Compared to dinner with the Wataru, dining with the League proved a calm affair. It still had its share of booming declarations and thunderous laughter (Lance was a frequent offender) that jarred him, but he hadn't seen a single fist fight yet. Yet...

Ash considered that a step up, though a small part of him missed the wild Wataru. A single night with them hadn't been enough. Then again, some deep-seated certainty within him told Ash that he'd return one day. That brought a smile to his lips, and he couldn't help but perk up as more plates were brought in.

Despite the excitement thrumming in his veins, Ash couldn't help but retreat into himself at the table. The Elite Four dined in a small room tucked away near their quarters, although Lance told him that occasionally they would eat with other League members such as the security forces and administrators in the mess hall. Good for morale, according to the Champion.

After a warm, booming welcome from Lance (which left his cheeks flushed and Ash wanting to squirm as deep into his wooden seat as he could) he'd taken his place beside Karen and Will. He didn't miss how the psychic twitched and edged just a bit away. His Gardevoir, eating with the rest of their teams on the other side of the room, glanced pointedly at Ash, and a burst of guilt shot through him.

He didn't want Will to be uncomfortable.

As Lance led the conversation, sucking Karen in and even forcing the odd laugh out of Koga, Ash studied Will. His eyes were bloodshot and dark bags formed beneath them. Will's hair and odd suit, normally impeccably straight and crisp, were just a touch disheveled. The psychic still toyed with his cane, probably relishing in Agatha not being around to chastise him for it, yet Ash knew it was born of a deep-seated unease rather than the flippant whim he'd witnessed before.

"So, Karen mentioned you'll be duking it out tomorrow?" Lance's eyes glinted. Ash grinned back as Karen snorted. The Champion reclined back in his high chair at the head of the plain wooden table, fingers steepled and eyes roaming the occupants. Of the Indigo Elite Four, only Bruno was missing. He was off on some assignment, something about negotiating between a frontier town in the Viridian territory and local pokemon upset about excessive construction. "I don't suppose anyone wants to place odds?"

Will brightened up at that, his eyes flashing violet with psychic energy beneath his mask, while Karen groaned. "We aren't doing this every time are we? Just imagine if the press found out about this. What a great example we're setting…"

Koga snorted at that, but didn't offer any comment.

"I prefer to think of it as exercising our entrepreneurial spirits!" A wild grin blazed on Lance's face, golden flame flickering from beneath the cuffs of his shirt. He still hadn't changed from his formal uniform. The Champion's grin shifted into a smirk as Karen scoffed. "I don't think you have any right to complain after your bets on the Conference last year…"

The Dark Master snorted. "Please! Maybe if you'd stopped harassing me -" she abruptly cut off, a cruel shadow passing across her face. "I wonder what Lorelei would think of all this? She wasn't a big fan of your habits."

Lance frowned (Ash didn't miss Koga and Will wince) and abruptly changed the subject. As he went on about submitting Erika to a formal performance review, Ash glanced to Will. The psychic's head turned to Ash, then abruptly looked away. His cane twitched, animated suddenly by psychic power.

It wasn't the time or place for heavy conversations or long exchanges, but Ash leaned quickly over to Will and muttered into his ear. The air grew tense and heavy, stilled by Will's power, then slackened.

"It was the Unown, not you. None of us blame you."

To a normal person, they might have been empty words. A hollow consolation that would do nothing to stem the tide of guilt bleeding off Will for taking up arms against his fellow League members.

To a psychic, however, they held great weight. Ash met Will's gaze, hidden behind his mask, and forced his thoughts to the forefront of his mind. Will's eyes burned violet, and his breath hitched. His lips curved into a brittle smile, and his cane laid still in his hand.

The rest of the evening was spent with a far more animated Will. Not a true return to normalcy, but a hint of what should be.

Warmth bubbled in his chest, only reinforced by the appreciative mental brushes of Will's team. Ash didn't miss Karen's appreciative glance either.

He relished it, and the meal passed by in a blur.

XX

"No! Get out!" Karen scowled. Lance frowned, then started to bargain, but Karen was having none of it. "I said no. This battle is between the kid and I. Go watch the footage later if you want - but you aren't sitting here and nitpicking the battle."

Lance pouted, but his pleading did nothing to move Karen. The Dark Master pointedly motioned towards the door, and Lance finally gave in. Gabite grumbled at Karen, but followed the Dragon Master out.

"Her Weavile is nasty!" The burly man called out as Karen's Umbreon snapped at his heels. "Watch out for its ice attacks. They're nasty, and it does this trick with its -"

Umbreon trotted back to Karen's side happily, tongue lolled out like Aron and looking absolutely innocent. It was a far cry from PIerce's slavering, psychotic Umbreon that Ash couldn't help but remember every time he saw one of the species. He made a mental note not to send Nidoking out against the dark-type. That wouldn't be good for either of them.

The last thing he wanted was for this fight to get bloody.

"Now that the distraction's gone," Karen huffed, "let's get on with it. SInce he's spoiled the surprise, how about I start with Weavile and you with your Sneasel? I'm curious to see where you've taken it."

Ash grinned, eyes still taking in the massive battleground she'd taken them to. It was enormous, several hundred feet in either direction and buried far below the heart of Mt. Silver. Chinatsu's lair was probably somewhere above. A small array of electric lights hung above the central battlefield kept the area nice and visible, though darkness clung to the edges. Otherwise it was essentially a blank slate, composed of pale stone and a high ceiling.

"Sounds good to me."

Sneasel appeared on the battlefield immediately afterward. He hissed at the sight of Karen and Umbreon, his claws unsheathed and a deep growl in his chest. They'd discussed this last night after dinner and Will and Karen escorting Ash back to his room. It wasn't a fight they expected to win, but Ash had wholly expected to pit Sneasel against Weavile.

They had plans, but it would be a brutal fight.

That sentiment was only confirmed when Weavile appeared moments later. It appeared just as it had in the Hale Mansion: lean with corded muscle, wickedly curved claws, and a curious glint in its eyes that spoke of no end of trouble for its enemies.

In contrast, Sneasel appeared fragile and small. His claws couldn't compare, his icy breath nothing to the frigid nature of Weavile.

Appearances were deceiving, though.

Difficult as the fight may be, they wouldn't surrender without a fight.

"Ready?" Karen called out from across the battlefield. It echoed several times due to the rounded walls and roof of the underground chamber. Ash nodded, a wild grin threatening to stretch across his face. Sneasel stood tense and still, coiled like a spring. .

A lonely League Alakazam requisitioned for their bout glanced between them.

Begin.

There was no time to waste. In all honesty, there was no contest between Sneasel and Weavile. He had no doubt that Karen had trained her teammate to the limit of its natural abilities and then far beyond. Speed, strength, its elemental abilities... their experience and evolution gave them an undeniable advantage.

If they let Weavile come to them it was already over.

Sneasel's body flickered forward as he activated Agility, claws dripping with poison just as he landed before Weavile. His hooked claws flashed, blurring into a frenzied Fury Swipes that Ash could scarcely follow, and Weavile danced away. Every motion of the powerful dark-type was deliberate, its eyes tracing every swipe with ease. It didn't counterattack, content to simply avoid each attack by a hair.

Ash scowled, and called out the order for the next stage of the fight to begin.

The dark-type heard Ash's command and his little face scrunched up in concentration. As Weavile finally struck, Sneasel's muscles tensed and exploded into a single motion. Weavile hissed as its lightning-fast strike went high, and snarled again as Sneasel bowled it over with a quick attack.

Sneasel weighed hardly anything compared to most of Ash's team, but Weavile wasn't much better off. The unexpected Quick Attack left them both sprawling, though Weavile was far faster to flip to its feet. It didn't strike, however, and simply watched and waited for Sneasel's next move. His eyes flitted to Karen. She folded her arms and looked over the battle with calm eyes.

He grit his teeth. Maybe this would catch them off guard. Sneasel hadn't even come close to mastering it, but all they needed was an opening.

"Now!"

The signal given, Ash watched as Sneasel's entire body went taut. His ear feather twitched, a rippling haze of indeterminate hue bled from his fur, and Ash fought the urge to stagger away as his vision swam. Nidoking (carefully watching the fight by his side since Dazed would struggle in this battle) was quick to offer support.

Karen flinched, yet stood strong. Her gaze sharpened though, locked onto Sneasel.

She was curious.

To be honest, Ash wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

The unnatural emanations of Sneasel distorted everything it touched - light bent, air twisted and shone or vanished into the void, and when it reached Weavile the powerful dark-type staggered backward. Its paws, sheathed by instinct more than anything, rubbed against its temples. Weavile hissed and leapt away until the effects ceased, undoubtedly suffering an awful headache. The creature's wicked claws extended and it leered at Sneasel with a vicious glint in its eye, its curiosity replaced by cool disdain.

Sneasel immediately retracted the energies flooding into the world from his body. The terrible miasma vanished as quickly as it appeared, winking back into nonexistence. His muscles failed him for a moment, but the dark-type quickly leapt back to his feet before Weavile could leap into him with its claws. The Weavile paced and circled around Sneasel, hissing and spitting whenever Sneasel tried to meet its eyes.

"Hold up!" Karen raised her hand. Weavile immediately knelt, ears twitching. Sneasel's breaths were deep and ragged, grateful for the break. They didn't dare relax fully, though. This seemed like the sort of underhanded trick Karen would use to teach them a lesson. The Dark Master frowned at him with a thoughtful crease on her brow. "What was that? I could feel it from here."

Ash cleared his throat. He couldn't help but be slightly anxious - this was the first time he'd really shown the technique to anyone else. "Mind Breaker. We've been working on it recently."

Her eyes narrowed. "Mind Breaker?" She mouthed. "A sustained Distortion wave?" Karen looked at Sneasel in a new light. "How is he standing? I wouldn't try that with -" she cut herself off and waited for Ash.

"That's the most he can do," Ash readily admitted. He'd have preferred to explain it after the battle, but Karen would need to know the full extent if he wanted her help… plus this offered Sneasel a few extra seconds of recovery. With the rapid rise and fall of his chest he'd be grateful. "We've been working on it for months now, since the end of the Conference, but he doesn't have the stamina yet. The foundation is there, though."

Karen hummed, barely audible from across the battlefield. Weavile continued to circle. "Good stamina for a Sneasel, though. We'll take a deeper look after this, sound good?"

Ash nodded, and with that the battle resumed.

Sneasel was weaker than Weavile, slower than Weavile, and far less experienced. What they did have in their favor was ferocity - the moment the Alakazam ordered the battle to resume, Sneasel spat a freezing gust of icy air and shot forward in a blur.

Their claws clanged together, Weavile forced to block instead of dodge. Sneasel was a whirlwind of Poison Jabs and expert slashes designed to pick Weavile apart. The snarls and yowls and screams of the two dark-types left the hairs on his neck raised, primal urges screaming for him to run. It honestly sounded like they were trying to kill each other.

That was far from the truth, of course - only Sneasel was trying to kill Weavile. If Weavile was going for blood, Sneasel would already be back in his pokeball. It was breathing heavily, eyes dilated, yet it was still content to parry and dance away. Even Sneasel's occasional Ice Beams were ducked or dove away from, larger claws slapping Sneasel's away long before he could try to capitalize.

Ash thought it was rather beautiful to see the two fight. They really were dancing, though Sneasel was still the amateur of the two. Weavile led the battle wherever it wished, struggling at times yet easily leveraging its superior reach and reflexes to pull Sneasel all across the battlefield. Occasionally it would swipe back, though never fast enough for Sneasel to be caught unawares.

No, Weavile fought with purpose. It fought at the edges of Sneasel's skill. When Sneasel left an opening, Weavile feinted to pick at it. When Sneasel blocked, Weavile pushed him back. When Sneasel attacked, Weavile stepped away with inhuman grace. Every breath was filled with frost, each swipe rippling with alien power.

Sneasel slowed - though would resurge under Ash's direction to briefly push Weavile back - and finally cried out as Weavile grew weary of the test and swiped the back of its claw into Sneasel's head. The little dark-type crumpled even as Ash shouted, and laid still.

Weavile didn't approach, and Karen waited patiently. Ash grit his teeth, not surprised that a Dark Master and her team would've figured out the simple ploy that Ash and Sneasel had worked out ahead of time.

No matter, it was just there to surprise them anyways.

"Mind Breaker!" Ash hissed, and Sneasel's ears twitched. Weavile flinched, backing away to escape the awful wave it expected, and was immediately punished for it. Even as it slowed, obviously confused by the lack of an awful headache or sickening nausea, Sneasel blurred into motion. The exhaustion was still there, but tossed aside for a brief second.

A thrum of satisfaction welled in his chest. Their feint had worked - Sneasel didn't have the energy left to release a second Mind Breaker, but even the threat of being exposed to the attack had left Weavile open.

Weavile snarled as the Quick Attack led Sneasel to its side, poisoned claws raking its sides. The little dark-type hissed his small victory over the Weavile, and was knocked unconscious just a moment later by a smack from Weavile. With how exhausted he was, it was a guaranteed defeat.

It didn't matter. Sneasel had gone in with one mission to accomplish, and he'd done it. Now was time for the next stage of that plan.

"Good job!" He grinned to Sneasel's pokeball as he returned him. Sneasel would get some extra snacks tonight for following through - he'd be ravenous. They hadn't come up with an especially complex plan for the match-up with Weavile, but he was just relieved it had worked. Even now Weavile shifted with discomfort, jaw clenched as the poison attacked its system. "Rest easy buddy."

Weavile dipped his head to Sneasel's pokeball. Ash smiled back, then focused on Karen. She waited patiently, though there was a certain excitement about her that left him grinning. Good to know she was just as eager as he was.

Last night he'd spent some time reviewing Karen's battles. There weren't many to choose from, but he'd gotten a taste of her style. Weavile would be a problem. Fast, agile, and a wielder of potent dark and ice-type techniques. The proud creature focused primarily on ice-type techniques and was capable of striking down one of Lance's dragons with the right preparation.

... and if there was one thing Karen liked, it was her preparation.

Unfortunately, preparation tended to fly out the window when you were getting punched in the face.

Bruiser appeared on the field.

"Remember the rules?" Karen shouted across the field to him. Ash nodded.

"Five-on-five, plus Sneasel," he replied. She wanted to test Sneasel, but it was no secret that Sneasel still had a tiny bit of catching up to do (although the gap shrank by the day). When they set the rules last night after dinner she'd offered to let him use a 'technically' full team as a compromise, which he'd been happy to accept. Any advantage would be welcome against a trainer of Karen's caliber, and this way he could still bring his strongest into play.

Karen nodded swiftly back, eying Bruiser. He looked back to Ash and pounded his massive chest with one of his meaty fists. Ash grinned back and returned the gesture.

Begin!

He blinked. The first thing Weavile did was reach one of its claws oh-so-delicately into its mouth and scratched. It happened so fast that he barely caught it, though he still looked oddly at the Weavile.

Next, Weavile's long claws shone purple as it swung them through the air in an erratic dance - Swords Dance, Ash recognized - and it snarled as it launched at Bruiser in a haze of darkness. Unfortunately for Weavile, Bruiser's blood had already begun to pound. His muscles bulged, his breath quickened, and he easily leapt into the dark-type's charge. Bruiser's massive fist plunged into the wiry Weavile's sternum…

And Weavile's grinning Substitute faded into nothingness. Bruiser landed heavily onto the earth, the floor of the battlefield cracking beneath the force, and rolled away just in time to avoid a series of quick, vicious strikes from Weavile's glowing claws. The speed exhibited for Sneasel was just a pale shadow of what it was now - the claws flashed faster and faster, drawing blood on several occasions. A pale, frosty wind wreathed around Weavile and numbed Bruiser's limbs with every second it brushed him.

Bruiser hissed with each cut - he'd been poisoned, most likely - and loosed a mighty roar as he powered through the pain and tackled Weavile to the ground. Its flimsy frame creaked beneath Bruiser's weight, and the Machoke landed an earth-shaking punch (barely a fraction of his true strength, Ash knew) into the dark-type, only to strike the shimmering green of Protect. The next two hits left the Protect shuddering, and the third shattered it entirely as the blow hammered the slim Weavile into the earth. Weavile yowled, crumpled, and went limp. Its limbs trembled and wrapped around itself as it curled into a shaking ball. Crimson blood spilled from its mouth...

"Don't fall for it!" Ash's eyes narrowed as Bruiser stood up, plainly distraught at Weavile's 'grievous' injury even through his Rampage-induced fury. His friend barely had time to try and pull away before a nasty grin appeared on Weavile's face, followed by a sudden drop in temperature as a massive lance of arcing white energy slammed into Bruiser. It didn't knock him out, but the Ice Beam served its purpose: Bruiser's entire top half was encased in a thick layer of hard, frigid ice. He shattered it with a strain of his enhanced muscles, but Weavile had already leapt beneath Bruiser's trunk-like legs and swiped him with glowing claws.

Bruiser collapsed, stunned by the sudden pain, and barely swung back from Weavile's fiery violet claws. The Night Slash would have disoriented him if nothing else, but thankfully Bruiser forced the Weavile back with a lightning-quick punch that clipped Weavile and sent it sprawling. It was much, much slower to rise this time. He could never be sure of how much of that was just an act, though...

To be honest, Ash couldn't tell who won the exchange. Bruiser rose heavily to his feet, taxed by the Poison Jabs and slashes. The Ice Beam had done a number on him, even if it didn't slow him down too much. Weavile was hurt, but it had controlled the match.

He grit his teeth. Not anymore.

"No more holding back!" Ash thundered. "Full Rampage! Catch the Weavile!"

Bruiser's veins pulsed, throbbing as his heart pounded faster and faster. His muscles bulged grotesquely, pushed to their absolute limits. He roared, and Weavile stumbled away. It watched warily, circling away to put distance between them, and Karen's lips quirked.

Ordinarily, they used a controlled Rampage. Bruiser could sustain it nearly indefinitely now due to his body adjusting to the constant strain. It wasn't easy, but he wouldn't collapse in the middle of a battle from the pressure. At this point that controlled version was just as effective as what he'd done in the Conference due to his ever growing strength, endurance, and durability.

This time, there were no limits. They had a minute, perhaps two if they were lucky, and they had to make it count.

Bruiser's chest rumbled. His eyes open, red and bloodshot, and his reptilian mouth flattened into a thin line.

His massive legs tensed, then exploded into action. The earth cracked beneath the force as he leapt forward - Weavile mimicked him, only backwards. It wasn't long before the dark-type abandoned any semblance of a fight and sprinted away on all fours, fleeing as though a monster was after it.

In a way, it was right.

Even as Weavile's form lit with the grey energy of a dark-type Agility, blurring away with incredible speed, Bruiser proved that it was no match for him. He charged forward like a freight train, caught up to his fleeing quarry in mere seconds, and bellowed in frustration as Weavile barely whipped away in time. It was more than happy to exploit its superior agility - Bruiser was faster now, but he couldn't easily follow in straight lines.

It didn't matter. Weavile was already slowing. For once, Ash didn't think this was an act. Sneasel only landed one hit, but he'd made that hit count. The Poison Jab would do its job.

Of course, Weavile's 'slow' was still faster than most pokemon could dream of. It led Bruiser on a merry chase for a few seconds. Its only hope was to wear him out, but Bruiser was relentless. Occasionally it looked desperately to Karen, who simply remained still as a statue.

Finally, Weavile stumbled. It slid into the ground, a heavy cloud of dust spraying upwards to obscure the area, and Bruiser caught it in no time.

Ash frowned as his instincts screamed. "Polyblast!"

Bruiser barely heard him in time, but flung a glowing fist outward. Ten tiny Focus Blasts had formed on each finger, a pale blue with a blinding white center, and blasted out to strike Weavile in a flurry of small explosions… only to reveal the Substitute fading away.

The Machoke was half-blind with fury and adrenaline, yet that didn't stop him from recognizing the danger he was in.

He launched himself forward, heavy steps clapping like thunder in the vastness of the empty battlefield, and barely dodged an exhausted Weavile as it leapt from underneath the ground with claws reaving and swiping. Ash had to admit he was impressed - that was a quick, masterful use of Dig.

"Now!" Karen's smooth voice rang. His blood went cold, and both Ash and Bruiser found themselves positively dreading whatever came next. Bruiser had already shot forward, eager to end this before it could begin.

Weavile bared its fangs, looked up to the cluster of electric lights that hung over the battlefield, and trembled as a shroud of nothingness sparked about the lights. They flickered through every color, bathing the field in a rainbow for a brief instant, then shorted out entirely as the dark-type power flowed through them.

The arena went black. He couldn't see so much as an inch ahead of him, though he could make out Bruiser's heavy breaths and the snarls of combat in the distance. Ash snarled, honestly surprised at the (probably very expensive for the League) trick then snagged the Feather from his chest. The obsidian membranes released the flesh, bone, and sinew of his chest and clung instead to his hand, blazing as Ash allowed Fire to burn.

It seared, golden flame bursting from his hand, and Ash laughed aloud as the battlefield was cast in a faint glow. He could still hardly see more than subtle shapes, but as soon as Lightning sharpened his senses he could just barely make out Karen's gobsmacked face in the blackness.

"Now!" Ash called the moment he saw the exhausted Weavile leap at Bruiser from behind. It barely managed the jump with how bad of shape it was in. Sneasel's poison and Bruiser's chase had left Weavile at the edges of its stamina.

The Machoke was practically helpless in the dark, and he roared his pain as the dark-type's dagger-like claws stabbed into his shoulders, pulsing with unearthly power. Weavile clung on for dear life as Bruiser bucked and writhed with superhuman force, then yelped as one of its arms dislocated.

Weavile held on for dear life, pumping more and more power into Bruiser, and finally it bared its fangs. Jagged arcs of frosty beams struck Bruiser in the back of his head and he fell to his knees -

One of Bruiser's arms swung back, palm glowing with a Focus Blast, and the detonation of light and force forced Ash's eyes shut. His vision shone with stars as he fought to return his eyes to the field, and by the time he did he simply stared.

Bruiser lay unconscious, with Weavile not far behind. The dark-type had been flung nearly ten feet away from Bruiser's splayed out form, and laid face down in the dirt. Ash glanced upwards as soon as Karen recalled her Weavile, only to be disappointed when the lights remained dark.

Weavile must have actually shorted them out with its strange power. He couldn't imagine it was permanent - not unless Karen wanted to pay for the massive stadium's lights out of her own pocket, anyway - but it would last for a while.

He'd have to ask her about that later. Whatever it was, it had been an excellent display of an unconventional use of dark-type abilities. Ash could only imagine how useful being able to disrupt electricity would be in raids on Team Rocket bases. Had Agatha taught her?

Ash swiftly recalled Bruiser and whispered his thanks. Bruiser had given his all. He'd probably be miserable the next few days due to the strain on his body…

He put that out of his mind for now. Ash would just have to make sure Bruiser got all his favorite treats (and plenty of alone time from Sneasel) later. He'd more than earned it.

"Not too shabby!" Karen looked at Weavile's pokeball thoughtfully. He was grateful for the light of the Feather. There was absolutely no way he could've made out her face otherwise. The darkness of the cavern was suffocating. "That Machoke of yours… he's something."

"He is."

A smile flickered across Karen's face, though it was gone as soon as it had appeared. "Points for making that little practice bout with Sneasel count - I knew you'd play dirty."

He grinned back. "You set a good example."

Karen snorted, then unclipped a second pokeball to hold it aloft. "Don't get cocky, brat. We're just getting started."

With that, she released the next fighter onto the field. Even in the faint light of the Feather he could make out stark white fur, bare navy face, wickedly curved horn, and gleaming red eyes. He recognized it immediately: Absol.

The mighty dark-type shuddered at the sight of him, took a step back, then regained its senses. Absol's clear cry filled the air as it squared itself for combat, horn lowered and legs prepared to vault it into action.

Ash's lips twitched.

Absol was a tough one. It was easily one of Karen's most formidable fighters, and held an impressive track record in recorded bouts. In close-quarters it was a nightmare, able to predict its foes movements with uncanny ease, and possessed a vast arsenal of medium and long-range attacks so it could engage at any distance.

It possessed two skills that would make it particularly difficult for his friends to face: a mastery of Perish Song that could lead to very, very frustrating conclusions and enormous skill with Curse. Absol was able to mimic the effects of a ghost-type's Curse - Ash couldn't help but scowl at the thought of Grey's Chandelure in the Conference and how it had brought down a rampaging Infernus with Curse.

Essentially, Absol was Karen's answer to particularly difficult enemies. He could even remember it using Will-o-Wisp in one of its battles… not even Infernus would have an easy time with Absol. Inconvenient. He'd really hoped to use Infernus this battle in order to set up magma pits that could provide light to his team. His friends weren't half as good at fighting in the dark as Karen - Plume in particular would be handicapped.

To be honest, he'd normally release Bruiser for a fight like this. He'd put Weavile out of commission, though, so Ash couldn't be too disappointed.

Infernus would be struck with a Curse the moment he appeared on the field. Torrent would as well, and there wasn't an open source of water for him either. Really, his choices came to either Nidoking or Tangrowth. Their ability to control the field would be invaluable against Absol, and Nidoking's rudimentary earth sense could give him a minor advantage.

Not especially convenient, still. Optimally, he'd use Plume to take care of the nimble Absol. It was sensitive to air currents, but with her speed it wouldn't matter. Nidoking could still be incredibly useful against her Honchkrow (one of the constants on her team), Gengar, or Houndoom. His versatility would be a huge boon, especially since Dazed couldn't fight in this battle. Other than her and Sneasel, Nidoking was one of the only members of the team with a reliable option against a ghost.

Tangrowth it was.

It wasn't a perfect situation: there were no magma pools for Tangrowth to navigate by or wield (not that his vision was very good in the first place), but it would have to do. Nidoking was too valuable a fighter to release yet.

Besides, Tangrowth mostly 'saw' through his vines anyways. What would the dark matter?

As it turned out, it did. Tangrowth gurgled unhappily when he emerged in the black void, eyes wide and unseeing. He immediately shot out a few vines to probe around and gain a sense of his surroundings - Karen swatted one away, Absol nimbly stepped to the side of the grasping tendril, and Ash clutched the warm, rubbery vine in his hand.

"I'm here, Tangrowth," he soothed. He made sure to keep the Feather away from Tangrowth's vine as he brought his other hand up to clasp the appendage between them. Tangrowth's other vines stopped wiggling quite as much, although he still seemed uneasy in the dark. "It's a fight just like any other, okay? I'll help guide you."

Tangrowth hopped up and down for a few moments, vines stretching out, and gurgled warmly back.

Ash smiled.

"Ready?" Karen arched an elegant eyebrow. Ash nodded, and the Alakazam's eyes flashed in the dark.

Begin!

Tangrowth's vines had already covered quite a bit of ground as he explored the unseen battlefield. They laid in wait, some squirming into the earth's depths and others flailing atop its surface. As soon as Alakazam's order rang through their minds (all except Absol, who required a whistle from Karen) the grass-type's vines whipped out, glowing with power.

Unfortunately, Absol's attunement to the environment was just as impressive as Ash had feared. Absol weren't particularly fast, but they were uniquely agile due to evolving to survive in mountainous environments. They could scale mountains as easily as most pokemon could run across a flat plain.

Its footwork allowed it to avoid the first probing vines, ducking easily beneath the clumsy strikes, but in no time at all Ash had Tangrowth directing more and more of his attention at Absol (all the while flinging Ancient Power around to disrupt its footing and arrange the battlefield to his liking).

Karen shouted something Ash couldn't understand, and Absol sprung into action. Its powerful legs let it scale the shifting rock and earth with uncanny grace, and it neatly sheared off whatever vines dared to come close with a neat toss of its horn. The dark-type steadily advanced through the shifting terrain, an unrelenting force cleaving through earth and vines. The shifting rock left Absol's pale coat showered in dust, yet it seemed not to mind at all.

Tangrowth retreated farther back, operating surprisingly well in the dark thanks to his vines, but Absol was faster. It would catch his friend soon, free to use its massive arsenal against the half-blind Tangrowth.

He grit his teeth. That wasn't about to happen.

"Effect Spore! Spread it all over the battlefield!"

Absol was forced back as vast clouds of Stun Spore, Sleep Powder, and Poison Powder poured out from beneath Tangrowth's shell of wiggling vines. The multi-colored cloud was nearly invisible in the blackness, only faint visible due to glimmering in the golden light of the Feather. The dark-type had absolutely no trouble viewing it, of course, and prowled comfortably around a few boulders and great chunks of earth ripped up by Tangrowth. It slipped down into a gaping crater silently, steering clear of the powders and spores spewed blindly all over the place by Tangrowth to settle across every surface of the battlefield -

A whip-like vine struck from nowhere, only to be cloven apart by Absol's razor-sharp horn. Ash couldn't help but marvel at its speed - even with Lightning amplifying his senses it was nearly impossible to track. He allowed the Feather to burn brighter (though refused to channel Ice in fear of its progenitor roosting thousands of feet above) and grinned as Absol's body went tight and rigid, its eyes locked fearfully on the Feather.

"Now!"

The dozen vines buried beneath the earth arose, shining silver with Ancient Power as huge chunks of rock were ripped up from under Absol's feet. The stunned dark-type barely had the presence of mind to leap from boulder, and before it could hope to land it yelped as two strong vines slammed into Absol. It somehow twisted to land on its feet, but it was winded by the blow.

Despite it all, Absol shot forward. A veritable storm of vines lashed it wherever it landed, cracking boulders in twain and carving long, thin gouges in the earth. Each cracked like a whip when it struck, yet whenever it landed against Absol's dusty fur all it struck was an illusion…

It was almost impossible to keep track of the dark-type. Absol was capable of splitting off an illusory double every second or two with Double Team, although the mental strain would catch it before long - still, Ash couldn't help but marvel at the sight of a Double Team clone diverging into two, then four, then eight at a distance from Absol. Poor Tangrowth was utterly fooled, and Ash quickly barked out orders to pull back. No use wasting energy on doubles, especially not as the lightly injured original crept ever closer.

Absol reared its head back just as Tangrowth yanked his visible vines back, and a howling gale shot forth into the darkness. The Razor Wind cut a dozen of the appendages off near their base, rendering them useless squirmind nubs. Tangrowth cried out, yet Absol was relentless. Its horn shone a brilliant white, arcs of freezing light collected in its maw, and a Blizzard formed -

He flared Fire yet again.

The dark-type froze up (he hoped Blaine would be proud of the pun) as the Blizzard went wild. It didn't outright explode, but the frosty, compressed air decompressed in a wicked gale that left the earth glittering white like crystal in the Feather's fire.

It didn't buy much time, but at least Tangrowth had a second to recoup. Absol recovered more quickly this time, and it and Karen both sent Ash an irritated glance.

"Clever trick, but it's getting old, Ash!" Karen called out, though she didn't sound displeased. The cruel smirk didn't bode too well… "But if that's how you want to play, so be it!"

Absol looked Ash's way. He barely had time to step back before Absol's Stone Edge flung a flurry of thin stone splinters his way, the rocks just quick enough to catch him off guard. Alakazam's psychic barriers caught them neatly long before they could tear Ash's flesh to ribbons, but the trick had served its purpose.

A Shadow Ball (especially slow, wispy, and indistinct for Sneasel, let alone a Master-level fighter) crawled through the air sluggishly. Alakazam's eyes flashed, redoubling the psychic barriers even as a heavy boulder outlined in blue energy swept forward to intercept the amateur Shadow Ball.

For his part, Ash simply stepped away to the side.

It would've probably knocked him unconscious if it struck, but nothing worse. He couldn't even imagine how Karen would explain that to Lance.

In the end, Alakazam's interception didn't matter: a massive boulder, perhaps the size of a shed, smashed into it and bulldozed its way through the rest of the field. It hammered into the psychic barriers so hard that they nearly shattered, and the resulting flash only outlined what came next.

Tangrowth wrenched himself forward with his remaining vines, the appendages coiled and intertwined until they appeared like three thick, flexible tree trunks projecting from his body. The knotted vines plunged into the earth to carry him ten or so feet above the earth, enough for Absol to have a difficult time reaching him with its deadly horn.

Worst of all, Tangrowth's round, innocent eyes burned.

Absol leapt away, tossing its head to and fro in hopes of finding an advantage in its surroundings, but found none. The place it stood was crushed by Tangrowth's massive vines as they carried him forward, nearby boulders ripped apart and hurled at the dark-type with terrible force.

A desperate chase began through the spore-coated boulders and gouges in the earth. Absol, adapted to these sorts of environments, stayed hardly ahead of Tangrowth's mighty swipes and stabs. It chipped away at Tangrowth, punishing him for every attack. A Razor WInd here, an Ice Beam there. Occasionally even a Dark Pulse, which became more and more popular a choice as Absol picked out how Tangrowth recoiled from the alien energy.

The dark-type couldn't escape without injury, however. Its preternatural reflexes and environmental awareness only spared it so often - it avoided the heaviest blows, but would be showered with dust and sharp little shards of rock. Even better, the commotion had wafted the Stun Spore, Sleep Powder, and Poison Powder into the air from where it had settled on rocks and on the battlefield. Absol couldn't help but breathe it in, and its measured breaths swiftly grew more labored.

Tangrowth had even cornered it once and landed a mighty blow with a vine, yet Absol wasted no time setting it aflame with a slice of its horn. The horn blazed with Will-O-Wisp for a moment, and the moment it struck Tangrowth's mighty vine the cursed flames leapt up with a fury, climbing the vine too swiftly for natural flame.

...then Tangrowth allowed the whole thing to detach, the heavy trunk unbalancing Tangrowth as he cast the useless vines away, yet quickly reoriented himself with his remaining two limbs.

Absol easily put distance between the two while Tangrowth was distracted, heeding Karen's frenzied calls. It tensed, horn glowing a fiery purple just as Weavile's claws had, and prepared to do battle with this new, aggressive foe. A pale not-light glazed Absol's eyes - his eyes hurt the longer he tried to look at it, though he did not look away - and he recognized the technique as a dark-type's modified Future Sight.

Whatever strange dimension they pulled their power from was truly flexible - Ash wasn't sure how it interfaced with the material world, but experienced users could use the alien power to peer through the winding ways of time. It was supposed to be relatively unreliable compared to a psychic's Future Sight, but could also delve deeper.

The vast skill on display here didn't serve Absol too well here, though. As its mind received enormous, tangled quantities of uncertain information, it simply cocked its head as though it couldn't believe what it was seeing. Not an uncommon feature of peering into the future, according to his research. It could be overwhelming at the best of times, and wasn't a technique often used in battles. Only the most skilled -

All thoughts went out the window as Tangrowth reached out with one of his trunks, allowed a few of the tendrils at the end to unwind, and grasped his fallen, still-flaming limb. Even Ash could do nothing but blink, though Karen was already ordering Absol around. She actually managed to snap it out of its stupor, but Tangrowth had already struck with his new weapon.

Absol avoided the worst of it due to its fantastic reflexes, but was still clipped and sent flying. A bit of the Will-O-Wisp still burning on the intertwined vines clung to its fur, but was extinguished with a thought before it could do more harm. Tangrowth struck again, and again, and again, yet Absol was aware now. It stuck close to Tangrowth's trunks, cutting apart any vines that extended from his shell to strike, and landed another Will-O-Wisp on one of the trunks. It went up in a spectral flame, and so did the flames on Tangrowth's 'weapon' as well.

Tangrowth flung it away, a sad, confused gurgle breaking through his fury, and detached his second trunk. Only one remained, coalesced out of the vines on his right side. He allowed the coils to unwind even as he landed bodily atop Absol, who panted as the Effect Spore and chase took its toll on it.

"Wrap it up and drain it dry!" Ash called out, unease at Tangrowth's aggression giving way to practicality. "This is your chance!"

Absol struggled, slashing madly as Tangrowth's heavy weight smothered it. The few remaining vines looped around Absol's limbs, removing any ability of Absol to anchor itself, and shone green as Tangrowth's Giga Drain sapped Absol's strength.

"Curse."

Karen's word was clear and distinct, ringing across the arena.

"Get away!" Ash's throat was raw the moment the guttural scream left his lips. He grabbed the lonely vine that Tangrowth had tethered to him at the beginning and squeezed. It didn't hurt, but it caught his friend's attention. Tangrowth babbled at him, the anger draining out of his saucer-like eyes as he witnessed Ash unharmed. It killed him, but he had no patience when Tangrowth was at risk of such a terrible fate… "Run. Let it go! Run!"

Tangrowth's vines unlooped from around Absol's muscular form, flinging it into the hard earth, and he fled to Ash. Absol spat a Water Pulse after Tangrowth, but the fleeing Tangrowth swung away from it with his vines and the Water Pulse splashed uselessly into a crater to form a giant mud puddle. Ash grinned and called him closer, glad to see Tangrowth erecting several earth walls between him and Absol with Ancient Power, and laughed as Tangrowth reached another vine out to hold Ash's hand.

"I've got you," he whispered and squeezed Tangrowth's vines. Their subtle warmth was a welcome touch in the darkness, especially with Tangrowth's barriers blocking the light from the Feather. They'd bought them time, but it had also made the battlefield immeasurably more dangerous. Absol could be skulking anywhere now.

Karen's voice echoed, too difficult to discern in the cavern, and Ash scowled. "Can you tell where she is?"

Tangrowth gurgled and did a little dance.

Ash took that as a yes. "Great! Can you use Ancient Power and make a wall in front of her - do not hit her with it," he stressed. Tangrowth's blank eyes stared back at him, and he had to wonder if this was the best plan after all…

Before Ash could wall Karen off and leave Absol deaf to her commands (and block away her view of the battle for a time), a pale shadow lurched around the nearest upturned stone. It limped closer, despite the threat of Tangrowth's upraised vines, and whined piteously.

His eyes narrowed. This again? Seriously? "Clever trick, but it's getting old, Karen!" He turned her words back on her. The young woman didn't say anything, but he saw her mane of silvery hair shake back and forth.

Ash frowned, then glanced back to Tangrowth.

He sighed.

Absol had rolled over onto its side, exposing its white underbelly to Tangrowth. His friend's vines had lowered, weaving toward Absol's pristine fur -

Realization struck him. "It's a trap! Rip up the field!"

The illusory Double Team Absol faded, then split into two more clean copies of Absol - he was grateful Absol was too sloppy to match up the details to its current state or else he would've been fooled - that leapt at Tangrowth with horns blazing with spectral flame.

Just the sight left Tangrowth squirming, and he reflexively snapped his vines into the illusions. They faded away, their purpose served, as a filthy Absol (it must have rolled around in that mud puddle from earlier, crap) emerged as if from nowhere about fifteen feet from Tangrowth's defenseless left side.

A simple Quick Attack took the camouflaged Absol to mere inches from Tangrowth's flanks. Clever - his vines had been shorn off on that side, and without them Tangrowth was essentially blind there. Absol's legs coiled, ready to burst into motion, and a wicked shadow flickered about its scythed horn…

Curse.

"We surrender!" Ash recalled Tangrowth before the Curse could land. Absol immediately pulled away, though it didn't matter: Ash had already recalled his friend. "You win that round."

Karen's laugh told him all he needed to know, and he couldn't help but bite back a retort. She'd played him… had she seen his match with Morty, or had she just known him well enough to suspect he wouldn't let Tangrowth suffer under a Curse?

Absol limped back, finally exhibiting its injuries. Still, could he even trust that display? It was hurt, but it had already proven to be deceptive. Honorable as it appeared, it wasn't afraid to exploit every weakness and potential advantage it could.

She didn't return it, though, and Ash had a nasty suspicion of what would be Absol's next move. It was made for sacrificial plays, after all, even though it had fared much better than Clair's Altaria.

Well, this was inconvenient. He ran his fingers across several pokeballs, muttering madly to himself all the while. Infernus, no. Torrent, no. He was no better off than when he'd started this battle, even with a (supposedly) crippled Absol to face.

Still no strong sources of light for his team to navigate by, still no easy way around Absol's Perish Song, Curse, or Will-O-Wisp. Losing a second teammate to Absol was out of the question. It would ruin his chances against the rest of Karen's fighters.

"Are you done?" Karen's cool voice cut across to him. She sounded… bored? "I expected better, Ash. You can save the world from the Unown, but you can't even give me a good fight? Pathetic."

His blood boiled, the Feather flared, and he did not draw on Ice and its cold rationality.

Ash wasn't totally lost to his irritation, though. He still had it in him to make a smart choice. The only choice.

Nidoking appeared in a flash of light. He was little more than a massive purple shadow from where he stood perhaps twenty feet ahead of Ash. His ears twitched ever so softly as Ash whispered his orders, too low even for Absol to understand, and shifted to face the dark-type once he'd surveyed the wrecked battlefield.

One breath. Two breaths. Three breaths.

Begin!

Absol wasted not a single moment. As soon as Karen whistled, it reared its head back and the first horrid notes of a nightmarish wail sounded, the beginning of its Perish Song - and it stumbled, hacking up the cloud of dirt and Tangrowth's lingering Effect Spores that Nidoking had kicked up into its throat with a weak burst of psychic power.

Oh, he wished he could see the look on Karen's face.

Ash hoped he'd cured her boredom.

Absol recovered admirably fast, but the intensity of the previous battle had taken its toll. It was slower, just slow enough for Nidoking's sudden Flamethrower to ignite. The stream glowed a cherry red and gorgeous gold that bathed the battlefield and Tangrowth's patchwork of boulders and craters in heat, light, and contrasting shadow…

Then it struck the Effect Spore that Tangrowth had so kindly spread all over the place, and the conflagration erupted.

The psychic barriers shuddered, Ash glanced away before he could be blinded, and grinned as the thunderous noise of the explosion left the cavern trembling for just a moment. Could the others feel it up there in Indigo Plateau?

Ash hoped so.

Karen couldn't return Absol fast enough. Her lip curled as Nidoking peered out of the small fissure he'd shaped from Earth Power (a nice little nook to protect him from the brief fireball) and she raised her next pokeball without a word.

He could live with her scowl. In the heat of battle he could even relish it.

"Let's go…" Ash mumbled, the mad grin back on his face. His heart pounded, his blood pulsed, his hands shook. It was everything he could have asked for.

Then Umbreon trotted forward without a care in the world. He didn't see Nidoking's tension rise so much as felt it. Ash grit his teeth at the wash of fear, disgust, blood-pounding rage that he knew filled Nidoking's heart. Worst of all was the weakness, an intimate sensation of helplessness as jaws tore his hide apart with sick pleasure.

"Time-Out."

Alakazam nodded, and its eyes flashed.

"What?" Karen sounded annoyed, not that Ash could blame her.

"Nidoking isn't fighting your Umbreon," he said. One day, perhaps, but not yet. Not when he knew just how quickly that fight could bring up bad memories… Still, Karen seemed irritated more than anything, and he quickly put a stop to that. "Pierce's Umbreon."

That snagged her attention, and he didn't have to see her to know a great deal had just clicked for her. He felt a raw sense of exposure, like Karen's quick mind had just peeled back layers and layers of him, and grit his teeth.

"Executive Pierce…" Karen's voice was loud in the stark silence that followed, and at last she accepted. "Fine, but we're both switching. Nidoking's locked in as one of your fighters since you've used him against Absol. Fair?"

He called out his approval, and gave Nidoking a slight nod before recalling him. Ash whispered a few kind words to his friend, then watched with baited breath as her next teammate appeared in a blinding flash of light.

Karen's gigantic Houndoom howled as it stepped forth and issued its challenge. The mighty dark-type's fur blazed with heat, casting a glow about its surroundings. Its tail flicked back and forth, sparking wildly, and smoke belched forth from its mouth. Little trickles of flame danced about whenever it moved, and even Ash had to admire it.

It was no Infernus, but Houndoom wasn't far behind.

Then Umbreon dashed up quickly, rubbed against Houndoom's hot fur, and scurried away as Houndoom did its best to affectionately lick the other dark-type.

That ruined the effect a little.

Still, there was no doubt in his mind who he had to release for this battle. Infernus would never forgive him if he chose Torrent for this.

He released Infernus a fair distance away from him. The moment he manifested the darkness was banished away to the edges of the arena, replaced with a miniature star that blazed amidst the devastation Tangrowth had wreaked. Infernus glanced around, grudgingly impressed, and turned forward to glance at Houndoom. It stood tall and proud, wicked horns curled menacingly, and howled yet again to Infernus.

"Careful. Your fires won't do much, but it can burn you!" Ash grinned as he offered Infernus the 'warning'. Sure enough, it had the intended effect.

Infernus whipped his head back to stare at Ash, then looked back to Houndoom. He rolled his shoulders, tensed, and flames burst from his skin. The heat left the air twisting, Ash and Karen half-blind, and the stone beneath his feet shone cherry-red. He stood surrounded in a cloak of fire and roared, a great gout of red fire streaking forth into the air. The dry heat left Ash's skin burning, yet he couldn't help but embrace it. The Feather crackled in tune with Infernus.

Houndoom didn't so much as twitch. It waited patiently for the display to die down, and remained silent.

Begin!

Karen's whistle sounded.

Naturally, Infernus' first move was to teleport atop Houndoom. His friend barely avoided a gout of black-tinged flame as he vanished with a spectacular crack and immediately materialized over the dark-type… only to land heavily on the ground, bathing empty stone in flame. Fire wouldn't do much harm to a Houndoom, but it would at least blind and distract it.

Infernus immediately leapt to the side, though no attack came. He scanned his surroundings patiently, as did Ash.

Where could Houndoom have vanished off to? He'd barely seen it twitch, though admittedly Infernus' loud and bright teleportation was a major distraction. Yet it was gone now, vanished to some place Infernus' brilliant light couldn't breach.

"Earthquake!" Ash snapped, hoping to force Houndoom out of hiding. Karen had already proven to enjoy using her team to strike from the shadows - not that that was anything resembling a surprise from a Dark Master.

Infernus reacted quickly - he leapt up with all his force, and when he landed a rippling wave of force trembled the earth. It rent stone, toppled boulders, and buried several craters left by Tangrowth. Gaping fissures carved their way out, and -

"Lava Plume! Set up some magma chambers!" He directed even as Houndoom made its appearance. The canine moved swiftly, darting from boulder to boulder as Infernus stamped his foot. Moments later several wells of sluggish, glowing molten stone bubbled up to fill several fissures and craters. They provided a permanent light, one that would hopefully help the rest of the team should Infernus fall.

Even as he raised the Lava Plume, Infernus' eyes tracked the movements of Houndoom. He raised a single cannon and braced himself as a spectacular eruption of flame exploded from the appendage, bathing the entire area in white fire. Ash squinted, struggling to capture sight of Houndoom dancing through the flames, but failed.

His stomach churned. Where could it be?

Unfortunately, Houndoom made its appearance seconds later. It had slipped around another boulder, somehow ahead of Infernus' liberal use of fire, and screamed. Ash immediately cut off Lightning as he staggered back, hands clutching his ears to save them from Houndoom's Hyper Voice.

Infernus snarled back as the sound waves struck him, staggering him for an instant before he threw it off and rushed at Houndoom - the canine took the chance to rear its head back and spit an ugly, fuming mass of black sludge at Infernus, though the Magmortar ducked beneath the Sludge Bomb. It landed near a pocket of lava, quickly reduced to vapor by the immense heat.

Though Houndoom attempted to slip away in a rapid dash, Infernus was having none of it. Ash shouted a warning - "Careful!" - as Infernus landed a Thunder Punch to Houndoom's side, eliciting a pained yelp as Houndoom slowed. Infernus' battle-honed reflexes spared him another black-tinged Flamethrower that ignited through the air, searing effortlessly through the psychic barriers and striking the stone roof, and let him land a second Thunder Punch.

Houndoom slid back, scrambling for purchase on the stone, and a brief surge of glee erupted in its eyes as Infernus leaned forward to punch -

And teleported right behind Houndoom. His cannon filled with tiny particles of white-gold light, which coalesced into a sphere, then lanced forth as a Hyper Beam to strike Houndoom - or it would have. Houndoom's spade-tipped tail shone a brilliant white in the burning light released by Infernus, and swept straight into the cannon. Infernus roared as the Hyper Beam went wide, obliterating one of Tangrowth's boulders before piercing through the psychic barriers.

Ash winced. Houndoom's Iron Tail had to hurt. Infernus didn't let it show, but he held the cannon - was it bent? - close to his bulk and held the other aloft. Houndoom had spun to face him, pacing carefully. It showed little discomfort to the scorching heat that poured off Infernus, barely even panting where most pokemon would be gasping for breath.

"Come on, you're better than this!" Karen's smirk was audible. Ash's fists clenched as Infernus and Houndoom leapt into another exchange, neither really accomplishing anything. Infernus was too wary now to be bitten, and Houndoom was swift enough to run circles around the injured Infernus. "The whole world's seen your tricks in the Conference, Ash. Did you think we wouldn't prepare? I won't be the first Elite Four to lose to you!"

He bit back a curse as Houndoom managed to spit a slim stream of its accursed fire against Infernus' leg - it barely scraped, but Infernus winced nonetheless. His eyes narrowed and a mighty roar escaped the Magmortar's lungs, furious at tasting another's flame.

"Pull back!" He commanded. Infernus actually did so without remorse - he hated running, but he hated losing more. There was no doubt in Ash's mind that Infernus knew the trouble they were in. Houndoom negated Infernus' greatest advantages of body heat and raw firepower, and had clearly been trained in Infernus' tactics. The teleportation hadn't even jarred the dark-type.

Infernus vanished from the battlefield. It dimmed instantly with his light gone, and Houndoom swiftly retreated into the shadows to lick at its wounds. Ash wasn't sure what magma pool Infernus had teleported into, but he hoped he was making good use of his time. Any healing would be invaluable - Ash's thoughts trailed off as he noticed a few surreptitious bulges shape across the battlefield, plugged with molten rock and noxious volcanic gases. It had worked wonders against Kommo-o and he hoped it would do the same here.

Good. Infernus' fire might barely faze Houndoom, but the traps would be more effective. Even a Master-level Houndoom couldn't shrug that off. At the very least it would offer an opening. An Infernus with his elemental advantages nullified was still tougher, stronger, and more vicious than any pokemon had a right to be.

They just had to take a step back first.

Nearly two minutes had passed before the battle resumed. Several new bulges had formed, yet Ash had no doubt Houndoom had set up some nasty surprises as well. Anything trained by Karen (and probably Agatha, he reminded himself) wouldn't let that time waste.

Finally, Houndoom grew tired of waiting. Karen said something under her breath - he hated when other people used that trick - and Houndoom loped into the midst of the lava traps. Its nose twitched, tail swishing all the while, and shut its eyes.

Ash grit his teeth, hoping Infernus had something prepared. He couldn't contact him while Infernus lurked within the lava. What he would do for psychic powers right now…

A very distracting burst of cold fire in the back of his mind seemed to find some amusement in that.

By the time he forced it away, Houndoom had struck. From its mouth poured great spheres of Will-O-Wisp, three then four then five… they hovered around Houndoom, somehow controlled by its will, and when it had finished belching the ghostly flames, each sphere surged into streams of unearthly fire and spilled into the lava pits. They flooded them, seeking to scour Infernus from his hiding spot.

Infernus couldn't teleport with the ghostly flames seeping into the lava, but he wasted no time in clambering up the side. His wounds were packed with glowing lava, yet he snarled hatefully at Houndoom as the cursed fire seared his thick hide, heedless of his own innate resistance to flame. Ash's heart leapt as the blue fire clung to Infernus, animated by Houndoom's malicious will, and Infernus screamed.

His eyes were hateful slits as he held his burning legs in the lava - perhaps the only way to slow the damage of Houndoom's Will-O-Wisps - and Infernus' cannon pounded frantically against the earth. Houndoom's nose twitched, its gaze widened, and -

Boom.

Every single one of Infernus' volcanic traps - he really needed to think up a name for the new technique - exploded. The entire battlefield trembled beneath the force, and a dozen sprays of glowing molten rock spattered across the ruined battlefield in heaps of slag. Infernus exhaled in relief as Houndoom was flung away by the sheer force of the eruptions, and seemed to relish in the toxic volcanic gases that spewed across the arena's center. They diffused away into nothingness long before it could reach Ash or Karen, but Houndoom (wherever it had flown off to) was still at risk.

Infernus climbed fully out now, his legs trembling to support his weight. Ash called out a few orders just to keep him focused - he couldn't even imagine how much pain Infernus was in. The molten stone packed the vicious ghostly burns that had stripped much of the hide on his legs away, but that was just a stopgap measure. It at most soothed, and he suspected the Will-O-Wisps would have cut past that…

Still, his friend stood strong. His flames burned bright, his bent cannon shifted back into claws and crackled with electricity, and his other was raised for battle.

"There!" Ash howled as a limping Houndoom poked its head out from behind a (barely standing) boulder. It avoided the cooling lava painting the floor and simply stared at Infernus with laser-like intensity. Just as Infernus wheeled around, Ash spotted an accursed strand of purple energy strike towards his friend from Houndoom's faintly glowing body. "Destiny Bond!"

Infernus crumpled beneath the weight of the illusory agony a Master-level fighter could amplify through Destiny Bond. Every nick, every burn, every bruise was magnified exponentially through the empathetic link Houndoom had forged with Infernus.

He landed heavily on a raw knee that dripped with scalding blood, staring daggers at Houndoom. The canine met his stare evenly, though wisely remained hidden behind the rock, and opened his maw full of razor sharp teeth. Blood dripped from them, and Ash noted with some satisfaction that several were missing from the fight. Black fire swirled within Houndoom's throat, laced with dark-type energy, and billowed out in a great conflagration that devoured everything it touched…

Through some miracle, Infernus managed one last teleportation. It was a clumsy thing, too loud and too obvious, but it pulled him away from the cursed fire of Houndoom and finally managed to land atop the canine. A savage scuffle - Ash had no idea how the pain-blinded Infernus managed it with Destiny Bond reflecting every scrap of pain he inflicted back tenfold - ensued, and yelps, roars, and sprays of Houndoom's black flame and Infernus' pure, blazing white exploded from behind the rock.

They tumbled behind, Infernus slamming an electrified claw into Houndoom's neck while Houndoom's razor-sharp teeth latched onto Infernus' shoulder and ripped sharply enough to leave Infernus howling. Houndoom's maw blazed with an inky flame, and Infernus' howls grew all the louder, all the more desperate as his shoulder burned in agony.

Ash raised his friend's pokeball… and lowered it just an inch.

Not yet. Not before Infernus was genuinely incapable of fighting.

That moment soon came. Despite all of Infernus' fight, despite his maddened rage that pushed him through the pain, despite the claws he'd stabbed into Houndoom's ribs and channeled an unending surge of electricity through (and received the same pain a dozen times over), Houndoom ended it with a Thunder Fang to Infernus' meaty neck.

Oh, the pain must've been impossible to stand for them both. Houndoom burned hot in the midst of battle, hot enough to survive fighting the mighty Infernus in close quarters, but the Magmortar's boiling blood must've scalded the canine horribly. The dark-type shuddered, writhing and twitching, as it poured every ounce of its strength into the Thunder Fang. Arcs of electricity flowed into Infernus - with his mind so clouded, Air Lens wasn't even a possibility - and the flailing Magmortar managed two, three, four more blows into Houndoom's ribs before his eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp.

Ash could do nothing but stare as he took in the sight: Infernus' flames faded to little more than cinders, failing to ignite entirely where Houndoom's cursed fire had landed. Steaming blood oozed from a hundred little wounds and teeth marks, and his cannons laid limp.

Infernus had lost.

He returned his friend silently. The sudden darkness that encroached - just barely staved off by the glow of the cooling lava left behind by Infernus - left Ash feeling rather empty.

Houndoom laid flat on the floor for a moment, panting wildly. Its eyes were unfocused, several ribs cracked by the explosions and Infernus' massive strength, and every one of its limbs twitched erratically due to Infernus' Thunder Punches. The fact that it was still conscious spoke to its innate toughness, and Ash couldn't help but nod in respect to the broken creature that had beaten Infernus.

That deserved respect. Houndoom had won, but it had hardly been a clean victory. It had bled and suffered awfully for that win. The both of them would be out of commission for days. Considering how tough Infernus was, that said something.

Karen remained silent. Ash didn't miss the fact that she left Houndoom out on the field. Probably aiming for another Destiny Bond to take out a second member of Ash's team when Houndoom fell.

She wouldn't find an easy target. Infernus had lost - and he could still scarcely believe it - but he'd accomplished a great deal in his fight. Houndoom was crippled, and more importantly the rest of his team now had light to navigate by in the form of the lava pits. It faded by the minute as heat was leached away and the lava began to harden, yet it offered a slim hope for fighters like Plume who relied on their sight.

And speaking of Plume…

He couldn't help but crack a grin as she materialized, greeting Karen, Houndoom, and Umbreon with an ear-piercing shriek that cracked through the air. Plume looked at the mutilated battlefield from her perch on a particularly tall, craggy boulder that had survived Infernus' wrath. She started at the sight of Houndoom's brutalized body, yet seemed more surprised that it had somehow defeated Infernus.

To be honest, he couldn't blame her.

"Keep your distance," Ash muttered, trusting Plume's keen ears to hear his muffled words. A flick of her lustrous plumage confirmed that she did. "Fly as high as you safely can in the dark. It can use Destiny Bond. If it has the chance, it'll take you out in a heartbeat."

Plume's wings spread, and the moment Alakazam and Karen marked the battle's beginning she had taken off in a blur - it was good that she had, as Houndoom had leapt up from its hard-earned rest in a blaze of purple light, flinging a tendril of it to brush Plume. She was gone, thankfully, and Houndoom fought its wounds to track her with its excellent night vision.

Houndoom dug deep into whatever reserves it still possessed, bunkered between a handful of half-shattered boulders to take cover from the raptor. She was clumsier than usual, struggling to maintain proper speed and elevation in the meager light radiating from the lava pools. Plume's talent and experience in flying came to the fore, however, and Ash saw her slowly adjust to the unfamiliar conditions.

His heart pounded in his chest, pride welling up as she moved faster and more confident in these difficult conditions. The same skill that let her match Lance's Dragonite trio was tested in new ways.

Despite its massive disadvantage, Houndoom didn't rest. It peeked out from cover every now and then to spray great Flamethrowers (not tinged black this time) into the sky. Easily dodged, but they forced Plume to circle farther and farther away. Houndoom was determined to remain a difficult target.

Ash scowled. In the light, this battle would've already been over. Here in the bloody red light of the lava, Plume was nearly crippled. She could hardly see, she couldn't hope to reach her great speeds without clear vision and open skies, and Houndoom had decided to make it even more difficult for her as it reared its bloody neck back and spat a great vortex of flame from its throat - the Fire Spin instantly billowed outward in a terrible inferno, leaving the air rippling and Houndoom's shape nearly invisible.

"Hurricane!" He called, and grinned as Plume's dark figure swept widely through the cavern, barely avoiding the dead lights - and how he wished he could have avoided Weavile shutting them down - to swing behind Houndoom. The canine could barely keep up, and he saw it stumble and trip as the dizziness and fatigue wore on it. Its Fire Spin still roared, dancing wildly to prevent Plume from getting close, yet it was already over.

She dove, stretched her wings out wide, and shrieked. Her wings beat forth with their full force, and a mighty gale swept Houndoom's flaming vortex away. The fires shone brilliantly as they were scattered into faded wisps and flickering tongues, then vanished altogether. Houndoom whined as it slammed against a nearby boulder, yet rose again on shaking legs.

He couldn't help but marvel at Houndoom's sheer will, but it wasn't enough to let it off. "Finish it!"

Just as Houndoom's body flickered with an unearthly haze - not quite Destiny Bond, but clearly nothing good - that expelled into a black mist and began to crawl into the lava pits, smothering and choking the heat and energy out of it, Plume fulfilled her orders.

An Air Slash, nearly invisible save for the dust, ash, and splintered stone it carried with it, hammered the broken Houndoom and left it crumpled to the earth. Neither Ash or Plume deigned to relax until Karen at last recalled Houndoom. She was barely visible in the quenched light - Ash had no idea what Houndoom had done with its strange powers, but the black mist had somehow left Infernus' lava pits dim and cold. They still shone with a smothered light, but it was like viewing the sun from behind a thick blanket of storm clouds. The faintest hint of red and orange burned through the hardening surface, yet it rapidly died.

They had mere minutes before Plume was trapped in an inky abyss, helpless to navigate save for the burning Feather and Umbreon's pulsing rings... and that's if Karen's next choice didn't finish the job Houndoom had started.

"Not bad, not bad," Karen hummed. Her pearly white teeth (curved into a mean grin, of course) and silver hair were nearly all he could see of her now. "But let's finish this, hmm?"

Ash frowned back, the Feather burning redoubled atop his skin as he fueled it with his will. "Let's."

Plume remained circling as high as she could, though remained on Ash's side of the arena. Her wings beat heavily, though she stayed as quiet as she could. A good choice, particularly as Ash witnessed Karen's answer to a fast, powerful flier: Honchkrow.

Crap.

Merciless in battle, able to take a hit, and nearly invisible in the night. He could barely spot Honchkrow as it effortlessly flitted from the perch Karen had released it onto up into the sky, and its wings were utterly silent. It turned to stare at him with cold eyes, and Ash stared back.

Honchkrow glanced away.

The thrill of satisfaction didn't last long, not when the battle began.

"Keep your distance!" He shouted, uncaring of whether Karen or Honchkrow would hear. They knew what this game was: survival. In daylight, Plume would be a specter of death for a lone Honchkrow. It couldn't hope to match her speed or ferocity - she would snatch it out of the sky like she had Clair's Altaria. "Take the shot when you have it!"

Yet in the dark, Honchkrow was king. Silent and ferocious, far more maneuverable in these tight quarters, and able to spot Plume easily with its perfect night vision. Plume's eyes could barely track the Honchkrow as it flew forward, nearly matching her speed. Ash's fists clenched - she couldn't even enter Super Speed in the cavern, not without running risk of losing control and flying into the stone.

Plume had been the only safe option for Houndoom and its Destiny Bond, but Honchkrow was a nightmare. It flew faster and faster, splitting into separate shadows with Double Team to avoid Plume's frantic Air Slashes and blind Hurricanes, and struck relentlessly with Night Slashes and Dark Pulses. It was a credit to Plume that she avoided the flurries even at her disadvantage, yet he knew it wouldn't last for long…

It was Karen's whistle that provided their only opportunity. Honchkrow's eyes flitted down to the last remnants of the fading lava pits, glimmering with realization. The only true sources of light that illuminated the center of the battlefield, the only chance for the rest of Ash's team to fight on even terms…

Honchkrow flew low, belching a thick Haze of black smoke. It smothered the dying lights for good this time, obscuring them entirely, and Plume was blind. Her wings were loud as drums now, frantic. Desperate.

Ash snarled as he held the Feather aloft. He shut his eyes in preparation, and embraced Fire.

The Feather burned in his hand bright as a star, the comforting heat licking down his arm and gnawing gently at his skin, and a roar of wildfire filled his ears. Honchkrow squawked, sensitive eyes blinded by the unexpected light, and its nightbound grace floundered as it barely avoided clipping a wing on one of the hot boulders left by Houndoom's Fire Spin.

Plume wasn't in much better shape, yet she saw the opportunity for what it was. Ash felt more than observed her movement. A rush of wind, a proud scream, and a smash.

His friend had shot forward in a Quick Attack, relying on her superior bulk to smash Honchkrow into the rocks. The hit landed, though not perfectly. Honchkrow had realized it was vulnerable, and immediately rushed into a Tailwind. The sudden burst of uncontrolled speed took it just wide of Plume's razor sharp talons, yet her wing still clipped it.

Honchkrow's own talons clung to Plume's wing for dear life as she swept upward to the darkness in a gust of wind, the dark-type avian squawking frantically yet unable to release without being hurled away with terrible force, and Ash grinned mercilessly.

He hated to say it, but maybe it was time to take a page out of Clair's book... Honchkrow would recover in moments, and there was only one way out of this.

"Quick Attack into the ground!"

Plume's eyes gleamed, self-preservation tossed away in her lust for victory, and did exactly as Ash ordered. She angled down, every muscle leapt into action at once, and shot downward with Honchkrow placed in a position to be slammed into the earth at blinding speeds.

Karen screamed something, Umbreon's rings flashed in an intricate series, and Honchkrow's eyes flashed red as its plumage as it desperately stared into Plume's sharp eyes. She looked away even as a black miasma - yet brilliant and gold and white and not - spouted from the dark-type's eyes and infested her shape, and screamed.

Had he mentioned that he hated Confuse Ray?

The two birds shot to the ground at breakneck speed, though Plume spasmed and screeched and fired a Hyper Beam - then another, and finally an Air Slash - at some unseen terror. Her speed broke, Honchkrow desperately tore itself away from her wing (though it smashed heavily into one of Tangrowth's rock formations and took several seconds to rise), and Plume shrieked at the nightmarish visions the Master-level Confuse Ray had filled her mind with.

Before she could break herself on the ground, Ash returned her. He clutched her pokeball like a lifeline, hoping against hope she was safe from Honchkrow's manipulation.

He'd failed Plume again.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered to his dear friend, gingerly placing her pokeball back on his belt.

"It's the last one, Ash! Bring him back out!" Karen shouted. His fists clenched, and he released Nidoking. This had been a brutal grind of a battle so far, and he silently wished he could release Torrent instead. Torrent's Ice Storm would be of some defense against Honchkrow, although it would do a poor job protecting him from another Confuse Ray.

Still, Torrent would be blind without some sort of light. Kingdra had adapted to living in the blackest depths of the sea, but in those environments they barely relied on sight. They sensed the motion of the waves, the faintest disturbances of prey and challengers picked up by their sensitive fins. And without any sources of water... well, Torrent's most flexible skill was lost to him.

No, he had agreed to use Nidoking as his last pokemon due to him making an appearance against Absol. Besides, he had a few plans for how to hamper Honchkrow's airborne advantage…

"Ready?" He whispered. Nidoking nodded harshly, his horn leaking a bead of potent poison already. His friend's heavy right foot already laid at an angle on the ground, ready to open up a chasm the moment the battle began. The ground-type breathed faint wisps of sparks and cinders, the meanest incarnation of a Flamethrower, and caught sight of Honchkrow's glowing eyes in the new light.

Ash murmured his last orders to Nidoking, stepped back, and allowed the Feather to brighten just a tad. It didn't blind Honchkrow like before, but it grabbed the dark-type's attention.

Alakazam marked the battle's beginning.

In the next few seconds, a dozen things happened at once.

Karen whistled. Umbreon's rings flashed in a different pattern this time, doubtlessly signaling to Honchkrow.

Nidoking spat a thick wave of noxious sludge at Honchkrow, seeking to burden and ground the avain as he had Clair's Dragonair.

Even before the Sludge Bomb landed, Honchkrow split with Double Team. Four illusions shot out at different angles - two buried and vanished in the Sludge Bomb - while the others deftly avoided Nidoking's Thunderbolt even as a chasm opened beneath his feet and his great bulk fell to land heavily at the bottom.

Honchkrow circled swiftly over the top, wings silent as a ghost, and sang the cruel notes of its Perish Song. Ash and Nidoking groaned as one as the notes, laced with the unearthly power the dark-type had mastered. The sounds were like daggers twisting into his head, blunted as they were by the psychic barriers, and Ash wanted nothing more than to submit…

His eyes opened to slits. No - Nidoking had erupted from the earth in an explosion of dust and a mighty roar, recognizing that it was too late now that the warped Perish Song had struck him.

They would fall, and soon.

That didn't mean they had to go down alone.

Honchkrow squawked, fluttering away rather inelegantly as Nidoking's Thunderbolt lanced off his horn and struck its wing, and was forced to land on a distant boulder. It wasn't in terrible shape, but it was still slowed and buffeted from hanging onto Plume's breakneck speeds.

It was vulnerable, and it had thought the battle was over the moment it sang its song.

Ash shuddered as the limited exposure to the Perish Song slowly worked its way out of his system, though the phantom pains still left him with a pounding headache. It dulled by the moment, though, which was more than Nidoking could hope for. If Nidoking wasn't done fighting, then he wasn't either!

Honchkrow leapt away from the next Thunderbolt - aimed poorly due to Nidoking's own splitting headache - and spat a black scythe of dark-type power Nidoking's way. Nidoking stumbled back into his pit, barely avoiding it, and his hateful eyes refused to leave Honchkrow's.

"Do it!"

The moment Nidoking's sensitive ears heard the signal, his eyes flashed with his limited psychic power. It wasn't much - not even enough to make Bruiser, Torrent, Tangrowth, or Infernus stumble - but it did its job well.

Honchkrow shrieked as the missed Sludge Bomb from the opening stages of the battle was wreathed in psychic power, then flung into the avian from behind. It lacked the power and volume of the original - Nidoking's psychic powers weren't strong enough to grab it all up, especially with his split focus - but the heavy, stinking, burning poison drenched Honchkrow.

Unable to fly away, Honchkrow was forced to leap as best it could to another boulder as Nidoking's Flamethrower scorched its former perch - had it landed, the Flamethrower would've ignited the Sludge Bomb and left Honchkrow in the midst of a fireball.

They weren't so lucky. Recognizing Nidoking's twitching limbs and unfocused eyes, Karen decided that discretion was the better part of valor.

"Get the hell away from that thing! Run!"

Honchkrow didn't think twice. Ash had never seen a Honchkrow run before, and he wasn't sure anyone else had either - it didn't quite run so much as it hopped as fast it could while weighed down by the sludge. It wasn't completely blinded, but Honchkrow still only narrowly avoided Nidoking as the desperate poison-type short forth in a charge. The desperate creature turned its head and spat a thick, oily Haze to obscure Nidoking's failing vision, but his friend barreled straight through it.

Flames burst from Nidoking's mouth, Thunderbolts from his horn, and as each went wide he finally opened his maw wide... frosty arcs spat and landed just ahead of Honchkrow's fleeing form, painting the rocky floor of the arena with great swathes of thick, slick ice.

The dark-type slipped, scrambling uselessly with its talons on the ice, and sprawled. Nidoking bore down on Honchkrow, lost in a fervor of rage and pain and a desperate hope for payback. He was blind to anything but instinct, and as such completely missed Honchkrow's last act: a twisting Shadow Ball that slammed straight into Nidoking's chest.

It slowed Nidoking, and a moment later Ash was certain it had knocked his friend out. He was running on fumes anyways as the Perish Song did its ugly work (first Clair, now Karen… he had to find a counter to these mental assaults) and the flimsy Shadow Ball was the last straw.

Unfortunately for Honchkrow, Nidoking had built up enough momentum that the Shadow Ball's explosion didn't stop him in his tracks. He fell forward right atop Honchkrow to crush it -

Honchkrow's beaten body was recalled just before Nidoking smashed into it. Nidoking's body landed heavily onto a section of flat stone (thankfully not into one of Infernus' lava pits) and skidded to a halt. Ash quickly recalled his first friend, clenching the pokeball tightly.

"You're amazing," he whispered. Ash thought the pokeball twitched ever so slightly before falling still, and couldn't stop from smiling a brittle smile. His hands still shook with adrenaline as he placed the Feather back on his chest, allowing the obsidian vanes to cling to his flesh. The rainbow-tinged flames and little dancing arcs of lightning dimmed, yet happily thrummed at his touch.

He'd lost.

6-4.

And despite it all, Ash felt good.

They'd fought hard, and they'd fought well. Karen was a strong opponent, and she'd pushed him in ways he hadn't even considered. There was more than just a battle here - she had sewn lessons into this fight. Lessons that would serve him well in the future.

His mind raced as he stared into the darkness. It fell heavier and heavier by the moment, particularly now that the Feather was safely concealed again beneath his shirt. The glow still burned, yet it was muffled now.

He wouldn't sleep well tonight. Too much to think about, too many plans and racing thoughts and potential outcomes to adapt.

A grimace as he looked into the shadows (even as Alakazam manifested a glowing orb of psychic energy above, bright enough to offer some light) and realized that Weavile's trick with the lights would probably render the training room footage useless. Was it purposeful on Karen's part to needle at Lance, or just a coincidence?

Whatever it was, Ash found himself plenty disappointed.

Ash jerked out of his thoughts as Karen appeared before him from nowhere, teleported by Alakzam. Umbreon trotted up quickly, sniffing at him a moment before laying down by Karen's side. Its golden rings pulsed rhythmically and Ash couldn't help but smile.

Karen peered down her nose at him. Her expression was inscrutable, and for a moment he feared that she'd found the battle wanting.

Then she flicked him in the nose before he could react. Ash growled at her, but Karen just laughed. "Good fight, Ash. You've got some powerhouses. Can't believe how long they fought..."

"You too," he grumbled, rubbing his stinging nose. Despite himself, his annoyance quickly faded at the praise. Naturally, his mind jumped to the most essential demand first. "How do I protect against Perish Song?" Then he frowned. "And Confuse Ray. And Curse."

Karen cackled, and dodged another flick. She ignored his dirty look, looped an arm around his shoulders, and dragged him off toward the door that would bring them back to Indigo Plateau proper. "You've got a lot to learn. But I'll see what I can do," she added to mollify him. "How would you try to neutralize them right now?"

"Dodge first, or barriers," Ash said immediately. Despite the power of the techniques - well, at least the debilitating Confuse Ray and Curse that sufficiently powerful dark-types and ghosts could wield - they couldn't pierce solid objects. They'd wash off of Tangrowth's rock walls, for example...huh, that demanded some attention. Could he shed vines to harmlessly absorb the attacks?

It was worth thinking about, and he'd bring it up to Karen later. He was going to pick her brain until he had every answer or, more likely, she got tired of it and left.

"Barriers if you can," Karen agreed as they left the inky blackness of the arena. The pale, artificial light of the electrical lights left stars in his eyes, but Karen didn't so much as blink. Umbreon certainly didn't appreciate it, though. "At least if you're dealing with a specialist. Dodging can get risky - Agatha has this nasty trick where her ghosts can teleport her Confuse Rays. Absolute nightmare to fight, even for my team."

He shuddered at the thought. Karen was tricky to fight. Agatha must be a hundred times worse. She'd had decades to perfect her skills.

"That's how I feel," the Dark Master noted with some amusement. "We can run through some more drills later. Which of your team can use ghost or dark-type techniques? There are a few tricks to cancel out Curse and Confuse Ray if you're good enough. It's difficult," she warned. "You'll probably spend months practicing."

"But worth it," Ash replied. Karen nodded, then motioned for him to hurry up as she led him through the long, straight network of halls. "Sneasel -" he ignored Karen's "Duh", "Nidoking, Dazed, Infernus has Confuse Ray -"

Karen scoffed, clearly not considering the lesser version of Confuse Ray worth the title, but Ash steadfastly ignored her. Once he finished, she sighed. "We'll work on it, but you've got your work cut out. Against most trainers, you'll be fine. Even most ghost and dark-type specialists have trouble with consistent proper Confuse Rays and similar energy-intensive techniques. Each one is a massive investment, and if it doesn't strike that battle might as well be finished. They'll be exhausted."

Ash snorted. "Except for yours, right?"

She tried to ruffle his hair, but he ducked. "You're learning."

"And Perish Song?" He asked, a few notes of irritation lacing his tone. Perish Song had been a thorn in his side twice in nearly as many days. It was a rare technique, but in the upper echelons he'd doubtlessly have to deal with it again.

The Master shook her head. "I'm not feeding you answers. What do you think?"

He scratched at his chin. "Run?"

Karen snorted. "That's probably the best option, especially in the field."

"I could return my team," Ash shrugged as they climbed a short flight of stairs. "Would that nullify the Perish Song?"

"It helps," Karen smiled. "Perish Song creates a sort of resonance in the nervous system. The longer it has to work, the worse it gets. Positive amplification. But if you can break the disruption -"

"You can limit the damage."

Karen nodded. "Your Pidgeot can probably outfly it easily if she's not ambushed. Nidoking can hide in the earth. Tangrowth can raise a million of those stupid rock walls. Psychics can create barriers that let Perish Song wash around. Perish Song has its uses, but it's easier to work around once you've encountered it once or twice. It's best in real operations - Honchkrow's taken down tons of Rockets at once with it," she stated proudly.

Ash shook his head, not surprised at all. "Honchkrow's not easy to fight," he snorted, then corrected his statement. "None of your team is."

The woman looked entirely too pleased at that. "Perks of specializing in the best type."

He rolled his eyes at Karen's smugness, but didn't argue. She deserved a bit of gloating.

After a few moments of silence, she glanced to him. "You fought well. Your team is strong. My techniques are harsh," she freely admitted, "We don't fight fair. Dark-types don't tend to be especially sturdy, so we focus on our offense. Most can't do what we can do. We thrive on teams like yours, Ash."

Ash waited patiently for her to continue, well-aware of what she was offering. Karen reached down to scratch Umbreon's black fur, lost in distant thought. "You have monsters. I've seen what you can do, and what you'll grow into. Just remember there are as many ways to fight as you can imagine - if I fought you on your terms, you'd likely have won. But I exploited your inexperience, and struck at your team's minds."

"And put out the lights," he grumbled. Karen snickered.

"And put out the lights," she agreed. "It's a good trick," her eyes flitted to the faint burn of the Feather hidden beneath his plain shirt. "You have a few of your own. Have to admit I didn't plan for that. Good work with using that thing."

He grinned back his thanks. "I had to think of something."

Karen nodded approvingly, and allowed a door to swing open by some unseen force as they approached. She guided Ash through, and he quickly recognized where they were: just near the Elite Four quarters. There was a medical station not far away - he knew his team would need it.

Infernus was probably in the most trouble. He knew Houndoom hadn't used the full force of its cursed flames, but Infernus had fought to the end. It would be a while before he was in any shape to fight. Maybe he'd just have to find a convenient spot to plop him in a lava pit for a while…

"Keep that attitude," Karen said quietly as they entered the medical station. It was pristine, managed by a single nurse and two Chansey, and was filled with several League members who must've returned from some operation. "In the real world, you do anything to win."

He nodded slowly, stirring over her words as they approached the desk. The League members - a small group of Rangers - dipped their heads in respect.

He had a lot to think about…

XX

Once they'd dropped their teams off, Karen had waved Ash away. She'd claimed she had 'real work' to do and that she'd see him later. Moments later she was gone, though she'd at least pointed him in the direction of Lance's quarters. Apparently he preferred to take his lunch there when possible with the company of his team.

Lance's quarters were in the same section of Indigo Plateau as the rest of the Elite Four and Ash's, though a tad separated by another sharp left turn that would be easy to miss if a helpful Haunter hadn't pointed him in the right direction. Probably the customary quarters of the Indigo Champion - they were a tad bit closer to the Champion's office, while the remainder of the Indigo Elite Four had their offices down an adjacent hall.

He hadn't checked them out yet, though he couldn't help but be curious. It would be interesting to see how the larger-than-life figures of the Elite Four adapted their workspaces...hopefully they weren't all decked out in their gambling winnings.

If this kept up he'd be worried they had a real problem…

Ash gently ushered for Aron to follow him as the little steel-type waddled curiously after a flickering purple shade - probably a Misdreavus lurking about - and thanked Dazed when she helpfully collected Aron in a gentle psychic embrace and reoriented him behind Ash.

Despite Lance's invitation to seek him out yesterday, Ash still hesitated outside the Champion's plain wooden door. It felt as if he was intruding on Lance's private space, and his hand froze just before he could rap on the door.

Peace, Friend-Trainer.

Dazed's comforting mental embrace left him far more relaxed, and he took one last second before he knocked. Silence for a moment, then heavy footsteps. A moment later, the giant door swung open with ease and revealed Lance towering above with an enormous plate stacked high with food in one hand and fighting off Gabite's ravenous jaws with the other.

"Ash!" Lance boomed, a wide grin stretching across his angular face, and he was quickly dragged in. Gabite sniffed him and scampered over to Shelgon, who snoozed over on a massive pillow that could've comfortably fit one of the Dragonite trio. The Dragonite, Magnus, and the other large members of the team were nowhere to be found, probably flying around Mt. Silver or its surrounding mountains. They'd go mad if cooped up here all day.

As the Indigo Champion welcomed him in, Ash glanced around the...well, room didn't do it justice. Tower was a better term. It was similar to his own room in that it went up for two to three stories, layered with platforms, climbing surfaces, and other comforts for Lance's team. There was more clear space in Lance's room, and he could see that near the ceiling was a dim glow born of sunlight where faint gusts of bitter cold air swept in.

Somehow, Ash wasn't surprised. With how many Wataru Champions there had been it made sense for them to install a port for their great dragons to sweep in and out at their convenience. It was easier for everyone.

Other than the normal comforts - Lance's room was buried in sofas and massive recliners for his team, and another set of enormous speakers that would probably leave half the Plateau trembling - the room was surprisingly bare. No calendars like the one he'd left in Ash's room, anyways…

There was evidence of Lance's personality that shone through, of course. The sigil of Blackthorn painted on the wall (chipped in some places, with one side scorched from a small stream of dragonfire), a vast map of Indigo framed, and dozens of pictures of Lance and his team grinning down at him.

One settled on the mantle of Lance's fireplace grabbed his attention, and Ash stared at the sight of a (somewhat) younger Yari with his arms wrapped around a tiny Lance, pouting Clair, and a frowning boy with windswept green hair. Nearby was a picture of a teenager Lance with Champion Drake of Hoenn, Dragonite and Drake's legendary Salamence standing at their side. Another with Lance and Steven in their formal Champion's outfits, both of them grinning but with blood-shot eyes and Steven looking vaguely green

Given what Steven had let slip back in Hoenn, he thought that might be the morning after Steven had claimed the Champion's Mantle from Drake…

"- Good to see you!" Lance plopped down on one of his couches. Gabite scampered up and begged for food, which Lance begrudgingly tossed him. Ash slid into a recliner, grimacing as Dazed levitated Aron's heavy body into his lap, and watched as Lance scarfed down his food. The man was like a machine, although half of that was probably to avoid Gabite's begging whines. "How'd the battle go?"

"I learned a lot," Ash said simply. Lance nodded along, not surprised in the least. No doubt he knew what Ash was implying. "Karen knocked the lights out."

Lance nodded sagely. "She does that. Last time we trained together I had to light the whole field on fire just to…" the Champion trailed off fondly. "How many did you take down?"

"Weavile, Absol, Houndoom, Honchkrow," Ash raised a finger for each one.

"Congratulations," Lance laughed, though a little more serious than usual. Ash couldn't help but spare him a glance - despite his cheer, Lance looked awful. Still overworked, still pale, and dark bags shadowed his eyes. "Karen's a good trainer. Vicious, tricky, and the best person you could ever hope to have at your back."

Ash thought back to Karen's vital support back in the Hale Mansion. Yeah, he could agree with that.

Silence for a moment, then an errant thought flickered into his mind. "Sorry you won't get to see the video."

Lance frowned, then realization struck. He barked out a hoarse laugh, then shook his head. "Please! We have plenty of cameras in there to track things. Karen and Agatha used to have whole battles in the dark. Pretty creepy, if you ask me," the Champion added errantly. "Never saw the appeal personally."

He wasn't surprised. Lance was the type to turn night into day before he'd let it inconvenience him. It helped when the man had a small army of giant dragons at his beck and call, of course.

"Honestly, I can't decide if I did well or not," Ash admitted after a moment. His voice sounded small, even to him. Lance frowned, but let him continue. "Karen's better. But I still feel like there was a way -"

Lance raised a hand. Ash fell silent immediately.

"I'm going to stop you right there," the man said quietly. He rested his elbows on his knees as he leaned toward Ash. "You fought a genuine Master there, Ash. Karen's young, but she's one of the best. And a nightmare for trainers like us!" He belted out another booming laugh. Ash's lips twitched. "Nothing's more frustrating than her maneuvering. She has a hard time with Dragonite, but Mael and Lev hate fighting her."

"Honchkrow took down Plume with Confuse Ray and Nidoking with Perish Song," Ash grumbled. Lance nodded commiseratingly. "One shot and they were out," he scowled, then looked up to Lance hopefully. "Any way we could get those banned?"

Lance snorted. "Not unless you want to wake up to an angry Karen and Agatha haunting us."

He barked out a laugh. Still might be worth it…

"I know you won't be here for long, but I'll send you some recorded bouts. Might help you pick out some good strategies against deceptive fighters like her," Lance acknowledged. He sighed and lounged back into his couch, itching at the beginnings of scruff on his face. "If it helps, she hates fighting trainers like us."

"Really?" Ash arched his eyebrow. "She ran circles around me."

His teacher grinned. "Yeah, but brute force is a great counter to Karen. Her team can take you down in a single hit if they get the chance, but they have to play a careful game. She's perfected her tactics, but powerhouse like your friends and mine leave her balancing on the razor's edge. One slip and she's done. She's working around it, but it's still a weakness...for now, anyways."

Ash nodded along, absorbing the information. He rubbed Aron's shiny head, grinning at the pleased little warble the steel-type loosed.

A comfortable silence came over them as Lance shoveled the rest of his meal down, then tossed the plate off to Shelgon and Gabite. Shelgon's eyes opened to slits, then its tongue lazily slipped out to lick at the plate.

"You're headed out tomorrow, right?"

He dipped his head. "To Lavender."

Lance nodded slowly, then jerked up as if he'd just remembered something terribly important. "Wait, one second!"

Ash watched dumbfounded as Lance rushed off through a pair of doors that hid his bed and actual room, then quickly came back with a strangely familiar book. It was thick enough to conceivably be used as a weapon, bound in plain black fabric, and didn't have a title on the cover.

"What's this?" He asked bemusedly as Lance handed him the book. Ash turned it over in his hands and flipped it open, eyes lighting up as he recognized the style: History, Legends, and Folklore of Johto.

Lance grinned fondly at the look on Ash's face. "Just a parting gift from Cynthia. She stopped by to see me before she returned to Sinnoh and handed off these notes from her research in Johto. It's not done, but you can see there's a lot here."

Well, that was one way to put it. It was still a massive amount of scrambled notes, accounts, and interviews. Not refined or cleaned up, but the chance to look over the raw information Cynthia had compiled would be fascinating. He hoped she'd worked something up on the Wataru - he'd love to compare her notes to the Drake's journals gifted to him by Yari. He'd lost himself in them last night.

Aron didn't care too much about the new book (except as a convenient pillow for him to relax on) but Dazed quickly shuffled over to rest next to him. Her eyes sparked, and he grinned at the unspoken request. "Tonight, I promise," he said. She was just as excited to delve into it as Ash was. They'd be a little lonely tonight anyways with so many of their family out of commission. Most would have to be picked up before he left, and even then he'd be making sure Infernus got plenty of time in his magma as they traveled.

His grin never faded.

"I don't think you were this happy at the Closing Ceremony," Lance added drily. Ash flushed at the reminder he wasn't alone, and shook his embarrassment off. "I wish I'd grabbed a picture for Cynthia. Not that she needs anything else blowing up her ego…"

Ash cleared his throat. "It's a nice gift."

"Yeah…" Lance's smirk widened dangerously. Ash vaguely felt like he'd made a terrible, terrible mistake. "And from a very nice person, right?"

His cheeks flushed, and Lance's booming laugh sealed his fate. Dazed's amusement filled his mind, though he took a little bit of solace in Aron's obliviousness as the snoozing steel-type stole deeper into his lap. Ash just tried not to collapse into himself…

Seeing his face, Lance cackled (too much like Karen for Ash's liking). "Oh man, I messed up. If I knew you were into blondes I'd have gotten you a totally different calender! Give me a bit and I can -"

Ash squeezed his eyes shut. "Please shut up."

Lance's chuckles faded away, though Ash knew if he looked Lance would still have that dumb grin all over his face. "I kid, I kid. I'll leave it alone."

He didn't trust Lance, and he was right.

"If it makes you feel any better, I ran into a similar experience back in Hoenn. Drake and Steven made fun of me for years back in Hoenn," Lance recollected fondly. "I was just a skinny little teenager. I pissed off Drake doing something or another, and he assigned me to be Glacia's assistant for a week. Best assignment ever," he finished dreamily, winking at Ash. "Steven still brings it up from time to time, but I'm way nicer than him."

Lance went off into a few embarrassing stories of his attempts to impress the Ice Master, and Ash's embarrassment slowly faded away into laughter. That carried on for a while, slowly shifting to more and more comfortable topics, and by the end Lance had firmly scrubbed away all of Ash's awkwardness (and had even been nice enough to promise not to mention it to the others).

After a few minutes longer, Lance begrudgingly rose as an alarm went off. "Sorry to cut this short, Ash, but I've got to get back to work," he said, appearing more drawn and exhausted than ever. It was like all the life had been sucked right back out of him. Ash would be lying if he said he wasn't terribly concerned - he could feel Lance's Feather dim. "I'll see you at dinner, yeah?"

"Yeah," Ash said quietly, rising from the recliner. Aron was carefully deposited back on the floor, sleepy but happy to follow behind Ash. Dazed shuffled to his side as Lance led them out, clasping his cape around his broad shoulders. After a moment, Ash hesitated. "Are you okay?"

His teacher started, surprised at the question, and did his best to perk back up. "Yeah," he said with a pinched grin. It didn't fool any of them. "Just a lot on my plate. It'll cool off soon."

Ash nodded, unconvinced, but let it go.

"By the way," Lance brightened momentarily as he reached down to scratch at Gabite's neck, "I'm doing the honor of inviting you to the famous Elite Four movie night later. Interested?"

A small grin split his face, and Ash nodded.

XX

"Bye bye!" Molly waved him away before the screen went black. Ash allowed his hand to fall, his smile suddenly a great deal more strained. It had been...nice to talk to Molly again, someone who understood him in some nebulous way nobody else could (though the knowing gleam in her big, innocent eyes left him ill at ease). She was a breath of fresh air, even if it had been difficult with Spencer.

There was a tension there. Not a malicious thing, but uncertainty. Ash didn't know what on earth to make of the man, and all of Spencer's comforting words and gestures just left him vaguely irritated.

Ash sighed, then turned back to the large screen of the communications room. It was private, safely insulated, and protected from any onlookers. Not that that was a huge concern in Indigo Plateau, but it still left him feeling better.

Oz whirred beside him even as Dazed brushed against his mind. Ash offered them both a half-grin (not that they were blind enough to fully believe it) and typed in the next number. It was one he'd yearned to call since Greenfield, yet all the same just couldn't find the strength for it.

We are here.

Dazed's simple words and Oz's thrum of agreement brought him a little comfort, and he called his mom.

The screen stayed black as the call went through. A traitorous part of himself begged for it to stay that way, while another piece recoiled at the thought. His fingers traced over the scant remaining pokeballs on his belt. If only the rest of his family was here. He needed them.

And then the screen flashed to life, his mother's face filling up the screen. She burst into a wide smile that he managed to return. "Ash! How are you, baby?"

He tried to speak, found his throat was too dry, and coughed. "Hi, mom."

Ash would have to be an idiot to miss his mother's wince, but ignored it as best he could. She addressed Dazed and Oz by name (of course) and that offered him a second to prepare himself. By the time she looked hesitantly back to him he'd been desperate enough to draw on Ice, and found that the frigid touch was everything he could've asked for.

"You look taller!" His mom smiled, reaching towards the screen as if she could brush him. She was in some unfamiliar room full of neatly piled books, a few haphazardly strewn scribbled on papers, and what looked three or four journals. A Return to Normal: Untangling from Induced Mnemonic Modification. It left his stomach turning, and by the time he glanced back to his mom she'd thrown a rag over it.

He'd stared too long, if her fragile look was anything to go by.

"I've been eating," he said lamely. "And changing my underwear."

His mother seemed to take some relief from that. "Good, good... you knew my next question!"

A smile. "How could I not?"

"I don't know," his mother said easily. She brushed a few strands of brown hair out from her eyes. "Oh! Samuel said you got to see your friends? He said Gary was so excited to see you!"

He snorted. That might be a little generous. "At the Lake of Rage. We trained for a while, then Gary and I went to Blackthorn. I beat Clair," he added.

His mom burst into a smile. "Fantastic! I've heard so much about how strong she is," she gushed. "Isn't she the strongest in Indigo?"

Ash hummed along. "Gym Leader, anyways."

That left an ugly weight in his stomach - there was another Gym Leader who'd claimed to be the strongest in Indigo as well. His mother looked blankly at him before her eyes squeezed shut. His concern outweighed his apprehension. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes," she waved his concerns away. Ash thought it fooled him about as well as he could fool Dazed. A light mental brush from the Hypno confirmed that. "Sorry, just a headache."

Ash looked at her disbelievingly, but she didn't add anything else. He frowned, allowing Ice to fill his veins, and relished the crystal clear calm coursing through him. It put a distance between him and his pounding heart, a distance that he desperately needed. "Are you remembering better?"

His mother blinked, surprised at the bluntness, and wringed her hands. "I, do - yes. It's easier now," she whispered, her face downcast. "I still get confused, but the more I talk and the more I know, the faster I can forget. They're real, but they're fading."

He nodded slowly, Ice fading away (though Articuno roosted atop Mt. Silver allowed it to cling longer than he'd like) and shifted from foot to foot. "Good," Ash murmured. "Good."

"The psychic that Ms. Sabrina assigned me to, Specialist Rin, said that I'm making big steps!" His mother said with a too-wide smile. She picked at her nails, biting her lip. "I might be able to see you soon, if that's okay. She said -"

"Yes!" Ash said too quickly, and flushed. The half-hidden smile from his mom made it worth it. "When?"

Her smile widened. "Maybe in a week or so? That's when you're leaving, right? She wants to have another appointment beforehand."

The press conference (and what a horrible thought that was) would be around then, but Ash didn't mention it. No point worrying his mom more than he had to. He'd handle it, and he'd find a good time to make his way over to Goldenrod. Or he could have her come here! What would she think of his room?

"Sounds great!" He stammered, and found another surge of comfort in his mother's warm smile. "Just let me know."

"Of course," she reached back to the camera, then thought better of it. His mom looked at him longingly. "I love you, Ashy."

He relaxed at the words, especially as Dazed allowed a gentle psychic pressure to wrap around him like a hug. Oz whirred from behind, and a surge of warmth filled him that had nothing to do with the Feather. "I love you too."

They shared a soft, brittle smile that lasted an eternity, then his mom's eyes lit up. "So, tell me about these places you've been to. Mahogany Town, Blackthorn, Indigo Plateau! It must be so beautiful. Samuel's told me so many stories about it…"

Now that was a subject he could go on and on about, and soon enough Ash found himself lost in the gentle familiarity of it all.

XX

A few hours later, Ash found himself plopped in front of a massive 'briefing room' set up near the Elite Four offices. That's what Lance claimed it to be, anyways. In practice, Ash was fairly certain it saw most use as a private movie theater for the Elite Four and visiting League members. It was surprisingly cozy for a 'briefing room' and layered with massive cushions, couches, and any other surface their teams could possibly hope for. A massive projector had already been powered up, and the Elite Four (minus Bruno) were all seated on the central couch.

Ash had been plopped unceremoniously between Karen and Will, who'd offered a cheerful wave and performed a few tricks with his cane as they waited for Lance to set-up the movie. Koga relaxed on the edge of the couch with his Crobat (who Seeker couldn't stop chittering at) latched onto his shoulders. Umbreon rested near Ash and Karen's feet, rings pulsing cheerfully as the dark-type sprawled all over the place. Several members of Will's team had taken up positions nearby, although Xatu was safely sequestered in its pokeball.

It was domestic, normal, and utterly surreal for Ash.

"Shouldn't young Ash get to choose?" Will called out to Lance as he balanced his cane on a glowing fingertip. Ash clapped politely when Will effortlessly flipped it and caught it on another finger. "It's his first time here, yes?"

Lance cursed as he struggled with the stack of movies he'd dragged in. Vibrava fluttered nearby, humming as its mandibles traced over a glossy plastic case. "Nope!" The giant man boomed, pleased with whatever selection he'd made. "I won. Better luck next time, Ash."

He grinned and shrugged it off. Karen didn't look especially amused, and at his questioning look she elaborated. "Lance has awful taste."

"Lies and slander!" Lance scoffed as he put his movie into the projector. Vibrata's wings buzzed as it fluttered up onto Lance's broad shoulders and steadfastly attached to his shirt. "Just because I don't have to watch every rom-com under the sun -"

"I enjoy them!" Will chirped. Karen nodded smugly, while Koga just sighed. "It is a fascinating avenue into the human mind, especially for one as inscrutable as dear Karen's!"

Karen sent Will a dirty look, though the psychic didn't seem to notice. She huffed and looked Ash's way. "I guarantee this will be some crappy action movie."

Koga nodded stiffly, though didn't look irritated. If anything he seemed to bear something of a fond exasperation for the whole affair.

"Better that than whatever Bruno picks!" Lance laughed as he plopped down in the middle of the couch. Ash leaned heavily into Will as the Champion's weight made itself known, though the psychic helpfully cushioned the fall with a surge of purple energy. "I still have no clue what that last one was about," he mock whispered to Ash. "He likes the artsy stuff."

For once, nobody else seemed to disagree. The others just seemed resigned to whatever Lance had chosen, although the Champion himself and his team had their eyes glued to the projector as it flickered.

To be honest, Ash had no idea what to do with himself. He kept his arms and legs locked close to his side, well-aware of Karen and Will's proximity. It was strange to be so close to humans, but not outright bad, Ash decided. Comforting in a way.

And when was the last time he'd watched a movie of all things? He genuinely had no clue. Well, unless one counted battle recordings as movies. Ash was going to go out on a limb and say that most people would say 'no' to that. Otherwise, he could only think of a few educational movies he'd seen back in Pallet for his classes or an old action movie that he'd seen glimpses of screened in the Pokemon League Village during the Conference.

Still, he found himself enjoying it as he relaxed just a hair. The others kept up a steady stream of banter, offering Ash little tidbits to respond or latch onto as necessary, and he even laughed a few times as the movie finally came on.

"Oh, come on!" Karen cried, jabbing her finger into Lance's chest. "Are we seriously watching 'Dragon Trainer' again? Get a new obsession!"

Whatever confusion Ash bore was completely wiped away when the projector lit up, blaring with dramatic music from the surround sound and the roar of a dragon. The screen faded away from the black, quickly revealing a dashing figure with a sword, traditional armor, and riding atop a Dragonite. Ash couldn't help but think the man could have been Lance in another life…

Despite Karen's groans, Ash reclined and waited for it to start with a small grin.

This wouldn't be too bad.

XX

"Here's the requisition center." Lance looked down at him as he escorted him to the supply depot. It wasn't something Ash planned on spending too much time at, but Lance thought it was something he should check out. "You probably don't have time now, but when you get back we'll grab you a few TMs from the TM library. Sound good?"

Ash blinked. "Library?"

Lance grinned. "We've got pretty much anything you could dream of. Back when I was a kid I would've killed for access. You're lucky.

He stared at the bored receptionist, gobsmacked. Behind him was a massive wall of items, discs, and other hardware. Any training equipment he could have asked for was back there, and all he had to do was ask?

"You're drooling," the older man pointed out. Ash's jaw snapped shut. "Just wanted to show you around before you left. It'll be here when you get back!" Lance snickered as Ash couldn't look away. "So which ones do you want? I can have them reserved for you."

"Protect!" Ash said reflexively. Lance nodded, taking a mental note. "Can I send you a message with the rest? I'm a little -"

Lance raised a hand. "Trust me, I understand!" He chuckled. The receptionist glowered at them, obviously thinking it was too early for all of this. "I had the same reaction. Just let one of us know. Your team is alright?"

Ash nodded. "Mostly. Infernus is still a little messed up, but they removed the tissue eaten up by Houndoom's fires. He should be able to heal normally from here. A few hours in lava and he'll be good as new."

The Champion grimaced. "Hazard of fighting Karen. That Houndoom of hers can be nasty."

True that. "It was a great fight, though," Ash grinned madly. Lance chuckled, waving Ash off. "I can't wait for our rematch."

"I'm sure she'd say the same," Lance chuckled, then sighed a little as he guided Ash out of the depot to a more isolated area. A few ghosts flickered by, but otherwise the halls were empty. A grave light fell upon his face, drawing out the everpresent exhaustion that marked Lance's pointed features. "And Ash, we're going to need to talk when you get back from Lavender. Chinatsu would like to speak with you."

His Feather burned at that ancient name. Chinatsu. What could the First's Ninetales want with him? Ash hadn't thought she was particularly impressed with him when they'd last met during the Conference.

Still, that worked just as well for him. "I need to talk with you too. I need access to the League archives. Promised a friend to look something up," he said quietly in explanation, remembering his words to Gary. Lance frowned and leaned in, though seemed faintly curious. "But there's something else too. Someone with Articuno's Feather in Seafoam. A woman named Haukea."

Lance reared back as if struck, and appeared to be in a daze. He muttered a few things to himself that Ash couldn't understand, but nodded slowly. "Haukea, huh?"

"She's the real deal," Ash said quietly. "And with Articuno -"

The Champion cut him off then with a curt nod. "Thanks for telling me, but I need to go check in on a few things," Lance said brisky. He clapped Ash on the shoulder, wished him a safe journey, and wheeled away to stride through Indigo Plateau with his long gait. In moments he was vanished, presumably whisked off to his office by an attentive psychic.

Ash just blinked, a little stunned by the abrupt departure, but ultimately shrugged it off. They'd deal with it when he got back - Lance didn't seem upset, at any rate. More as if a missing piece of some unknown puzzle had just slotted into place.

Despite it all, Ash couldn't fight the urge that something momentous had stirred. Something had been set into motion today.

Haukea, Articuno, Chinatsu… he rubbed his temples, a little irritated at a dark flicker of amusement burning in the back of his brain. This was going to be a headache for sure.

What would Chinatsu want with him? She was aloof at best, except when it came to her fabled trainer and partners -

Ash blinked, turned, and walked right back into the supply depot.

He had an idea.

XX

Just a few minutes later, Ash stood outside the citadel of Indigo Plateau with Plume saddled up at his side. She cooed softly and nipped at his worn hat. He just grinned and leaned against her. "You sure you're up for this?"

Plume brushed her great head against his, looking vaguely offended he'd dare to question her abilities. "Just making sure!" Ash laughed as he stroked her beak. "It was a hard fight yesterday."

Despite his concerns, he quickly strapped himself into the saddle and allowed Plume to fire off into the sky with an ear-splitting shriek, nothing but the wind and sky around them for an infinity. Less than five minutes had passed by before the Ore Mountains were but distant specs in the background, left behind by Plume's incredible speed as she shot east.

Lavender Town awaited him.

A/N: I can't even say how happy I am to finally have this released! It's been weighing on me for the last few months and it's such a relief to have it ready for all of you! I hope you enjoy it. I'm not certain if it's my best work, but I felt like I needed to have it produced so the story could continue to move on. Although I haven't been in as good of contact as I'd like, I just want to apologize again for the delay. After the last chapter I pushed myself too hard and encountered some very difficult issues with carpal tunnel that prevented me from writing until mid-June or so. In the meantime I've also had some health struggles (nothing life-threatening!) that have taken a toll on me. I'm able to write, but it's definitely been a distraction!

As a result of these health issues, I do feel like I need to make a few announcements to make sure everyone is caught up to speed! Being unable to write for so long made me realize how important Traveler is to me and how desperate I am to one day complete it. It's no secret that my update rate hasn't been the best, and I'm hoping to fix that. I love writing, but at this point Traveler will never be finished unless I make some changes. One of the biggest struggles I've had is my attempts to maintain constant communication and respond to all PMs and reviews that I receive. I absolutely love this community and every single one of you and have tried to ensure every bit of feedback receives a response.

Unfortunately, I just can't devote the time to it anymore. While I was maintaining my monthly update rate (which I hope to return to!) I found myself spending roughly 2-3 weeks responding to feedback and PMs and being unable to maintain progress in writing. While I still hope to respond to as much feedback as I can, and will absolutely read it all, I'm going to have to streamline most of my communication through the Traveler Discord server and P at r e on.

For those of you who have requested access to the Discord and haven't received a link, I'm very sorry that I've dropped the ball on that. I'll be posting an open link on my P at r e on that will allow anyone to join! I'll be refreshing it for the next week or so to make sure that anyone who wants to join will be able to.

I absolutely encourage everyone who's reading this to join the Traveler discord! It's an amazing community that's produced a ton of fantastic content for Traveler (such as fanart and even stories set in the universe) and it would be lovely to have more of you join.

I'm sorry again for the delay, and I hope you enjoy the chapter. I wish I could've done it more justice, but I promise that I will be back to form in upcoming chapters!

Most of all, I hope all of you are doing well and staying safe. I can't wait to see you next time! I would love to hear your feedback for this chapter!