planned, we only had two days to practice before the challenge with Roark this Saturday. Actual exploration would need to take place later next week.

Once we descended the short mountain, we made our way into the town and reached a Pokémon Center located right on the edge. I didn’t need to recall Carbink due to their small size not taking up much of the path, so they got a decent number of interested looks sent their way. Carbink wasn’t a species of Pokémon I knew could be found in Sinnoh, but there was a chance they could be found in one of the underground biomes Steven had mentioned. Considering the local Gym was run by a Rock Type specialist, it wasn’t surprising people were interested in Carbink’s presence.

Unfortunately, when we arrived in the Pokémon Center, it seemed that my plans would be interrupted by something I should have expected: people.

More specifically, the Pokémon Center was packed. Crowds of trainers sat and relaxed on the couches in large groups, chatting idly and conversing among themselves. There was even a line for the main counter. Carbink nervously moved closer to my side, and after a quiet apology, I returned them just so they wouldn’t be jostled away. To be honest, the room wasn’t actually that crowded, but I wanted to be safe.

After waiting a bit, it was our turn to talk to the nurse at the main counter, where I handed over my Pokémon to the nurse and asked for a room.

The response she gave me wasn’t good.

“Sorry, but we’re filled up. I can call another Pokémon Center if it’s an emergency, but I can tell you now, the other ones are full,” she said.

I frowned.

“Full? Why is the city so crowded?”

She laughed, covering her mouth.

“You’re not the first to come here that hasn’t known. There’s a Mega Evolution show battle coming up, so there are visitors from across Sinnoh, and most of the beginning trainers in the city are sticking around to watch. Oreburgh is a preferred location for a trainer’s first Gym Battle, and they usually head out after earning the local Gym Badge, but it seems that that new Mega Evolution phenomenon is catching everyone’s interest.”

As she spoke, I maintained a poker face, but I could still feel my face going paler and paler.

I thought competing in a Contest was nerve-wracking, but this? I should have realized that being one of the first to demonstrate Mega Evolution would be a big deal. I don’t even have other competitors to pull attention away from me! Guess I better start preparing myself for the imminent publicity now.

I thanked her and waited off to the side for my Pokémon to be checked over. Without a Pokémon out with me like Carbink, I was left to fret about the future all on my lonesome. I would have liked to sit, but every space had already been taken up in this room.

To make matters worse, a familiar voice called out to me.

“Alex? Hey, Alex!”

Hearing that voice made me want to crawl in a hole and hide forever. I knew his presence meant I would encounter trouble, but Ash Ketchum was a real person and not just a character on a Saturday morning television show. I needed to think of him like one, not fear him like some harbinger of inevitable destruction.

Putting on the best smile I could, I turned to look at Ash as he pushed his way through the crowd.

“Hi, Ash. I didn’t expect to see you anytime soon,” I said.

Not until the Conference, at least.

“It’s also nice to see you too, Brock, Dawn, Pikachu,” I continued. “What brings you all to Oreburgh?”

“Pikachu and I are going to take on the Oreburgh Gym! But it was completely full when we got there, so we’re now on a waitlist. It’s all okay, though, since we heard about a big battle coming up! There’s even something called Mega Evolution being showed off in it! I can’t wait to watch!” Ash said excitedly.

I closed my eyes but didn’t let my smile fade.

“I don’t really understand Mega Evolution, myself. But the Contest rules changed to allow it this year, so I want to figure it out to see if I can include it in my performances. There’s no Contest Hall in Oreburgh, so it’s going to have to wait anyway,” Dawn added. “So what about you, Alex? Why are you here in Oreburgh?”

I could lie or be extremely honest to them, but I think it’s best to go with the tried and true method: being as vague as possible. Maybe this’ll make me seem like a mysterious stranger?

Wait, do I even want that?

“Same as you, essentially,” I eventually went with. “I have a battle against Roark coming up here, as well.”

“So you’re taking on the Gym Challenge, too? Let’s have a Pokémon battle!” Ash said.

I shook my head.

“Sorry, but my team needs to rest. I only just arrived here an hour ago. The battle on Saturday should be interesting, though. Are you all going to watch it?”

They all nodded.

Well, I haven’t technically lied to them just yet. Now all I need is an excuse to get away.

Thankfully, right at that moment, I heard the nurse call my name to retrieve my Pokémon. I thanked whatever it was that was making all of these nightmarish coincidences in my life and started to move away.

“It was nice talking to you all, but I need to go retrieve my team and find a place to stay. I’ll talk to you another time.”

As I left, Ash started to speak up behind me.

“Huh? You need a place to stay? Why not come with—”

Pretending to not hear him, I disappeared into the crowd and focused on retrieving my team from the nurse instead. He and his friends were nice, but my decision to avoid him as much as possible was already set in stone. There was no way I would willingly get caught up with him. Constantly dealing with Team Rocket and all the other miscellaneous problems he encounters? That wasn’t for me. Ash and the rest could deal with it on their own.

Once I had my team, I quickly left the Pokémon Center, purposely staying on the other side of the room where it was less obvious for Ash to see me. As I left, I happened to notice a familiar purple-haired trainer lining up for the main counter, and I smirked when I realized I just managed to escape him, too.

Of course Paul is here. This is when he gives away a freshly caught Azumarill, isn’t it? Hopefully he hasn’t had his Gym Battle with Roark just yet so I can get him to go through the proper channels to do it. That, or convince him to keep it, but it seems cruel to make a Pokémon stay with Paul now before his character arc.

Character arc? No, he’s a person. More like a realization it’s wrong to mistreat his team in the pursuit of strength. Based on what I know about Mega Evolution, friendship is the way to victory anyway.

Trying to push all the anime-related nonsense out of my head, I quickly walked down the street to create as much of a distance from that Pokémon Center as I could, then I made my way to the Gym where hopefully, Roark could help me find a place to stay and practice before our battle.

“Impressive Carbink! I haven’t seen one with such clear crystals before! Did you find them in The Underground?” Roark asked.

I briefly turned to Carbink, who had pushed their face down into their fluff to hide their blush. Chuckling, I responded to the Gym Leader walking alongside us.

“No, sorry. Carbink joined my team back in Kalos. Honestly, I didn’t even realize their crystals were that different. Every Carbink I saw there had similar crystals.”

Carbink’s blush stopped, and they shot me an annoyed look for not letting them enjoy the compliment. I shrugged apologetically. Roark just snapped his eyes to me excitedly, oblivious of our exchange.

“Really? An entire colony of Carbink like that? That’s incredible! Where exactly was this?”

“Oh, uh, Reflection Cave?” I replied quickly.

“I might need to make a stop in Kalos when I next have time off,” he mumbled. “I’ve been wanting to obtain a sail and jaw fossil, anyway.”

I just forced a smile at that unfortunate slip up, and continued to walk with Roark through the hallways of the underground Oreburgh Gym.

Unlike the games, where the Oreburgh Gym was located in the center of Oreburgh, here, it was nestled right into a cliffside, built right into an abandoned mine from years ago. However, there was no trace of its previous existence, any signs of its history replaced by sprawling hallways and rooms. The entrance made it look like it was just a fancy cave, but the insides looked just like a normal building interior, complete with large, divided-off rooms to serve as practice battlefields.

Roark himself, however, looked just as he did in the games. He had a gray mining outfit with a bright red miner’s helmet resting on his head, and an auburn ponytail sticking up wildly in the back. His clothes were trimmed with stripes of hazard yellow, and he wore a set of square-rimmed glasses on his face. While he looked young and lanky, his arms were tight with earned muscle from the mining he had done for most of his life. In all honesty, he kind of looked like a normal person with little interesting about him at all, but that appearance hid a well-educated Gym Leader.

“Here we are. This room is yours for as long as you need, as long as you make sure we have a great battle tomorrow!” He laughed. “We’ve actually had this set aside for you since the start of the season. I’m surprised you went to the Pokémon Center first.”

I rubbed the back of my head.

“I didn’t want to make any assumptions. I keep making the wrong ones.”

Roark laughed at that, even though I wasn’t making a joke and was being completely serious. He cleared his throat once he noticed I wasn’t laughing as well.

“Anyway, what Pokémon do you plan to use? Usually for these shows battles, teams are determined ahead of time, but we haven’t had a chance to talk yet. I know you haven’t challenged a personal team just yet, so I plan to use some of my newer Pokémon that haven’t had as much battle experience.” he said

“You have new team members?”

“Yes! I plan to use a number of recently resurrected fossils and well as— Hm. Actually, I want to leave that one a surprise. How about we share five of our six Pokémon instead?”

“No, that’s alright. I don’t have anyone whose presence I want to keep hidden. I’ll be using the same team I used in the Hoenn Conference: an Alolan Ninetales, an Azumarill, a Florges, an Altaria, a Mawile, and a Whimsicott. You?”

“With me are Armaldo, Aerodactyl, Probopass, Kabutops, and Rampardos. While I want to leave it a surprise, I will reveal that my sixth is a Fire Type, at least.”

I hummed and rubbed my chin.

“Interesting. Is your last one a Magcargo, or perhaps a Coalossal? You do work in a mine, after all.”

Roark just gave me a knowing smile.

“You’ll see, Alex. You’ll see.”

I parted with Roark and opened the door to my room, automatically beginning to reach towards my waist to send out my Pokémon. I needed to have a discussion with them about sending a few of them back to Sycamore’s ranch. It was mostly for Ralts’s benefit, since he’d only been on the team for a few days at this point.

However, my room wasn’t as empty as I’d like.

“Ah!”

“Oh!”

“Eep!”

I blinked at the presence of three people in janitor outfits in the process of going over the entire room. They each held a mop despite there not being any bucket of water present.

Ninetales immediately released herself from her Premier Ball and growled threateningly. One of them, a woman with purple hair tied up into a ponytail, jumped forward and started to rub her hands together apologetically.

“Oh, we’re so sorry! We’ll just get out of your way. We thought this room wasn’t occupied yet, so we thought we had time to clean up.”

The youngest member of the trio, a man with short blue hair, jumped forward to also rub his hands together apologetically.

“We’re new hires, you see? We were trying to clean the room before you got here, but completely mistimed it.”

The last, a surprisingly short older gentleman with an extremely bushy mustache, mimicked the other two and spoke up as well.

“We’ll be right out of your way! We’re very sorry!”

All three of them bowed dramatically, moving their bodies into a ninety degree angle. Ninetales, Carbink, and I were all left absolutely flabbergasted. Roark had some exceptionally strange employees.

“Just... I’d like some privacy, please.”

“Yes!”

“Absolutely!”

“We’re already gone!”

They dashed past us and down the hallway, practically leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. Turning around, I saw that they left all of their mops behind.

I rubbed my head.

“Would it be rude of me to make a complaint about new hires to Roark?” I asked no one in particular.

Explaining that I wanted to temporarily send some of my team to the ranch wasn’t too difficult. Dedenne and Carbink already knew that was part of the plan, but Ralts didn’t. He had spent the last days of our trip to Oreburgh training his Confusion and working with Florges to try to develop Life Dew. With how things were going, he was making decent progress, but going to Lumiose meant Ralts wouldn’t have me, Florges, or Ponyta to help him with training.

However, he didn’t object since his Confusion training didn’t require a partner. He hadn’t been engaging in battles or spars, choosing instead to focus on developing his technique to reach the level Ponyta was at currently. He was fast approaching Ponyta’s level, but he was hardly spending any time not training, so I asked Dedenne and Carbink to try to get him to take some time off while he was there. I hoped there would be other Pokémon present at the ranch to help Ralts relax, too.

After sending a message to the ranch’s assistants to arrange everything, Azumarill, Altaria, and Whimsicott were returned to my team. It’d been a while since all the original members of my team were here, and even more, I hadn’t seen Azumarill since our battle with the B-Button League member. When we reached the training area Roark recommended later that day, I immediately sent her out.

Upon seeing me, Azumarill gave me a huge smile. Even more than normal, she looked downright murderous.

I’d missed her.

Rather than preparing for the battle inside the Gym itself, Roark had provided us with directions to an open area he’d personally trained in, near the mines. There were shattered boulders and rocks from Rock Type moves all around, and the gray cliffside was scarred with the results of numerous Pokémon attacks. One section even had a number of slashes carved deep into the stone. From those, I could tell that his Kabutops and Armaldo had been putting in serious effort.

I clapped my hands like I usually do to gather everyone’s attention. Hearing the familiar noise, they gathered around me, and I smiled seeing them so ready to begin our practice.

“We’re facing Roark, a Rock Type specialist,” I began. “Rock Types are weak to Fighting, Grass, Ground, Steel, and Water Type moves, which means half of you have a potential advantage. However, knowing his team, he definitely has super effective Steel Type moves in his arsenal, and what’s worse is that most of his team are physical attackers. While staying at range should be our focus, he’ll most likely have counters prepared. So, to begin, I think we should start with—”

“Alex! Wow, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

Why.

My mind was immediately filled with an infinite number of curses. Completely blindsided once more, I forced a smile and turned to greet Ash and his companions. I noticed that at his side, he had a small green tortoise with a sapling growing from its head, a Turtwig, following along.

Dawn was huffing and puffing behind him, Piplup and Buneary tired at her heels, and Brock looked perfectly fine with a tall Sudowoodo jogging in place at his side.

“Ash, please slow down! Not everyone can be as full of energy as you,” Dawn complained.

“Chin up, Dawn! Exercise is good for both you and your Pokémon. I’ll make sure you get an extra high energy meal to help you recover tonight!” Brock said.

Dawn just put her hands on her knees to catch her breath and moaned. I was quiet as I watched this exchange, and eventually she looked up once she realized I was here with the rest of my team. Her face froze as she looked over all of us, and I couldn’t help but notice how her eyes seemed to linger on Ninetales and Florges.

Does she recognize them?

“I honestly can’t say I expected to see you here,” I said, being completely honest. “I was in the middle of starting a training session with my Pokémon.”

“We were doing the same!” Ash added. “Since I can’t face Roark for a while, we decided to explore the areas around Oreburgh instead. Great minds think alike, huh Alex?”

“More like trainer minds think of training,” Dawn mumbled.

Ash paused, oblivious to Dawn’s comment, and a challenging look appeared in his eyes.

“If you’re training, how about a Pokémon battle? Battling is a great way to get Pokémon worked up! ”

I glanced at his Turtwig, then glanced at the rest of my team. There was a significant difference in power, and I knew he wasn’t referring to a battle with Pikachu. However, as much as I didn’t want to get tangled up with whatever was happening with Ash, I could tell I already was. A battle would at least be decent practice and a fun distraction as I waited for the inevitable problem to show up.

Plus, it would be wrong of me to say that I didn’t want to battle the most famous Pokémon trainer from my old world.

“Sure, but could you give me a minute with my team first?” I asked. “They were expecting to train before you came in.”

“Sure, Alex! I’m already pumped to begin! By the way, are all of your Pokémon Fairy Types? I didn’t know there were so many!”

Brock and Dawn groaned behind him.

“Ash, Fairy is a Type of Pokémon,” Dawn said. “Did you really think Dedenne was the only Fairy Type?”

She paused.

“Wait, where is Dedenne?” she asked.

“Sycamore’s ranch. I wanted to use my strongest team members to face Roark. Like I said back then, he’s still training to catch up.”

Ash’s smile faltered ever so slightly at that comment, but he didn’t say anything else. Using this moment of silence as a sign to move on, I turned to my team and brought them into a huddle to whisper.

“Pretend Lysandre is here. That’s how much of a threat Ash represents. He himself isn’t a problem, but something will definitely happen while he’s here. Keep an eye out, and don’t let anyone sneak up on us. Also, this may sound strange, but make sure you don’t get caught off guard by any giant robots.”

Most of my team had already been looking at me seriously, but when I mentioned giant robots, Ponyta suddenly looked a lot more serious. At the same time, Azumarill looked so happy that tears actually formed in her eyes. I patted her on the shoulder and nodded, and she wiped her eyes clear with a terrifying grin on her face.

I stood up and gestured to Ponyta to move alongside me.

“Alright, Ash. How about my Ponyta against your Turtwig?” I shouted.

He looked at me questioningly.

“That’s a Ponyta?” he asked.

“I, uh, yes? Oh, sorry. More specifically he’s a Ponyta variant from Galar. Instead of a Fire Type, he’s a Psychic Type right now, and will become a Psychic and Fairy Type once he evolves.”

Dawn pulled out her Pokédex only to frown when it said “No data.”

Ash and I took up positions across from each other in an open space, and Brock stood to the side of the field to act as a referee. As Dawn returned her Pokémon to let them rest and positioned herself near Brock, my Pokémon stood behind me, trying to disguise just how much they were keeping an eye on our surroundings.

“This will be a one on one battle between Alex and Ash,” Brock shouted with a no-nonsense voice. “Each side will use a single Pokémon, and the first Pokémon to go down will forfeit the match. Trainers, are you ready?”

“I am,” I stated.

Ash just nodded.

“Then begin!”

Brock yelled and threw down his arms, and our Pokémon jumped into motion.

“Charm,” I instructed quickly.

“Razor Leaf!” Ash yelled.

Turtwig twisted its head back and forth as spinning sharp blades of leaves were sent from the small sapling on its top. Ponyta dashed to the side as his eyes flashed pink with a fluttering of his eyelashes right at Turtwig. As he did so, Turtwig suddenly stopped its attack and bashfully kicked one of its feet against the ground, giving Ponyta an almost regretful glance.

I didn’t have to say anything for Ponyta to follow that Charm up with a Psybeam.

“Dodge, Turtwig!”

Snapping out of its brief loss of willingness to fight, Turtwig jumped to the side as the beam of pulsating energy came out of Ponyta’s horn and impacted the spot where the Grass Type had just been. Ash yelled at Turtwig to Tackle Ponyta, but Ponyta just nimbly moved to the side to avoid it with an Agility.

“Confusion. Lift it up,” I ordered.

Turtwig, as it stood, was one of Ash’s newer Pokémon, and it hadn’t been trained nearly as much as Ponyta, nor had it learned its incredible speed from Gardenia yet. As a result, Ponyta was already outperforming it in almost every aspect, meaning Turtwig was hardly able to react.

The turtle was surrounded in blue Psychic Type energy, and it was picked up off the ground with Ponyta’s Confusion. Struggling in the air, Turtwig tried to escape while Ash grunted and yelled his Pokémon’s name fearfully.

And then, everything went heads-up.

Ninetales was the first to act, launching an Ice Beam at a net that was sent towards Pikachu, who was sitting on the ground next to Dawn. Mawile casually looked over and bit through a second net sent her way, and Altaria incinerated another one that had been sent towards him with Flamethrower.

Ponyta released Turtwig from his Psychic Type grip, and my team immediately surrounded me. We glanced over to the hillside where a strange, orange cylinder on treads crested over it, and the top of it opened up to reveal a trio slowly being lifted up on a platform rising out of it.

“I can’t believe they actually have a giant robot,” I mumbled.

Azumarill sniffled with joy.

“Team Rocket!” Ash yelled. “Can’t you leave us alone!?”

The three criminals laughed as the platform reached the peak of the machine, a shuddering stopping them level with the top of the robot.

“Listen, is that a voice I hear?” Jessie said.

“It’s speaking to me, loud and clear,” James continued.

I smacked my forehead. Even though there wasn’t any reason for them to actually introduce themselves, of course they were going through with their motto. It didn’t seem to be some anime-exclusive thing, but an actual honest-to-goodness introduction they were doing despite the absolutely awful tactical decision to do so.

However, I will admit, there was a part of me that was disappointed that they were doing the modified, Sinnoh version of their motto instead of the original.

“On the wind!”

“Past the stars!”

“In your ear!” Meowth added to coincide with Jesse and James.

“Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace.”

“Dashing hope, putting fear in its— Eep!”

James ducked as an Ice Beam from Ninetales sailed over his head. Jessie jumped forward and held a fist out to gesture at me angrily.

"Hey, you! Don't you know that it’s rude to interrupt someone?!"

"Don't you know that stealing someone's Pokémon is worse?!" I shot back.

Meowth, the talking Pokémon in the flesh, walked forward to respond. Even though I expected it, I honestly had to do a double take at a talking cat.

"You're making assumptions! We weren't going to steal your Pokémon!"

"Really," Dawn stated sarcastically.

"Yeah! We were going to hold them hostage until you handed over your Mega Stones!" James yelled.

Jesse hit him in the head after he said that.

"Don't tell them our plans!" she hissed.

Meowth just ignored their exchange and kept on speaking.

"No matter. Just because we didn't get your Pokémon doesn't mean you can handle our Net-Tosser-3000!"

To punctuate that, two arms sprouted from the sides of the machine as a door opened up and revealed a pile of nets inside. It grabbed one then threw it forward at the pair of Pokémon who had been battling out in the center of the field, only for a Fairy Wind from Florges to send the net off in another direction.

"This is embarrassing,” I said. “You have a super high-tech robot, and you're using it to throw nets?"

“Hey, our budget’s been tight! Our usual writing department is under new management!” Meowth shouted.

What does that even mean?!

"Who asked you, anyway?!" Jessie yelled, interrupting my train of thought. "Seviper, get them!"

"You too, Carnivine!"

Their Pokémon appeared on the ground in front of their robot, and the platform rapidly descended to bring Team Rocket back to the pilot’s room of the robot. I simply looked over to Azumarill in response, who was vibrating in excitement.

Sighing exasperatedly, I gave my team their commands.

"Azumarill leads, the rest of you follow. Have fun."

In the blink of an eye, Azumarill disappeared and slammed into Seviper with Aqua Jet. Florges tripped Carnivine with Grass Knot, repeating what happened in the Jubilife Contest, and everyone else charged in as well.

The only exception was Ponyta, who was still on the field.

"Should we continue, Ash?" I asked.

"What?! But Team Rocket's right there!" he shouted.

I glanced over to where Carnivine and Seviper were desperately trying to hang on under a barrage of Moonblasts and a Stone Edge sent their way, all while Azumarill was tearing into the machine proper. I could hear Team Rocket’s panicked screaming from here. However, there was little they could do with the knots Azumarill tied into the machine's tube-like arms.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. After all, it won't be long until—"

An explosion went off as Azumarill just barely jumped away in time, a mad grin on her face. She didn’t even look back at the blast, too. Seviper and Carnivine were caught up with the explosion and were launched with Team Rocket as they flew through the air away from our battle.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" The trio screamed.

I was stunned.

"Wait, they actually get launched into the air like that?"

“Yeah, and it happens almost every time, so no one is ever able to actually catch them,” Dawn complained.

“Huh.”

So do they cause that to happen on purpose? Or is it an intentional escape strategy, or even just dumb luck?

“So do you want to continue the battle, Ash?” I asked, turning to face him.

“Yeah, let’s go!” he responded.

Turtwig and Ponyta stood apart on the field, Brock restarted the battle, and Ponyta fired off a Psybeam that finished off Turtwig.

I need to stop underestimating Ponyta. He’s been around longer than Whimsicott.

Ash just sighed and returned Turtwig as Brock called the match in my favor.

“Your Pokémon are really strong. You’ll beat Roark for sure!” Ash said. There was a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

“I’m not so sure about that,” Dawn interjected. “You’re the one battling Roark on Saturday, aren’t you, Alex?”

“Huh?” Ash exclaimed.

“Yup. Team Rocket said they were after your Mega Stones,” Dawn explained. “If there’s a Mega show battle coming up, it has to be you battling him then, isn’t it?”

I just shrugged and nodded.

“You caught me. I’m going to be battling Roark. I was here specifically to train for that battle.”

Ash looked extra excited as Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder.

“Do you think you can give up a sneak peak?” he asked.

I hummed and glanced over to Altaria and Mawile. Altaria wasn’t wearing his plated necklace that would hold his stone, but I knew Mawile had hers on her at all times. I sent them a questioning shrug, and Altaria just stared back while Mawile shrugged.

“A brief one, maybe. It wouldn’t do us good to exhaust myself when we still need to train. Mawile, you ready?”

She nodded and walked forward as Brock, Dawn, Ash, and Pikachu all grouped together. Ash clenched his fists in excitement.

“Our goal will be to train with increased power, like usual. Focus on that,” I told Mawile.

Holding up my arm, everyone’s eyes locked onto the Key Stone brace on my wrist as it began to glow alongside Mawile. My eyes squinted to focus as her form shifted in a brilliant light, and once her jaws split in two, the light broke and revealed her Mega Evolved form. I heard several impressed gasps coming from the side.

The group of anime protagonists looked appropriately impressed, and Mawile sent a smirk toward a huffing Azumarill. To show off her strength, she went around to break several of the rocks in this arena with Iron Head attacks, finishing off her demonstration with one Stone Edge that shot forward a barrage of sharpened stones that dug into the gray cliff in the distance.

I didn’t want to make myself too tired, so the phenomenon ended there as Mawile returned to her normal form.

“And that’s Mega Evolution,” I said. “It takes my personal energy to maintain, so I get pretty tired afterwards. I doubt it’ll appear in the battle until the end, but before it does, the fight should still be entertaining. If you’re going to watch, enjoy the show.”

Ash just nodded, and after a few compliments sent Mawile’s way (much to her amusement in the face of Azumarill), they split off to let me train in preparation. I could see Ash was tempted to ask if he could stay, but thankfully Brock saw I wanted to train my team on my own and encouraged him to give me space.

We spent the rest of the day training, practicing, and strategizing for the upcoming battle, and because of that, it wasn’t until that afternoon when I realized what just happened.

I just lived through an anime episode where I was the character of the day, didn’t I?