Pokémon Short Stories and Snippets

by Saphroneth

Summary:

This is a collection of various Pokémon short stories and snippets I've written in the past, collected together for ease of viewing.

No, not all of them are AltoShipping, but I included that tag because a few of them include overtones of that.

Chapter 1: Chosen One Qualifications

"We have done good work today," Squishy said. "Thank you, Greninja."

Greninja nodded, stoically.

"I wonder," the Dragon-type added, and cleared his throat. "Lord Arceus. Your humble servant begs a moment of your time."

Golden light flashed overhead, and Arceus stepped through an aurora.

"Speak, and I will hear you," the Original One invited.

"Lord, I wish to credit you on the choice of the Chosen One," explained Zygarde. "He has a strong heart, he is a great battler, there is nobody who could have been a better choice."

Arceus coughed.

"So, by the way," Greninja said, pointing in the direction of Arceus. "Can Legendaries just… do this?"

"If they are deemed important enough and I am not busy," Arceus replied. "But, I will tell the two of you a secret."

His hooves touched down with a gentle shimmer.

"Ash Ketchum is not the Chosen One because he is especially talented," Arceus stated. "He has become skilled, but that was not how he was at the beginning."

"Really?" Greninja asked. "He seemed good enough to me."

"You only got to see his seventh region," Arceus replied. "It is not because he has a big heart, though that undoubtedly helps. It is not for any particular talent or trait he has, except one."

"Then what is it, Lord?" Squishy inquired.

"There are many prophecies and legends around the Chosen One," Arceus told them. "Fixed but flexible points in time. Places where the Chosen One must be. But those prophecies are usually not specific."

He took a step. "You see, they merely state that the Chosen One must be there. There is no requirement for the Chosen One to solve the problems. There is no requirement for the Chosen One to make things better. But they must be there. That is the only requirement."

"I don't get it," Greninja admitted.

"Ash Ketchum was not our first choice," Arceus said. "When the world was being woven, there were many others. Other choices, other Chosen Ones. But it did not work out."

He regarded the vine-fighting duo. "Then Dialga put the timeline on shuffle, and finally it stabilized around Ash Ketchum. Because that complete himbo utterly refuses to stay dead."

The Original One nodded. "It is very convenient, actually."

 

Notes:

So I've done a lot of these over the last several months, and I thought it might be worthwhile to start putting them up as their own collection.

Chapter 2: Arceus Addresses Arceus

"So," Arceus said, His golden ring shining in the void. "Agender?"

"The term will suffice," Arceus allowed. "I did not wish to limit myself."

Xey made an expansive shrugging motion. "Of course, that is what I felt at the time. You may have felt differently; our worlds are different; we are thus different. I will not judge."

"Of course," Arceus agreed.

He considered. "Would it help if I went Shiny to differentiate us?"

"It would not," Arceus replied, tapping xer hoof on thin air. "Mew already made one. They are Ash's phone now."

"You have an Ash as well, of course," Arceus realized, then brightened. "Excuse Me. I will be a moment."

There was a faint change to reality.

"That should be better," Arceus decided. "I hope this adds clarity."

"It does," Arceus agreed. "And yes, of course I have an Ash. My world still exists, does it not?"

"Good point," Arceus admitted. "So, how did your Ash do with the Galactic incident?"

Arceus blinked. "The what?"

"The Galactic Incident," Arceus repeated. "The attempt by Team Galactic to remake the universe in the Spear Pillar. I had to reset the whole of reality to get Ash in the right position to sort it out."

"I do not know what to tell you," Arceus said, furrowing xer brow. "I do not remember a Team Galactic."

"Cyrus?" Arceus asked. "The Red Chain? Is this not ringing a bell?"

"Is that who left the duplicate Red Chain and computer equipment in the Spear Pillar?" Arceus wondered.

As Arceus looked increasingly ineffable, Arceus came to a decision.

"Yes," xey said. "It must be. Ash left a note after closing the Spear Pillar, but I did not know where the Red Chains there had come from."

"If that is what happens from including the Fairy-type right from the start, then I clearly missed a trick," Arceus mumbled to Himself.

 

Notes:

AotP! Arceus and LP!Arceus having a conversation on certain matters.

Chapter 3: Expert Advice

"Okay, Ash, I have to ask," Goh began. "Why are we in Sinnoh? And, especially, why this bit of Sinnoh?"

"It's sort of like research, if you squint, so I'm sure it's fine," Ash replied, shrugging. "I thought you'd want to see, that's why I invited you! Though, uh, I guess we'll have to see if it's actually okay to visit…"

"Now I'm even more confused," his friend admitted. "What's the mystery?"

"Pika!" Pikachu giggled. "Pikachu!"

"Yeah, it's a surprise," Ash confirmed. "Let's see, it should be around here, I think? Kellyn was a bit vague on exactly where, but…"

There was a sort of rustle in the trees ahead, then a thump, and Goh jumped.

"Is that a Lucario?" he asked.

Ash looked contemplative for a moment, as the Lucario rose to her feet, then grinned. "Hey, you evolved! That's great, I'm glad to see you're happy now!"

"And I'm glad to see you, Ash, Pikachu," Lucario agreed, inclining her head. "This trainer is a friend of yours?"

"Yeah, this is Goh," Ash agreed. "He wants to catch all the Pokémon he can find, and I guess he decided that I was a great way to help with finding more Pokémon!"

"I could believe it," she said. "Is there something wrong?"

"Not wrong, really, but… I kind of needed help with something, and you were the first one I thought of," Ash admitted.

"That Pokémon can talk?" Goh asked.

"Really?" Lucario said, dryly, prompting a snigger from Pikachu. "Ash, is it to do with aura?"

"Yeah, it's to do with aura," Ash agreed.

He sent out Riolu, who took a combat stance, then noticed the Lucario standing in front of them.

"Rio…" he breathed. "Lu?"

"Greetings, little one," Lucario replied, going down on one knee and holding out her paw. "I'm glad to see Ash has you. There's something right about it."

"Yeah, he hatched only a couple of days ago," Ash said. "And, I guess it was something to do with aura? And…"

He shook his head. "I can't ignore it now. It's something I have to pay attention to, to do right by Riolu."

"Of course," Lucario agreed. "Come, I'll help out."

"Aura…" Goh repeated to himself. "Well, I guess that's supposed to be the thing Lucario use, so it makes sense… I didn't know Ash knew a Lucario, though."

"Boot," Raboot snorted.

"Chuu," Pikachu retorted. "Pikachu, Pikapi pika!"

Raboot looked sort of embarrassed, and Goh wished he knew what they were saying.

---

"From what I remember, your aura is strong, but only slightly trained."

Lucario was sitting cross-legged in a clearing, and Ash was in front of her.

"Yeah, Lucario taught me a bit back at Rota, but…" he shook his head. "We… didn't have time to get far."

"I heard about that," Lucario replied. "I'm sorry, Ash."

Goh hadn't heard about that, and he wanted to ask, but… not right now.

"I sometimes wonder, you know?" Ash added. "What it would have been like if…"

He shook his head. "But, that's not what matters now, right?"

"It's relevant, but I'll leave the topic," Lucario agreed. "Now, I don't know how much you learned, so I'll start at the beginning. Close your eyes."

Ash closed his eyes, and next to him Riolu did the same.

"Feel for the energy in your heart, and in your soul," Lucario went on. "Aura is many things. Serenity. Passion. Determination. The burn of aching muscles. The calm of a clear night. It is perils overcome, experiences had, it is any and all of those things compounded together. It is you. Whatever it is, tease it out and bring it to the surface."

"It feels weird to even be here," Goh admitted, looking down at Pikachu. "You… must have known about this, right? You two are never apart, it seems like."

"Pika," Pikachu murmured.

Goh looked back, and blinked.

Blue fire was seething off his friend's skin. Visible azure light, boiling off like steam from a pan of hot water, and Riolu had completely abandoned his own meditation to just stare.

"Oh, Ash," Lucario said, a hitch in her voice. "How much more have you been through since last we met?"

"There was… a lot," Ash replied, eyes opening again, and the blue fire vanished. "Lucario, are you all right?"

"I was young, when we met before," Lucario told him. "I did not understand what the strength of your aura had to mean, then. Ash – if I knew then what I know now, I would have returned to the Kingdom only for long enough to ask to join you. It's not right that you had to go through that without me."

"Hey, it's okay," Ash said, shrugging. "Like you said, you didn't know. It'd have been great to have another friend, but you had friends here already, right?"

Lucario swallowed.

"Pikaaaa," Pikachu said softly. "Pikapi, pikk-achu."

"You are quite right," Lucario agreed. "Ash is Ash, and there's nothing more that needs to be said."

She closed her eyes for a moment, then reopened them. "All right. Now, I'm going to focus on how you can feel Riolu's aura. I don't think it's going to be a problem for him to feel yours…"

 

Notes:

A more contemplative piece set during Journeys.

Chapter 4: Charizard in M02

"Come on, Charizard!" Ash said. "We've got to go!"

Charizard roared at Ash.

"I know you don't respect me," Ash replied. "I know you don't want to do anything I say! But you've got to help, or I don't know what will happen but it can't be good!"

Charizard roared again, spitting out flame, then actually noticed where they were.

The iced-over sea was something he'd seen already. But Ash was on the sea, and there was a broken bit of metal from somewhere, and a rope that had been hastily tied to it.

"We've got to get to Ice Island, to find that treasure!" Ash said. "Please, Charizard! We need to do this!"

Charizard looked where Ash was pointing.

Then up at the Legendary Pokémon battling overhead.

Down at Ash.

"This is a one off!" he roared, not that Ash could understand him, and grabbed the rope. "But I get that you need a tow to pull you and your MASSIVE BALLS around!"

---

Notes:

The exact position of the second movie relative to Charizard Chills isn't quite clear, but it could be either side.

This is a take where the movie comes before Charizard Chills.

As an aside, Charizard Chills is an excellent title and one of the best the dub ever produced. Because it's both what happened to Charizard (he nearly freezes) and what he does – he chills out.

Chapter 5: QuantumShipping

"Ah, bonjour!" Riko said, doing a little bow and a wave. "My name is Riko Ketchum, it's nice to see you!"

"Oh, hi!" Roy smiled. "So, I guess you're from Kalos?"

"Oh, no, Kanto actually!" Riko shook her head. "My dad's from there, and that's where I grew up."

Roy nodded. "So, uh… your mom's from Kalos then?"

"That's complicated," Riko answered. "Ehehe… there was something about a massive argument, so technically speaking I have one mom but that's just the average."

Roy looked blank.

"I mentioned the argument, right?" Riko checked. "Well, there was an argument. So I'm, uh… eesh, I keep forgetting the term Uncle Giratina used… I think it's, a quantum superposition! That's the word. So I'm about a twelfth Kalosian because my mom is one sixth from there, there's one from Kanto, Hoenn, Sinnoh… I'm about eight percent Latias… believe it or not I've been told this is the less complicated option."

Roy was agape. "How is that the less complicated option?"

"Yeah, you'll see," Riko replied, shrugging.

 

Notes:

If there's rumours going around that she's Ash's kid, this seems like the most reasonable compromise.

Chapter 6: Negative Space Movie

"Well," Calyrex said, hands on hips, once the fires had mostly been put out. "This was officially a complete bloody balls-up, wasn't it?"

"A little bit, sire," Glastrier agreed.

"A little bit doesn't really begin to cover it," Spectrier snorted. "Do you have any idea how much Fiery Wrath stings?"

"About as much as Thunderous Kick, I shouldn't wonder," Glastrier said, rubbing his left forehoof against his right one. "That's going to sting for quite a long time."

"What I want to know is why we had such an awful time of it in general," Spectrier complained, shaking her head. "Sire, what does your sight tell you?"

"I don't have the sight unless I ride you, Spectrier," Calyrex retorted. "You know that, surely?"

"Oh, just go ahead and take to the saddle," Glastrier recommended.

Calyrex checked with the more feminine of his two steeds for a moment, got her assent, then took his place.

"As one," they declared.

Then Calyrex sighed.

"Oh, fuss and buggeration," he declared. "That's what's the matter. The Chosen One wasn't in Galar, he's travelling around the world as a whole."

"Really?" Spectrier asked. "What's wrong with Galar?"

"The weather?" Glastrier suggested. "Famously terrible, after all."

"Good point, well made," Spectrier admitted.

She frowned. "By the way, sire, did we actually deal with that bloody Articuno as well?"

A Freezing Glare swept across them both, pinning them in place, and Glastrier muttered something too rude to record for posterity.

"You two are going to owe me so many carrots after this," he said. "All right, you tosser, come and have a go if you think you're cold enough!"

 

Notes:

The Pokémon movie sequence has sort of stopped, recently, and there are several Legendaries who have never appeared in Pokémon Journeys. Combining the two, you get… this.

The place where there should have been a movie.

Chapter 7: Hat's the only way to tell

"That was a lot of fun, huh, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

Pikachu twitched his ears. "You bet, Ash!"

"Kind of wish my hat hadn't got so wrecked, though," Ash added, looking at the hat in question. It was muddy, stained, and generally in bad shape.

It was probably one that could be repaired or cleaned, at least with Mimey's help, but for now there was no way Ash could wear it.

And Pikachu had to admit, Ash wasn't Ash without his hat.

"Well, that's fine!" Ash went on, rummaging around in his bag. "Let's see, uh… no, that's not right… I don't think I've seen that since last time I went to Alola… aha!"

Extracting something from the bottom of the bag, Ash dusted it off. "Never leave home without a spare hat!"

"How many times have you left home without a spare hat?" Pikachu asked, sniggering.

Like usual, his trainer didn't quite understand but he got the gist. "Hey!"

Sniggering himself, Ash gave the Pokémon League Expo hat a quick tweak to make sure it was properly open, then put it on. "Feels like old times, huh, Pikachu? This hat's been through a lot with us!"

"Wait, what!?"

It wasn't Pikachu who'd spoken.

The Latias they'd saved before shimmered into visibility, pointing and staring.

"You really are the same Ash!?" she demanded. "But – I didn't think-"

"The same Ash?" Pikachu repeated. "Are you from Altomare?"

"Yes!" Latias agreed. "And you two helped – but – I didn't even realize! What a coincidence!"

"Didn't you kiss Ash?" Pikachu asked, and Latias blushed slightly. "Hold on. Did you not recognize him because he was wearing a different hat?"

"What's going on, Pikachu?" Ash asked. "Why is she blushing?"

"Okay, you two are clearly meant for one another," Pikachu decided, throwing up his paws. "You're both morons."

 

Notes:

The first of a number of pieces inspired by the Latias in Mezase Pokémon Master/Aim to Be a Pokémon Master, this time with the assumption that she is the Altomare Latias.

Chapter 8: Movie Merge (Heroes)

"Ah, Ash!" Professor Elm said. "Professor Oak told me you were on the way… did you speak to him recently?"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "He knows I'm coming through New Bark before heading on to the Silver Conference!"

"Well, he asked me to speak to you," Elm clarified. "Apparently there's a Pokémon he's ready to transfer to you? And he'd like a video call. Then I've got something to ask you myself, but that can wait."

"Got it," Ash confirmed. "Let's go, Pikachu!"

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

---

"Ash, it's good to see you again," Professor Oak said. "Now, this is an unusual situation, so I wanted to make sure you understood it."

"I guess that's better than not understanding it," Ash replied.

"Of course," Oak chuckled. "The first thing I need to make sure you understand, Ash, is how rare it is that a trainer has a Pokémon like this for a Pokémon League. It's not unknown, but it's rare enough that you're going to need to be careful. You're already a target for Team Rocket, but this could make it worse."

"I've got it, Professor!" Ash nodded firmly. "I won't let Team Rocket take any Pokémon while I'm around, especially not Pokémon I'm responsible for!"

Pikachu nodded firmly. "Pika Pika-chuu!"

"That's good," Oak said. "Now, the second thing is – if you have a very strong Pokémon on your team, you have to avoid the temptation to just have them do everything. That's not fair on anyone on your team. You need to help them grow and get stronger, and you need to do it without neglecting the rest of your team. I hope you can do that?"

"I'll do my best, Professor!" Ash confirmed.

"That's good, Ash," Oak reiterated. "I know you're a trainer with a good heart, I just need to make sure. I'd say the same if I was sending a Pokémon like this to Gary. And, finally… you realize that you can't keep a Pokémon like this forever? You'll need to let them go again eventually."

"Pika, Pikapi!" Pikachu giggled. "Pikachu-chu!"

Ash blushed. "Yeah, I do let my Pokémon go if they want to… or sometimes even if they don't, if I'm sure it's what's best for them. But Charizard's doing really well now so it must be working!"

"That's all my worries, Ash," Oak said, then pressed a button.

The Pokémon Transfer System flashed into life, and a Pokéball appeared on the machine next to Professor Elm's computer.

Ash took it, and as soon as he'd picked it up it opened with a flash of light.

A white-and-pink Pokémon materialized, and Professor Elm gasped.

"That's the Pokémon Professor Oak wanted to send you?" he asked. "Ash – that's a Latias. That's a Legendary Pokémon!"

Latias giggled.

"Yeah, Professor Oak and I talked about it before!" Ash explained. "He gave her a check up, and she liked the sound of coming with me, and I guess this was once he was sure it was okay! There's rules about it, maybe… but, I'm going to be teaching her how to battle properly. Uh…"

He checked his Pokédex. "Professor Oak says she only knows Safeguard?"

The floating Dragon-type looked a bit embarrassed.

"Well… that sounds like you've got a lot of work to do," Elm said. "It must be fascinating, though… ah, now, the thing I wanted to talk to you about was an egg…"

 

Notes:

This is fundamentally predicated on the idea that the Altomare Latias could have joined Ash in the anime for at least the rest of Johto, reportedly something they were planning but scrapped. I decided to see if the "wait, who the heck is this Pokémon" thing could be handled in a sequence that could fit in the anime, whether or not the viewer had seen Pokémon Heroes.

Chapter 9: AltoShipping And AlterShipping

Latias took a deep breath.

She'd been following her saviour, this trainer… Ash… for weeks. And she'd seen him do so many things.

Amazing things. Mundane things. He'd rescued her and then just… gone about his life, as if nothing was different.

Because nothing was different. That was just who he was.

The Psychic-type closed her eyes, concentrating, then flew slowly down in front of Ash.

He stopped walking.

"Huh?" he asked. "Pikachu, is there something in front of us?"

Latias decloaked.

"Oh!" Ash said, surprised.

Ash! Latias began, her mental voice coming out in a rush. I think – I think I'm in love with you!

"What!?" a voice squeaked.

It was another Latias.

She decloaked as well, and pointed her arm at Latias. "You – but – I kissed Ash first! It's taken years to find someone else to take care of Altomare, and then – I was going to tell him I was in love with him!"

"You're in love with Ash?" Latias asked, pointing back. "But I'm in love with Ash!"

"I know, but I was in love with him first!"

"I said it first!"

"I kissed him first!"

Ash looked very confused as the pointing and squeaking continued.

"Wait, is one of you from Altomare?" Pikachu said. "I wondered if this Latias was you, Latias, but she didn't seem to recognize Ash."

"I see!" Ash's Rotom Phone said. "So, one of you is Altomare Latias and the other is a different Latias!"

He made a bzzt noise. "I will need to record this behaviour. I will record this as Alto Shipping and Alter Shipping, to remove confusion."

"That doesn't remove confusion," Pikachu grumbled.

 

---

Notes:

Another one inspired by Journeys Latias, this time with the worry that Ash x that Latias would be assumed to be what "Altoshipping" meant by people who'd never seen Heroes.

So, obviously the best solution is to call Ash x Journeys Latias "AlterShipping".

Makes sense to me.

Chapter 10: Pokémon Violins

"Okay, Ash, where did you get to?" Kukui asked under his breath. "That kid… it's weird, you know?"

Ash's Pikachu, very much not missing, looked up and made a curious sound. "Pi?"

"Ash," Kukui explained, waving vaguely in the direction of someone where you didn't know what direction they were in. "Sometimes he really does seem like a kid, but then there's other times when he's a hardened Pokémon battling veteran… and so are you. There's that Z-ring that came out of nowhere, and… ah, I don't know. There's a lot about him I don't know yet."

Pikachu shrugged. "Pikapi, pika… kachu."

"You'd be able to say a lot more than anyone else, I guess," Kukui decided. "If I could understand you, but it might just have to be a Secret Power."

He sat down, toned legs stretching across the floor. "It's not like there's anything wrong with Ash. He's a good kid. It's just that sometimes it's so obvious there's more, and other times… not so much."

Then there was some faint music, and Kukui looked up in surprise.

It sounded a lot like a violin.

"Pi!" Pikachu said, putting a paw to his lips and pantomiming for quiet, then pointed, and Kukui got back upright before following – quietly, of course.

---

It was Ash.

It wasn't something Kukui had ever expected to see, even with how much of a mystery his lodger already was, but- Ash was standing by a window, his trademark cap set aside, and there was a violin to his chin.

It might have been one of the smaller ones, Kukui wasn't an expert. But he wasn't tone-deaf, and he could tell that Ash's playing was… perhaps not polished, but it was nothing like his first time touching the instrument, either.

Kukui wondered where it had come from, a little bit.

But for now, he just leaned in the doorway, and listened. Pikachu clambered up to his shoulder, which Kukui managed to avoid reacting to, then listened as well.

---

After a few minutes, the music came to an end.

Ash took the instrument from his chin, sighing, and Kukui immediately noticed something about Ash.

He was calm.

That was… something of an unusual thing for Ash, Kukui was fairly sure.

"Pika, Pikapi!" Pikachu said, clapping, and Ash turned.

"Oh, hi Pikachu! And, hi Professor… and Rockruff too, huh, I guess I had more of an audience than I was expecting…"

"It was very nice, Ash," Kukui assured him. "I didn't know you played an instrument."

"It's actually not something I've been doing for all that long, I'm still practicing more than anything," Ash defended himself immediately. "It's actually an idea I had after my Sinnoh League challenge, because there was this guy who was doing Contests and the Pokémon League and he used a harp, and he sometimes gave orders to his Pokémon that nobody else could understand! So I looked for an instrument, and…"

Then Ash looked embarrassed. "The recorder really didn't work, so I tried this, but… uh, I've never actually used it in battle? Because Snivy did what I am fairly sure was a threat to break it over my head if I ever tried, and, it turned out to be really hard to do anyway. But I kept it up, mostly because it's… relaxing?"

Ash tried out that word, then nodded. "Yeah, it means I'm doing something, but I can relax. So I do it now and then."

"I'm glad you felt safe doing it in my house, Ash," Kukui said. "Where do you keep it, though?"

"Oh, uh… I don't usually use held items on my Pokémon, so one of them keeps it depending on who I'm going to use or not," Ash explained. "It was back at home before because this was kinda meant to only be a holiday, but, I guess it's a whole thing now, and so Unfezant brought it over with her."

Kukui belatedly noticed the large Flying-type in the corner of the room, and she chirped a greeting.

"It's nice to meet you," he said, with a nod. "Thank you for the performance, Ash."

Ash put the instrument down, with care, and smiled back at the Professor. "...hey, I should have Unfezant show Rowlet a thing or two! I think he's asleep, but it's sunny so he should be good for a quick flight…"

 

Notes:

This is based on some art by Sorachi showing Ash playing the violin in Alola, found here:

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/77533308

Chapter 11: Oh, Not That Specific Mew

"Ash! Ash!"

Ash looked up from where he was working on some last-minute training for the Masters Eight – he thought Dragonite could get a little more impact out of her Draco Meteor, and it was really important to get a lot of impact out of a move like that – and waved. "Hey, Goh! What's up?"

"Professor Amaranth sent me a message," Goh explained, skidding to a halt. "She says that we might have a chance to go and find Mew in just a couple of days!"

He looked down. "I guess that might mean I miss the Masters Eight, so I can give up on-"

"No, no, if you have to go then it's fine!" Ash replied.

He frowned. "Though, uh, why is it so specific on the timing? It's not far, right?"

"Not far-" Goh said, then blinked. "Huh? Faraway Island is, um, far away, and it's surrounded by storms almost the whole year round! There's only a short period every year when we can even visit, that's why we've been preparing! It's our only chance to even see Mew!"

"Huh," Ash said, scratching his head. "That's weird. Is there a specific Mew you're after?"

Goh stared at Ash.

Then looked at his Dragonite, who waved cheerfully

"Are – have you been listening to any of the stuff I've said for the whole time we've been friends?" Goh asked.

"Yeah!" Ash replied, somewhat indignantly. "You wanted to have Mew as your starter, and that's changed, but you still want to catch every Pokémon. But I always thought that was about catching Mew, not seeing Mew, because otherwise you'd just go to Rota."

"Pika pika, Pikapi!" Pikachu said.

"Hey, I trust Goh!" Ash replied. "Besides, that Mew was a bit of a jerk. And Goh knows how important it can be to let a Legendary Pokémon go about their own business, so the same must be true for Mythical Pokémon, right?"

Goh was trying to lever his jaw closed.

"What do you mean, Rota?" he said.

"There's a Mew there," Ash explained simply. "They're part of how the Tree of Beginning works. It's… kind of a painful memory because Sir Aaron's Lucario died there, and maybe he wouldn't have if the Mew wasn't such a Pikachu-stealing jerk, but… anyway, if all you want is to see a Mew then we can head over there really easily. Who's faster, your Aerodactyl or Flygon?"

"Niite?" Dragonite asked. "Drago-Dragonite?"

"Yeah, we're going to Rota!" Ash agreed. "It's near Pewter City, I don't know in what direction but I'll recognize the castle and the big tree!"

Goh was still trying to reboot his brain.

 

---

Notes:

Well, he could have just asked.

Late in Pokémon Journeys.

Chapter 12: Too Many Roaming Pokémon

Zacian closed her eyes, for a long moment, then nodded to herself.

This was good.

She had a feeling that the Darkest Day was… coming. Not here, not yet, but that worrisome event would be appearing before long, and it would be better for everyone if she and her brother had chosen their champions before then.

"Sword and shield," she said, then chuckled.

Zamazenta may have been content to wait for his champion to appear, being the shield, but she was the sword. She would seek out a worthy human.

And, now, she had found one.

He was kind, and persistent, and he paid attention to his Pokémon. He'd helped persuade his friend to take on a companion, a partner, and he and his friend had overcome a Dynamaxed Snorlax with skill and grace.

Perhaps it was too early for Zacian to make her decision just now, but she had a good feeling about this human. A little more observation, and she would be sure.

He and the other boy were heading back to the train station, and Zacian broke into a lope to follow them – at a sensible distance, of course.

She was no puppy to make such a simple mistake.

There was a convenient-looking bit of undergrowth, right where they would be passing, and Zacian darted into it-

-and collided with another Pokémon.

The two of them tumbled over and over in a pink-and-blue-and-white-and-blue tangle, rolling right across the path that the human was going to follow, then ended up dropping into a hollow in the woods on the other side of the path.

"What was that for?" demanded the Pokémon she'd hit.

A Suicune.

Zacian disentangled herself, flicking her braid out of the way from where it had become tangled in Suicune's ribbon, and shook herself out. "I could ask you the same bloody question."

"You jumped on me," Suicune complained.

"I didn't know you were there!" Zacian shot back. "How was I supposed to know you were there?"

"You weren't, I was hiding," Suicune said. "I was following the Chosen One, Ash Ketchum."

"Ash Ketchum," Zacian repeated. "...so, the one with the Scorbunny?"

"No, the one with the Pikachu – how do you not know that?" Suicune asked.

"It is the first time he's been to Galar," a Mew said.

Zacian and Suicune looked up, seeing the pink kitten floating overhead.

"What are you doing here?" Suicune asked. "I recognize you – aren't you from Rota?"

"Yeah," Mew agreed, twining his tail around his paws. "But I feel guilty about… all kinds of stuff… and I've been trying to work out how to apologize to him."

"His friend wants a Mew for a starter-"

"I said Ash, not Goh," Mew interrupted. "Come on, be serious. But I'm a bit indecisive, so-"

"Did you say Ash?" asked a new voice, squeaky and high and from a Pokémon Zacian didn't recognize off-paw.

All three of them turned, this time, and saw nothing.

Then a pink-and-white shape shimmered into visibility.

"You did, didn't you?" the Pokémon asked. "He… he saved my life, and this year I finally managed to get a Latios to take over Alto – that is, where I lived – so I wanted to come and say thank you to him, but it's so hard to find a good time to approach him!"

"You were invisible," Suicune said.

"That feels like cheating, is what it feels like," Zacian complained. "Look, I don't know about you lot but I'm not invisible, so I'm going to try and get out of the way before this Ash kid actually sees us."

She took three steps, and tripped over a tail.

The tail turned out to belong to a very large, predominantly white-coated feline Pokémon, who made a sort of grumbling noise.

"Aren't you that Solgaleo he raised?" Suicune asked, raising her paw and pointing. "Nebby, right? What are you doing here, aren't you from Alola?"

"I can travel through Ultra Space, thanks," Nebby replied. "What's wrong with me occasionally checking up on Dad? Have you any idea how much trouble he can get into?"

"Yes!" Suicune and Mew said, both at the same time.

"I don't," Zacian said. "Why did you call him dad?"

"Oh, he raised me," Nebby explained. "It's his first time away from Alola since I was born, and I'm sort of nervous that he'll get himself into trouble and I won't be there to help him."

"He already did, but he got himself out of it again," Mew said helpfully.

"How often can one kid get into trouble?" Zacian asked.

Three Pokémon all tried to answer at once, and two of them collided with one another in mid-air with an audible crash sound.

"What are you doing here?" a Lugia asked, picking himself up from a pile of broken branches.

"Me? What are you doing here?" a Zekrom retorted, extracting her turbine from a tree. "Aren't you from the Orange Islands?"

"Yeah, so? You're from Unova," Lugia replied.

"Wait, wait," Zacian said, looking between the two of them. "You two are following this Ash kid as well?"

"I thought I was the only one doing it," Lugia said. "I keep an eye on my Chosen One. I actually showed myself to him a week or so ago."

"That was – I thought that was a one-off!" Suicune groaned. "You mean you've been following him since… what? The Orange Islands? When did he go there?"

"Did you never ask his Pikachu anything?" Zekrom said. "We had a pretty long conversation once, granted it was mostly in electrospeak but surely you could have done something like that."

"What I want to know is what this one's doing here," Zacian interrupted, pointing her paw at the little green-and-black dog Pokémon next to her. "Because I'm pretty sure this one's bloody Kalosian and you know what they're like."

"I do not know what they are like," Zygarde replied, sitting on their haunches. "Elaborate, if you please."

"You know, all… Kalosian," Zacian said vaguely.

"Merde," Zygarde sighed, rolling their eyes. "But I am following Ash Ketchum so that I can find out a good time to let him know that I and his Greninja are done with our task, and to ask him when and where he would like Greninja to return to him. Of course I have been following him since his time in Kalos as I did not want to lose track of him."

"Did you follow him into Ultra Space?" Nebby asked. "Because that's something I did."

"You took him there," Suicune replied.

"And a good job he did of it, too," a yellow avian Pokémon said. "Nebby, did – holy batmom there's more Pokémon here than I thought there'd be."

"Yes, I found him, Uncle Tapu Koko," Nebby sighed. "Do you have to talk about my mother that way?"

"Didn't you call Ash your father?" Latias demanded, now totally lost. "Who's the mother?"

"It's weird," Nebby said. "I have a mother, that's Lunala, a father, that's Solgaleo, and a mom and dad, that's Lillie and Ash, because they helped raise me. They're not girl and boyfriend or anything though."

Latias seemed relieved from that, but Lugia was quicker off the mark to say something. "So why are you looking for my Chosen One?"

"He's not your Chosen One, he's the Chosen One," Zekrom corrected. "Also Hero of Ideals and Saviour of the Creator, among other things."

"The question remains," Lugia countered.

"Honestly, I mostly wanted to give him a Z-crystal he forgot back in Alola, but I took a lift along with Nebby," Tapu Koko said. "I've got a few more along too though because he's probably going to fulfil another challenge by accident or something."

"This is a lot more complicated than I was expecting," Zacian said.

"Hey, did you hear something?" asked a voice.

Not Ash's voice. Goh's voice.

"I think I heard a Pokémon over here!"

"We don't want to be found here," Suicune pointed out. "Quick!"

---

The Pokémon all ran for cover, with several collisions resulting as they tried running for cover in the same direction, and after a short period of chaos they all ended up packed – in some cases quite tightly – underneath an overhang that led down into a large lake.

None of them said anything for several seconds, until Zacian just had to ask.

"Where did you come from?" she said, pointing a paw at the slightly crumpled ball of feathers at the other end of the Legendary pile. "I didn't see you before!"

"I crashed into Ho-Oh when I was running for it," Zekrom admitted, putting her paw up. "My bad. Not an ideal move, and that's really embarrassing for me."

"It's understandable," said a rumbling voice that made the lake water tremble.

They all went still.

"Who was that?" Mew asked.

A strange, red-and-black-and-grey-and-gold shape leaned out of the mirror-like surface of the lake.

"Me," the Pokémon said.

"This is Giratina!" a blue spirit added, swooping out from behind Giratina's ear. "And I'm Azelf. He's keeping track of his father's favourite human and the person who saved his life, I'm keeping track of the Apex of Willpower, they're the same person, it's a natural fit."

"All right!" Zacian growled, eye twitching. "This is my bloody country, so I'm going to be the one to ask! If anyone else is following Ash Ketchum around and we haven't bumped into them yet, where, who, how and why?"

There was a long, silent pause.

Then an orange-and-yellow Pokémon with very large ears shimmered into visibility.

"Um," the Victini began. "So, funny story…"

 

---

Notes:

There are a lot of Pokémon who have good reason to follow Ash around.

Early in Pokémon Journeys.

Chapter 13: BETRAYAL

"Ash?" Iris began, knocking on the door.

"What?" Ash replied, then got up. "Oh, hey, guys…"

He shook his head a little. "I guess that didn't go great, did it?"

"Ash, uh…" Cilan began. "Look, we need to discuss this…"

"Is something wrong?" Ash said.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked.

"No, or… yes, but not…" Cilan shook his head. "Sorry, I'm having a little trouble plating this up."

Ash yawned, then blinked a few times and looked at Cilan. "Plating what up?"

"Ash," Iris said, firmly. "You need to get some sleep."

"Huh?" Ash replied. "What do you mean, I need to get some sleep?"

He folded his arms. "I thought you guys would-"

"Ash, you've always been going to bed after us, and waking up before us," Iris interrupted. "You've got bags under your eyes. I can see them from here."

"You mean it's my fault?" Ash demanded hotly. "So what, I lost against Cameron, but I really thought you guys would have my back!"

"We do, Ash," Cilan said. "Which is why we think you need to be a connoisseur of your own body."

"Pika, Pikapi…" Pikachu contributed.

Ash clenched a fist. "Both of you? After all we've been through together?"

He stormed past the two of them, then stopped as he caught sight of who was in the hallway.

Brock. Misty. May, Dawn and Max. Even Tracey was there, at the back of the group.

"What happened?" Dawn said, before she could stop herself.

"Dawn, too?" Ash asked. "You know what we've been through together – really? And – and, you should know that I can lose battles and just come back again!"

"I didn't even say anything like that!" Dawn protested. "We came to watch your League matches – you look like you haven't slept in days!"

"This isn't about me," Ash retorted.

"Pika-chuu," Pikachu tried to say, but whatever he was trying to get across didn't make much of an impression on Ash.

"Ash, seriously, when was the last time you got any sleep?" Brock said.

"You as well, Brock?" Ash asked. "All of you are believing them instead of me?"

Misty was the first to respond to that. "Ash, we can see the bags under your eyes."

"I didn't get that bad when I was studying for my medical exams," Brock contributed.

"Shut up!" Ash demanded. "Just – shut up, you're all turning your back on me!"

"Is he even listening?" Max wondered quietly to his sister.

"Honestly, I'm not sure how to answer that question," May replied. "It is Ash."

"I can't believe I've been betrayed by everyone I know!" Ash complained.

"I haven't even said anything yet," Tracey objected.

Ash was unmoved. "You're all the same! Well, I'll show you, I'll have my revenge!"

He turned to storm away, walked straight into the wall, and fell over onto his back with an impressive vertical-to-horizontal sweep only interrupted by Max lunging forwards to catch him.

Everyone stood there silently for a few seconds.

"...uh," Iris began. "Did he just…"

Brock crouched down to check.

"His hat got pushed up his head, but not off," he judged. "I think he just fell over, rather than banging his head."

---

The next morning, Ash yawned, stretched, and saw May at the side of his bed.

"He's up!" she called, and over the next fifteen seconds Ash's friends all piled into his room one after another.

"Hi, guys!" Ash said. "What's up?"

"...do you, uh… remember what happened last night?" Dawn said, delicately.

"Uh…" Ash began, thinking. "...I went to sleep? Which is actually really neat, I haven't done that since Sinnoh!"

"Since what!?" everyone asked at once.

"Yeah, since that battle with that Tobias guy," Ash clarified. "Not really sure why!"

"Pika, Pikapi, Pika-chu," Pikachu muttered.

"...you know…" Tracey said. "I… think I understand a lot about what I heard about Ash's Unova journey now."

 

Notes:

Well, it makes rather more sense in character than the standard issue Betrayal plot...

Chapter 14: Rampancy Averted

"No," Volo said, shaking their head. "No. This shouldn't be how it ends. This isn't how it ends!"

Akari hefted one of her Pokéballs, experimentally, but Volo had a glint of wild light in his eye.

"GIRATINA!" he shouted, and shadows pooled around them.

"I don't understand!" Akari said, as Giratina rose out of the darkness. "Why is Giratina helping you do… whatever you're trying to do!"

"When I was born, I knew that our Father had roles in mind for my brother, Dialga, and my sister, Palkia," Giratina replied, rising to their full height. "Dialga set time in motion. Palkia gave space a place to be. But I was… the residue. The unneeded. The unfortunate consequence. And I knew Despair."

The Renegade Pokémon's golden armour glowed, giving them an ethereal quality that was not, really, so very different from Arceus. "Then, there were new creations. The beings of Spirit, Uxie, Mesprit, Azelf. Who, too, were given a role in shaping the world. And that was when I learned that I would never have any part in Father's creation. And I knew Rage."

Volo stepped back, into the shape formed by Giratina's body, and the ghostly Dragon leaned down towards Akari. "And when I expressed that rage, Father locked me away in the other side of this world. An empty, misty nothingness, there only because it was necessary for his true creation… just like me. And I could watch every other creature enjoying the fruits of what Father had done… everything, everyone, except me. And for untold thousands of years, I have known Envy."

"But the Reverse World's cool," Akari protested. "It's not the same as the material world, but it's beautiful in its own way."

"It-"

"How could you even know that?" Volo demanded. "You've never seen the Reverse World! You fell out of the sky remembering nothing!"

They scowled. "Or was that a lie, too?"

"Well… I don't remember years of my life," Akari said. "I don't know why I'm suddenly fifteen, when the last I could remember before the rift I was twelve. I don't know where my Pokémon went. But I do remember Giratina, and the Giratina I know is… kind. And full of rage, if they've been wronged, but… they liked living in the Reverse World, so long as they could leave."

She put the Pokéball she was holding back in her pocket. "I don't know if that's the answer you want to hear, but it's the truth. You even gave one of my friends a ride on your back, and then you and Palkia kept Arceus busy while Dialga threw us back in time to change history… not this time, the other time."

A long pause.

"Do you expect me to believe that?" Giratina asked.

"Honestly, not really, because you're really angry," Akari replied. "But I do have this."

She reached into her other pocket, and held it out.

"It's the only Poffin I've managed to make so far," she said. "But my other friend found out what you liked, and… I'm pretty sure I remembered it."

One of Giratina's wing tendrils grabbed the Poffin from her hand, and Giratina swallowed it in a single bite.

"Volo," they said, in exactly the same tones as before. "I have only known this human girl for five minutes, but if I did anything to her then I would destroy myself."

"...what!?" Volo asked, completely baffled.

"She literally just met me and she gave me baked goods. Did you ever give me baked goods?"

 

Notes:

An attempt to reconcile PLA Giratina and Anime Movie Giratina.

Also features Giratina being Rampant, at least until provided with Poffins.

Chapter 15: One Last Snapped Pika-Nerve

"Are you going to be okay, Latios?" Ash asked.

Latios snorted, folding his arms, then winced slightly as the movement jolted one of his injuries. "You don't need to know," he snorted.

"Brother-" Latias began.

"Okay, seriously?" Pikachu asked, interrupting both of them and jumping in front of his trainer. "You don't think that's a bit ungrateful?"

"What do you know?" Latios replied. "You're friends with humans, you don't know what it's like to be hunted-"

"I absolutely know what it's like to be hunted!" Pikachu exploded, sparks chirping from his cheeks for a moment before he forcibly damped them down. "You don't know anything about me! And I'm angry now, both myself and on behalf of my trainer, so congratulations I'm about to let off years of pent up frustration and you're the target!"

Pikachu pointed at Ash, who'd taken a step back from the sheer vehemence in the Electric-type's voice. "When I became his Pokémon, I hated him! I wanted nothing more than to be rid of him! He knew absolutely nothing about how to take care of Pokémon, he knew so little about Pokémon I'm not sure how he'd managed to hit ten years old while apparently never even watching TV, and I wanted nothing more than to get away from him. And you know what changed?"

A fizzle of sparks. "WE changed. The two of us. Together. Because Ash nearly killed himself saving me, and ever since then we've been best friends… and Ash is like that with every Pokémon he's ever met."

"I've been watching them," Latias said, trying to placate Pikachu or her brother or both. "Ash has been helping Pokémon-"

"I'm not done!" Pikachu insisted. "Like I say, years of pent up frustration, and I'm nowhere near done yet! Because you think you know what it's like to be hunted? Team Rocket has tried to steal me or kidnap me or steal or kidnap other Pokémon while I'm there, usually including me, over one thousand times! I lost count several times but it's at least that many! And Ash has saved me, or helped me save myself, every single time – and he's done the same for all the other Pokémon they've targeted! He's done the same for everyone! He's saved people that I've never met and he's never met, and he's saved your life a minimum of five times!"

Latios just looked completely lost.

"My trainer!" Pikachu said, punctuating the words with another gesture as he tried to get across the reality of everything he's experienced. "My trainer has saved the world! More than once! I think it might even be double-digit numbers, I have legitimately lost count, plus the times he stopped widespread devastation, and that's not counting all the times there was serious chaos in a single place like the Temple of the Sea or Crown City or – or Altomare, speaking of Latias and Latios!"

That did get a reaction, from both Pokémon, but Pikachu was on a roll now. "How can you think Ash is anything like those people? You don't like them because they tried to kidnap you, but Ash has done nothing but work as hard as he can to save you, and – and sometimes it seems like nobody sees that! Even the World Coronation Series, people saw Ash as a strong trainer but they never connect that with his heart, and – and sometimes it's so frustrating to see how little anyone-"

There were tears in Pikachu's eyes, and he dashed them away irritably. "You know how many Pokémon Trainers we know or met who had or used Legendary Pokémon? Want to guess? Just off the top of your head?"

Latios tried to snort at the very concept, but his snort turned into a sort of sniffle under Pikachu's glare.

"Twelve!" Pikachu snapped. "Just off the top of my head! And then another one of them I only know about because of what Steelix said, sure, but she had a Latias so I'm including it, and, and I've battled a Latios in the Sinnoh League and I drew with that Latios and it's one of the proudest moments of my life, but sometimes – sometimes I look at Gary catching a Legendary, or Goh catching three Legendaries, or – or that one guy with a Heatran in Sinnoh we never even battled, and Nebby's a sweet kid but Ash literally never used him in battle because the thought never crossed his mind, and- and-"

The Electric-type panted a few times, some of the blazing current of nervous energy draining away, then he sighed.

"It's not even about you, specifically," he said. "I… your sister was following Ash around for three weeks, then the moment she told us that you were in danger we came running, but that's not enough for you. But… sometimes I think Ash deserves nice things, you know?"

The Mouse Pokémon sat back with a thump. "For… for someone apart from me to look at Ash and see the shining soul who faced death to save the world, who'd jump off a tower to catch me because us being apart was a problem he couldn't bear to face, who – who got tortured and bounced back like nothing happened, because his friends were okay and that was all that mattered to him. Who's died more than once, and- and who keeps travelling because it helps people."

Pikachu had finally run out of words, and there was a long, singing silence for almost half a minute.

"Latios," Latias said. "Let me ask you this question, very simply. Do you know the way to Altomare from here without me?"

"...yes?" Latios said, confused. "Why?"

"Because I think a lot of what Latias there has said over the last few years has suddenly made complete sense," Latias replied. "Now, you are going to go to Altomare and tell her that I know where her saviour is, and lead her back to me if she reacts the way I'm almost sure she will."

"What did Pikachu say, anyway?" Ash asked, getting out his Rotom Phone.

"Sorry?" the Plasma Pokémon asked. "I wasn't listening."

 

Notes:

A giant Pika-rant provoked partly by the way Journeys Latios reacts to Ash, and mostly by the idea Pikachu's nerves have finally gone past their limit.

Chapter 16: Double Check Key Scene Notes

"It was a strange noise," Bill said, as the lighthouse beam flashed across the sea behind him. "On a foggy night like this. I don't know exactly what caused it, and I can only assume it's a Pokémon that we don't really know about."

The beam swept across the sea again, and Ash shaded his eyes. "A Pokémon, huh… like, what? A Dragonite?"

"I know about that one," Bill replied, a bit tartly. "I mean a Pokémon that nobody's really seen in person before. I'm enough of a Pokémon expert that I think I'd recognize a Dragonite, thanks."

"Then… maybe it's like that Pokémon I saw when I set off," Ash wondered.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked.

"What Pokémon?" Misty said.

Ash looked downcast. "Neither of you guys saw it either?"

Pikachu shook his head, then did a pose of a Pokémon, and Ash relaxed slightly. "Yeah, Pikachu saw it… it was after I, uh, borrowed your bike?"

"There's no way I'd forget something like that, Ash Ketchum!" Misty insisted. "And no, I didn't see any weird Pokémon after that happened!"

"What was it like?" Bill said.

"It had, uh… I think it was golden?" Ash replied, frowning. "And, red and green feathers, too? It was a bird, I think."

"Interesting," Bill frowned. "I suppose there's some possibilities-"

An unearthly call interrupted them, and Bill gasped. "Did you hear that? That was it!"

He pressed a button on a remote control, and the lighthouse foghorn wailed in response.

"Agh!" Brock complained, hands over his ears. "Watch out, what was that for?"

"Sssh!" Bill demanded.

Then the call came again.

Ash felt a bit uneasy. "Uh…"

A shape appeared in the mist, barely visible, and Ash stepped forwards to the edge of the lighthouse railing.

"This is amazing!" Bill said, in a strangled voice.

Then a pair of dark, reddish eyes flashed in the gloom.

Who are you?

"You… you mean me?" Ash asked, pointing at himself.

"Ash, what are you talking about?" Misty demanded.

Brock sounded worried. "Did someone say something to you?"

I mean you, the voice confirmed, and the shadowy shape in the mist became clearer. It was avian, but nothing like the Pokémon Ash had seen outside Pallet Town.

This Pokémon had long, smooth wings, with only a few giant divisions, and a tail that was more like a Dragonair's tail than the bundle of feathers the other Pokémon had had. And it was hovering in front of the lighthouse as if it didn't need to consider anything as pedestrian as gravity.

"I… don't know why you're asking me," Ash said, then decided to actually answer the question. "I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town!"

Ash? The voice asked, sounding amused and enlightened all at once. I see… then perhaps this was no coincidence.

It came closer still, beginning to appear out of the mist, and Ash raised his hand.

Then a bazooka round came sailing in from the side, and exploded against the Pokémon's breast.

"What the-!" Bill said. "Who did that?"

"Team Rocket!" Brock warned, pointing.

The strange Pokémon keened, wings sweeping out to either side, and fired a blast of light back at Team Rocket before whirling and plunging back into the sea. The tail slammed into the light arrangement at the top of the lighthouse, shaking the whole building, and everyone grabbed for support until the rumbling sound ceased.

"Ash, are you okay?" Misty said. "You were acting strange."

"Yeah, I…" Ash began. "I… don't know? It's weird, it felt like that Pokémon halfway recognized me?"

He shook his head. "I guess… I don't really know what to do, though…"

 

Notes:

And the last of the backlog, a short based on the rumour that the Giant Dragonite in the Bill and Lighthouse Episode was meant to be a first appearance of Lugia – mirroring Ho-Oh's first appearance in episode 1.

Chapter 17: Journey to Hisui

"You fell from the sky?"

"Yeah," Ash confirmed. "It was kind of weird, I don't remember exactly what I was doing before that, but, uh… here I am!"

He rummaged in his pocket, and brought out his phone. "Hey, where are we, exactly?"

"What's that?" the man asked, before Rotom could respond.

"Huh?" Ash said. "Oh, this is my Rotom Phone. I got them earlier this year."

"Attention," Rotom said. "I cannot find a compatible network."

"Pika?" Pikachu asked. "Pika-chuu, Pikapi."

"Huh, maybe," Ash replied. "Where is this place, anyway?"

"That's amazing," the man said. "Some kind of talking device?"

He looked at Pikachu, a little warily. "And – are you sure you're all right with that Pokémon so close to you? Not even in a Pokéball?"

"Hey, Pikachu doesn't like Pokéballs!" Ash replied. "And he's my best friend."

"Chaaa!" Pikachu agreed, ears twitching. "Chuu, Pika?"

"Like I said," Ash resumed. "Where are we, exactly? I did fall out of the sky so I guess I probably got lost again."

"...again?" the man said, then shook his head. "Oh, sorry – this is Hisui."

"Never heard of it," Ash admitted. "But, I guess that's not really unusual for me."

Rotom went bwip.

"You have a new message," they said. "Message is from: The Alpha Pokémon. It says: Seek Out All Pokémon."

"Thanks, Rotom!" Ash told them. "I guess that must be why I'm here!"

"The Alpha Pokémon," the man repeated to himself. "I've never heard of that Pokémon… is it another name for Unown?"

"No, Unown is something else," Ash replied. "Though I guess Unown could have been involved somehow…"

He scratched his head. "Well, I guess I should try and find how to get home somehow, and if all I've got to go on is instructions to seek out all Pokémon, I guess it's time to do that! Looks like we're going to be doing things Goh-style, huh, Pikachu?"

"Ka-chuuu," Pikachu sniffed.

"Hey, I didn't mean all the ways!" Ash defended himself, chuckling. "Just about, you know, catching more Pokémon. Maybe we'll make some new friends, too!"

"You're certainly an interesting young man," the man admitted. "Well, if you are going to try and seek out all Pokémon, I don't suppose you'd be willing to help me out in gathering some observations? I'm trying to create a kind of encyclopedia of all the Pokémon in Hisui based on first-hand observations, you see."

Ash mulled that over, then nodded. "Sure! My friend Tracey's a Pokémon Watcher, so I know how to do that!"

"Pika-pika, Pikapi," Pikachu said, sniffing.

"Well, I know the theory, anyway," Ash amended. "You know, follow Pokémon around and make drawings of them! Actually, uh, do photos count?"

The man chuckled. "I suppose they do… and my name's Professor Laventon. It's nice to meet you."

"Ash Ketchum!" Ash replied, holding out his hand.

Then a white and green blur knocked him over.

"Ash!" Professor Laventon said, then stopped at the sight of the Pokémon who'd ended up on top of Ash. "That's… I've never seen that Pokémon before."

"Hi, there," Ash said, completely unfazed by being bowled over by a Pokémon. "The last Shaymin I saw was my friend Mallow's… I guess there must be Gracidea not far from here, right?"

"Shaay-min!" the Shaymin said, tilting their head. "Miin?"

"Yeah, she didn't stay with Mallow forever, but she did battle for Mallow in the Manalo Conference," Ash explained. "Actually, uh, does this place have any gyms?"

Laventon looked perplexed. "Are you not… worried? That's an unknown Pokémon and it just knocked you over!"

"Not the first time it's happened!" Ash replied. "Not the first time it's happened with a Shaymin, either."

Laventon absorbed that, then got around to the question Ash had asked.

"...what's a gym?"

Ash exchanged a glance with Pikachu.

"Okay, we're a long way from home," he said.

"Pikaaa," Pikachu agreed, ears flat.

 

Notes:

This probably comes some time before the Arceus Chronicles special, but apart from that the only real guideline is that it's somewhere in Journeys.

Chapter 18: Another time line's generation nine

"And… now!" Ash said. "Water Gun!"

Quaxly spat out a jet of water, hitting the rubber ball, and it went flying into the distance.

"Great shot!" Ash told the Water-type, as Koraidon went thundering off to retrieve the ball. "That's the second time you've hit in a row, you're really getting better!"

"Quaax," Quaxly said, sounding a bit nervous.

"Pika-kachu!" Pikachu told him, bounding over to pat the Water-type on the bat. "Kachuu-chuu!"

"Yeah, Pikachu's right!" Ash said. "You can't feel bad about having to start at the bottom, especially if you're improving! You'll be a star before you know it!"

He took the rubber ball from Koraidon, and gave the big Pokémon a scratch under the jaw. "Thanks, Koraidon."

Across the campsite, Penny made an impressed noise.

"Watching you with your Pokémon is always an experience, Ash," she said, putting aside her tablet. "I know you're the World Champion, but… it's one thing to know that and another thing to see that in person."

"Huh?" Ash replied, scratching his head. "What do you mean?"

"Well-" Penny began, then her Sylveon jumped into her lap.

"Syll-veon!" the Fairy-type said, firmly, and Penny began petting her.

Pikachu giggled. "Ka-chuu!"

Penny smiled slightly.

"I mean that it's not how people think of the strongest trainers doing things," she said. "The way everyone always seems to think about it, strong trainers are the ones who pick strong Pokémon."

"That's not it at all, though," Ash said, very seriously. "It's almost completely the other way around! You pick Pokémon who work with you, and then you make them strong by working together."

He clenched his fist. "Just like we're going to do, right, Quaxly?"

"Quaaax!" Quaxly agreed, saluting with his wing.

"Pikachuu, Pikapi!" Pikachu cheered.

Koraidon agreed as well, bouncing up and down, then hugged Ash.

Or tried to.

The big Pokémon mostly just ended up flattening Ash to the ground, and he laughed.

"I'm glad you're happy about it too, Koraidon," he said, as Pikachu retrieved his hat. "You seem really full of energy! How about you go for a run before lunch?"

"Raii-don!" Koraidon rumbled, sounding very interested.

Then stopped, and looked around. "Kooor?"

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, looking worried.

Then a sizzling blur of electricity raced across the field towards them, skidding to a halt in a cloud of dust, and when it faded Pikachu was sitting cross-legged and looking resigned as Miraidon licked him.

"Oh, Arven must be nearby," Penny said. "Eevee, can you see him?"

"Vee!" her Eevee said, bounding up to stand on her head, then pointed. "Vee-vee!"

Ash turned to look as well, picking himself up as Koraidon let him up, and waved. "Hi, guys!"

"How do we keep running into you?" Arven asked, holding his Fuecoco in both arms and his Skwovet on his shoulder. "I'm starting to think we should just travel together or something."

"No way!" Nemona replied, running past him. "Because if we're just meeting one another every few days, I can keep challenging Ash to see how I'm doing compared to him!"

"You do remember he's the World Champion, right?" Penny asked, as Sylveon jumped off her lap. She started to get up, only for Leafeon to smoothly take the place her sister had vacated, and shrugged a little before sitting right back down to pet the Grass-type instead.

"Well, of course I do!" Nemona said. "That's why it's a great challenge!"

"Sure!" Ash decided. "We can have one right now, if you want! Who are you using? Sprigatito? Pawmi?"

"No, I've got a new Pokémon since we last met!" Nemona told him. "It's going to be her first battle! Rockruff, come on out!"

"Oh, cool!" Ash said, crouching down to meet the Rock-type. "I had a Rockruff in Alola! They evolved to Lycanroc, though. Have they decided what they think about that?"

"Ruff…" Rockruff said, shaking her head.

"Well, there's loads of choices," Ash explained. "Right? Staying a Rockruff, or being a Midday Lycanroc, a Midnight Lycanroc, a Dusk Lycanroc-"

He shook his head, as Arven said something about how of course Ash had one on the list that nobody else did. "Anyway, uh… what do you think, Quaxly or Squawkabilly?"

"Quaaax!" Quaxly said, patting his chest firmly.

"You want to call dibs?" Ash asked. "Then sure, you can go first! Let's do this, Nemona!"

As the two trainers went just far enough that they wouldn't damage the camp, Arven sat down next to Penny.

"Do you think they're ever going to meet up without having a battle straight away?" he asked, reaching up to pat Koraidon as the big Pokémon came to sit down next to him.

Penny shrugged.

"I doubt it," she said.

Pikachu was still being licked by Miraidon.

 

Notes:

After a bit of discussion about what it would be like if Ash was in Paldea, this came about.

Chapter 19: GnRH Antagonists (post-Journeys)

"Okay, I've got to ask," Brock said. "Ash, how come you still look the same as when we met?"

"Huh?" Ash replied. "Do you think I shouldn't?"

He looked at Pikachu. "I thought I'd changed my clothes a few times, at least…"

Pikachu shrugged. "Ka-pikaaa-chu. Pika-Chu?"

"Oh, yeah, maybe," Ash agreed. "Is that what you mean?"

Brock looked completely lost.

"Ash, I can't understand Pikachu," he said. "Actually I'm not sure how you understand him so well."

"I guess it's just… we've spent so long together?" Ash asked. "It must be, what, ten years now?"

He laughed. "It's weird how much time passes when you aren't paying attention. It just comes one day at a time!"

"Pika-ka-kachuu, Pikapi," Pikachu said.

"I guess so, Pikachu," Ash agreed, reaching down to grab his Electric-type, and transfer him to his shoulder. "Anyway, uh, you wanted to talk about something?"

"Yes!" Brock stressed. "I was originally here to ask what you're going to do now. You've got almost your whole team from all over back together, haven't you?"

He shrugged. "And, even if you weren't going to be aiming for anything in particular after the World Coronation Series, I wanted to know whether you were going to try Contests, or if you wanted help deciding… but now I'm completely sidetracked by this question!"

"I was thinking about that," Ash admitted. "Now I've got Pidgeot back, I can go anywhere really easily without having to rely on Dragonite… in fact, I can swap them around! So I might try finding some cool places with cool Pokémon, or just see where the road takes me."

"Stop getting sidetracked!" Brock complained.

"Huh?" Ash said, scratching his head. "I guess if I knew where I was going then I could be sidetracked from it, but without that…"

"Pikaaaa," Pikachu giggled.

"Oh, yeah, that," Ash said. "It's actually… well, I guess it's not embarrassing, it's just a thing which I kind of thought of as weird for so long that it still feels weird. You know?"

"No, but keep going, or this will take way too long," Brock advised.

Ash nodded. "It's… you know when I got into Celadon Gym?"

"Oh, yeah!" Brock remembered. "That was kind of funny. You looked cute as a girl! But I never figured out why I couldn't tell it was you."

"And you remember Pokémon Tech?" Ash went on. "Because… there was a girl there, and, I tried to be interested in her, like… you know, the way you are with girls. And it didn't really work?"

He shrugged. "And when there's Jessie and James turning up all the time, I guess I started wondering about the difference."

Brock looked blank.

"...you did get the talk, right?" he asked. "Because if you've managed to miss that until-"

"No, yeah, I did get that!" Ash interrupted, waving his hands and blushing. "It's not that!"

"Chu-chuuu," Pikachu giggled. "Pika-pika, pikapi."

Brock wiped his brow. "Phew," he said. "I had to do it for all my brothers and sisters who needed it so far… my parents said I should do it."

"Was that a good idea?" Ash asked.

"Hey, I have the right attitude with the ladies!" Brock defended himself. "But we're supposed to be talking about you."

"Right, yeah," Ash said. "And I guess…"

He sat down, and Pikachu jumped into his lap.

"I guess I just feel like I don't feel the difference between being a boy and being a girl?" he asked. "At least, it's… there, but it's not this big thing. It's not a big thing for Pokémon, most of the time. And sometimes I don't really feel like either, but sometimes I feel like one of them a bit more. Or the other."

He shrugged. "And the way I am, it… works? I don't have to put in all the effort Jessie or James do when they want to look different, because I'm just… me. Ash Ketchum. But if I grew up too much… I might stop being all of me, because being a man would be really different."

"Kaaa," Pikachu said, nuzzling into Ash's side.

"Yeah," Ash agreed, patting his closest friend. "Maybe that's not how it works, but I talked to Professor Oak about it, because he's really smart, and then there was that time Team Rocket took me prisoner and we talked about it for an hour while Pikachu nibbled through the ropes… anyway, I just take these pills. It's part of breakfast now, I don't even think about it much."

He shrugged. "So… I guess that's it? Nobody's ever really asked about it in the last eight years."

"I guess everybody else either already knew or guessed, or never noticed," Brock said, before groaning. "And now I think about it, I really should have noticed when I met you in the last few years."

"Maybe this is the first time you've met me without a pretty girl nearby to focus on?" Ash asked.

"Hey!" Brock protested, then groaned as Pikachu giggled. "But… Ash, should I call you something else?"

"Huh?" Ash asked, then shook his head. "No, I know about that stuff, but I'm Ash, and it's okay to say he. That's something I'm comfortable with, and it'd be…"

He shrugged. "It'd be kind of silly to not use he if it made me less comfortable, right?"

 

Notes:

Well, it's one explanation.

Ash isn't going into all the details, like who the actual doctor was. Among other reasons, it's not strictly relevant.

Chapter 20: Warped Pokemon World (crossover)

Arceus stirred, and his ring flashed golden.

"Report," he said, in a tone of brass and gold, and his eldest three children – Dialga, Palkia and Giratina – materialized in front of him.

"What happened?" Arceus added. "I felt something happen."

"The outside galaxy has touched us," Palkia said. "We knew the veil was weakening, but this has formed a second connection to the outside galaxy this century."

She looked at Giratina, who took up the thread.

"The veil was a long-term solution, but it was never going to last forever," he said. "We are going to have to prepare for when it tears for good, and that will happen – soon."

"Then prepare we shall," Arceus decided.

His ring glowed as he reached out into the pocket of time, space and dimensions around the world he had claimed, and felt the currents of emotion and existence.

It was… good.

Arceus had not truly touched the world he had created and nurtured in such a deep way, not for over a thousand years… not even in the greatest crisis before now… and he wondered when he had come to lose the habit. But now… now, the world was a shining beacon of glory in the vastness of space around it.

A testament to what could be done by cooperation. Everyone on the planet below and around him lived in a Pokémon World, one built out of a recognition that those who worked together were far stronger than those who did not.

There were battles, but they were for fun, and everyone understood that. Humans worked with Pokémon, Pokémon worked with humans. That was as it should be.

A child of ten could go out into the woods by themselves, and make friends with any human or Pokémon they found there, and the friendship could last a lifetime.

The contrast with what he remembered of the galaxy, six thousand years ago, was… breathtaking.

"What a world we have made," he said, turning his perception back to his eldest children. "What a world. I am proud of you all."

He turned his attention back to Palkia. "So. What happened?"

"Some kind of incursion from the ethereal realm," Palkia told him. "Whatever it was, it traced the path from what happened last time."

Arceus looked grim. "Then the Chosen One may-"

"No," Dialga interrupted. "Sorry, Father, but… you don't need to worry. The Chosen One is fine."

"He is?" Arceus asked. "Forgive my confusion, I'm relieved, but… how can that be?"

---

"That's one weird Pokémon," Ash said, scratching his head. "And super aggressive, way more than any Pokémon I've ever met before. What type do you think, Pikachu?"

"Kaa-Pika?" Pikachu suggested, twitching his ears. "Pika-pikachu, chuuu…"

"Dragon?" Ash replied. "I guess it does have those scales and stuff… or it could be Fire-type or something. But my Pokédex doesn't have anything about it."

He checked again, just in case, then shrugged as his Pokédex stubbornly failed to identify the smoking and unconscious creature in front of him. "Maybe I'll ask Professor Oak if he's ever heard of a bloodforthebloodgod. It's a really long name for a Pokémon."

 

Notes:

Formed out of a discussion of how to cross over Pokémon and 40K, and I took it in a silly direction.

The fact that Ash is the missing Primarch of the 2nd Legion is, somehow, not the most disruptive bit of adjustment this did to the setting.

Conceptually, the idea here is that the Pokémon World's general optimism and benevolent setting rules are so strongly ingrained that they actually overcome the 40K 'verse's general ultraviolence and pessimism.

Chapter 21: It's Who You Know (Journeys 02)

"That was so cool!" the other kid said, brushing himself off. "Didn't you think that was so cool?"

He waved his hand. "We rode a legendary Pokémon!"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "It's always special, and there's something extra special about doing it with someone else to share it with!"

"Pika-achuu," Pikachu huffed.

"I meant besides you, Pikachu!" Ash defended himself. "You've always been there, which is great, but showing someone else what a cool new experience it is – that's new!"

"Kaaa-chu," Pikachu decided, conceding the point.

The other kid – Goh, right, he'd introduced himself – stared at Ash.

"Uh," he began. "You're talking like you've done that before?"

His eyes widened. "You've ridden a legendary Pokémon before? How could you even have done that?"

"Well," Ash began, thinking. "The Lugia was to make sure we could bring the treasures to the shrine, but he got shot down and I had to get the rest of the way by Misty pulling me out of the water. That healed him though so it's okay. And, Suicune the first time was to help Celebi, I had someone along with me then… Suicune the second time was to help Paige and Marnie, I guess that's out of order, though… does it count if the Pokémon is pulling something along with me on it? That's probably not riding though…"

Goh's mouth opened and closed a few times.

"What kind of Pokémon trainer are you?" he demanded.

"I'm pretty good!" Ash said, completely missing the thrust of Goh's question. "But, really I guess the main difference between a normal Pokémon and a legendary Pokémon is how famous it is. Right?"

"...um," Goh said, not sure how to take that.

"I mean, how famous they are as individuals," Ash went on. "Which I guess means that Mewtwo isn't a Legendary Pokémon at all, though maybe that's changed after what happened in New Tork City?"

"I've got so many questions," Goh said weakly. "Is this just normal to you?"

"No!" Ash protested, vehemently. "It's not normal at all! It's amazing! And if there's so much amazing stuff in my life, that just means I'm doing something right, right? Talonflame and Snorlax and Nebby and all my Pokémon are just so great to be around!"

After a bit more staring, Goh shook himself out.

"...what's a Mewtwo?" he asked. "If you've met all these Pokémon, maybe you know enough that you could point me to a Mew?"

"Huh?" Ash replied. "Yeah, I guess, I don't know if it's home though. Actually, how far are we from Pewter City?"

"Pikaa?" Pikachu said, shrugging. "Ka-chuu, Pikapi."

"Or Vermillion," Ash amended, then rummaged in his pockets. "Hang on, I know it's somewhere… here we go!"

"Is that a Z-power ring?" Goh asked, now completely overwhelmed. "How do you just… have a Z-power ring?"

"Hey, you're talking to the Alola League Champion!" Ash replied. "I've done the trials, that's how I was able to compete in the first place!"

Goh mumbled something about not watching much TV.

"I sure hope he's got time for us," Ash added, slotting something into his Z-power ring, and did a pose.

A few metres away, a wormhole opened in mid-air, and Goh fell over backwards.

"What?" he asked, with a touch of hysteria, then kept staring as a huge leonine Pokémon flew out, landed, noticed Ash, and flattened the trainer with a combination of glomp and pounce.

"Pika-kaaa-chuu!" Pikachu giggled. "Ka-chuu, pi-pi!"

"Ga-leO!" Nebby agreed, nodding, and licked Ash.

"Hehe, it's great to see you again too, Nebby!" Ash replied. "I know it's been, uh, only a day or so, but thanks for coming so quickly!"

"What kind of Pokémon is that?" Goh asked.

"This is Nebby!" Ash explained. "His mom and dad and the Guardian Deities gave him to me to raise him, and he's a Solgaleo! Now, I mean, after evolving, he was something else before that. Anyway, uh…"

Nebby backed away a bit, to let Ash get up, and Ash straightened.

"So, we met a Lugia!" he told Nebby, who made an appreciative noise. "But, they dropped us off in this field here, so I guess I'm lost again."

Pikachu giggled.

"Aww, come on, Pikachu!" Ash said. "This time it wasn't even really my fault, not properly! So I was asking if we could get a lift, but first a lift to Rota, because I wanted to ask something from one of the Pokémon there!"

He glanced at Pikachu. "You're the one who spent more time with her, right? She seemed lonely?"

"Pii!" Pikachu agreed, nodding emphatically.

"Why does nothing make sense any more?" Goh asked. "How did that Pokémon just appear out of nowhere?"

"He didn't appear out of nowhere, he appeared out of either Alola or Ultra Space!" Ash protested. "Depending on where he was. But I guess you couldn't know that… so, the way it works is, Nebby can go anywhere! But I've got his Solgalium Z which helps him do Ultra Wormholes, and I guessed that if I needed his help I could use it to signal him, and it worked! So that's how that happened!"

Nebby crouched down, and Ash jumped on board.

"Come on!" he added. "I've got someone I bet you'll want to meet!"

---

"There you are, Goh!" Chloe said. "What happened to you? You missed the opening ceremony!"

She held out a folder. "I've got your worksheets, though. So… hey, Goh? Earth to Goh! What's gotten into you?"

"I," Goh began. "Have had. A day."

He looked down at the ball in his hand. "And I got my first Pokémon, too."

"Oh, wow!" Chloe said. "I guess that's a big deal, so I can understand why you missed the ceremony… what Pokémon did you get, anyway? I want to see it!"

Goh held out the Pokéball, and a Dunsparce appeared.

"Oh, those are supposed to be pretty rare," Chloe said.

The Dunsparce giggled, then reverted to her base form.

Chloe stared.

"Uh," she began. "Isn't that…?"

"Yeah," Goh agreed. "Ash said Pikachu said she wanted friends, so I guess my plan to catch lots of Pokémon is exactly what she was after…"

"...Ash?" Chloe repeated. "You met Ash Ketchum? I guess that explains everything then."

 

Notes:

It seems like a match made in Rota to me.

Chapter 22: Preferences

"So, um," Uxie began.

Arceus looked up, raising His divine gaze to the Incarnate of Knowledge.

"You have a question, Uxie?" He said. "I wish to understand what it is that you do not automatically know."

"I know many things, but not everything, Creator of All that Is," Uxie said. "But I actually had a question relating to… well, them."

She waved her hand, vaguely.

"I think you're making too many of them," she said. "They all seem a bit… similar."

Arceus looked at the Pokémon around him, none of whom had shown a care for what Uxie was saying.

There were two Raichu, one of them the Alolan variant, caring between them for a young Pikachu and a baby Pichu. The Pikachu was a female, with a curved notch on her tail that made that obvious, while the Pichu was fizzing slightly with electricity as he yawned in his sleep.

There were a Plusle and Minun, playing a patty-cake game at high speed with their cheeks and tails buzzing as they egged one another on, chanting about electromagnetism.

Next to them was a Pachirisu, all his attention on the large Nutpea Berry he was eating as he balanced on his tail.

An Emolga took off from the top point of the Creator's golden ring, circling around, and He used His Sky Plate to generate a little waft of air. That carried the Sky Squirrel back up to her launching point, and she alighted with a giggle before stepping back to take another run-up.

Curled up next to one of His hooves, a Dedenne made a buzzing sound as she flicked her whiskers, then her Togedemaru friend rolled over and offered his tail. The Dedenne took it, and giggled as a flow of Togedemaru's electrical energy charged her up, then she clapped her paws and bounced in place.

Togedemaru did a twirl, then rolled off, and Dedenne chased with another giggle. They went past Mimikyu, who sighed, then the Alolan Raichu floated over to pick Mimikyu up and bring them over to where the Pikachu and the Pichu were drowsing.

There was a crackle, and Morpeko ate a toasted seed, then reached for another one. There weren't any left, and he gasped, beginning to turn purple… until a flash of golden light filled the air in front of him, and a whole new pile of Berry seeds dropped in front of him.

Cooing, Morpeko nibbled on another seed, and his coat shaded back to yellow. As he did, Pawmo and Pawmot struck martial arts poses, then looked down at Pawmi as the little one of the family tried to duplicate the pose.

Arceus nodded slightly, satisfied, then turned His gaze back to Uxie.

"Elaborate," He requested.

 

Notes:

It would explain a few things.

Chapter 23: Demi (Journeys)

"That was pretty fun, huh?" Ash asked, as they arrived back at the Cerise Laboratory. "We got some great new Pokémon, and we got to help with science, too!"

"I'm not… entirely sure you can call that science," Goh replied, looking at the Pokéball with his Arctozolt inside it. "It's certainly something, though."

"Huh?" Ash asked. "Why wouldn't it be science?"

"Well, I'm not saying it's not science," Goh explained. "I'm just… not sure that it is science, either. It seemed like they were sort of guessing."

"Pika-kachuuu, chu," Pikachu volunteered.

"I have no idea what he just said," Chloe admitted. "Do either of you have an idea?"

Goh shook his head.

"He's excited about the new teammate!" Ash explained. "No matter where Dracovish came from, that's the important thing, right?"

"I guess that's a good point," Goh admitted. "You sure have a strong bond with your Pokémon, Ash. Is that why you don't have so many?"

"Uh… I guess a bit," Ash replied. "But it's not something you have to do. You can have a strong bond with some Pokémon and a weak bond with others, right? And that's okay so long as they're happy."

"I just hope Eevee is happy," Chloe said, then Eevee jumped up and gave her a hug that nearly knocked her over. "Oh! Well, thank you, Eevee!"

"Vee-ee-vee!" the Normal-type declared, hugging her.

"Oh, good!" Chloe's father said, opening the door to the lab. "Did it go well?"

"Yes!" Chloe agreed. "We watched some fossil Pokémon get revived, and then Ash and Goh got on really well with them, so they caught them!"

"That's always a good help," Professor Cerise smiled. "To the fossil Pokémon especially, I mean – to have a whole team to help them get used to their new environment. And how did you get on with Eevee?"

He glanced down slightly. "I see she's certainly getting on well with you."

"Yes," Chloe confirmed. "I… think it's working out just fine so far? But I don't want to assume."

"Vee!" Eevee said brightly.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it went well," Professor Cerise said. "Though – Ash, there's a visitor here to speak to you."

"Huh," Ash frowned. "I wonder what that's about…"

He touched the Pokéballs on his belt. "Lucario, Dragonite, you two had better be ready to back up Pikachu if this turns out to be a World Coronation Series battle!"

"It is not," Ash's Rotom Phone denied. "If it was, I would know."

---

Ash entered the lobby, then blinked. "Huh?"

"Ash!" the girl replied, with a smile. "At last!"

"At last?" Ash repeated, confused. "I wasn't gone that long, was I?"

"It's the first time in years you've slowed down long enough that I could know where you were!" the girl answered.

"Who's that, Ash?" Chloe asked, coming in the door behind him. "Someone you know?"

"I met her once in Alto Mare," Ash explained. "She's called… Bianca, I think? It's confusing because I met a different Bianca in Unova."

Bianca giggled. "Close! But, no, not quite right."

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, then giggled. "Pika-ka-chuu, Pikapi!"

Dragonite emerged from her Pokéball with a flash. "Niiite!"

"Hi!" Bianca waved to the Dragon-type, then dissolved in a flash of blue light.

Instead, Latias hovered there.

"...oh, right!" Ash realized. "I forgot that Latias and Latios could do that! The last time I saw a Latias, and the last two times I saw a Latios, they only went invisible. They didn't do that… though, I don't think you could talk, before, either."

"It took me a long time to learn!" Latias said, proudly. "Even after I met another Latias and another Latios to be guardians of Altomare, it took ages for Bianca to teach me to speak! But when Latias and Latios got back from helping you out with Hoopa, I knew I had to find you again."

Pikachu giggled. "Ka-chuuu!"

"All right, all right, it was hard," Latias said.

"...there's a Legendary Pokémon who went looking for you?" Goh asked. "...why couldn't that happen with me and Mew?"

"Goh!" Chloe chastised.

"Sorry," Goh replied. "But still!"

"Uh… I was in Alola for a while?" Ash asked.

Latias drooped slightly. "I don't know where Alola is," she replied. "And if I tried using a map to fly there, I might miss. I'm much better at following road signs."

"Pika-chuu," Pikachu said. "Chuu-ka-chu."

"Really?" Latias asked. "He gets lost too?"

"I'm not that bad," Ash defended himself. "But, yeah, it happens sometimes."

He scratched his head. "So, uh… is something up? It sounds like you've wanted to find me for ages, so I guess it's not urgent…"

"Of course there is!" Latias replied. "Ash, I want to join your team! I want to go with you wherever you go, because – because you're a great person. And you helped me out. And apparently you're kind of good at Pokémon training as well."

She touched her claws together. "And, um… also because I watched your Pokémon League battles in Sinnoh, and found out then that Legendary Pokémon being part of a trainer's team is an option..? Otherwise I'd have come with you back then."

"Huh," Ash said. "I guess that makes sense!"

Then Dragonite hugged Latias, and the psychic-type made a sort of startled squeak noise.

"And I guess Dragonite likes you, too!" Ash added. "So that's great!"

---

"All right, so, I know you've got to have more reason than that," Pikachu said, that afternoon. "So, what's up?"

Latias looked at Pikachu, then at where Lucario was doing his very best to kick Dracovish extremely hard and Dracovish was spending most of his time happily headbutting the kicks and not much caring about them.

"Why do I have to?" she asked.

"Ash might have forgotten, but I haven't," Pikachu replied. "So, come on. Was that a crush, or is it still a thing?"

"Going to come right out with it, huh?" Latias said. "Well… it's kind of both?"

She shook her head. "Ash was… amazing. And he still is. As a Pokémon trainer, he's only gotten better, I've been watching that. As a person, well, he's still saving the day, right?"

"We helped save Galar just two weeks ago!" Dragonite said. "So yes!"

"All right, I'll give you that," Pikachu decided. "So, yes, Ash is an amazing person. We all know that. But that's not the answer to my question."

Latias looked off into the distance, at where Ash was explaining to Dragovish how to use Water Gun to physically push someone away.

"I kind of feel sorry for Lucario today," Pikachu added. "But, come on. So?"

"So… what does it mean?" Latias asked. "I like him. I still like him. I want to go wherever he does, and help him achieve his dreams."

She waved her clawed hand. "And, yes, I'd like him to think the same way about me. But is that a crush? Or is it a close friendship? Or something else."

That question seemed to deeply perplex Dragonite, who frowned and began scratching her head.

"You did kiss him," Pikachu pointed out. "Normally that's something that people put meaning on, right?"

"Well… yes," Latias agreed. "But, I'm not going to tell him that… it feels like it would make it so awkward, if he didn't feel-"

"Okay, no," Pikachu interrupted. "Don't make a rule like that. Not with my trainer."

He shook his head firmly. "If you're not sure, that's fine. Wait. See how it works out. If you don't know what you think, that's okay. If you don't work up the courage to say so… I'm not going to judge you. But I've known Ash since I saw him in a pair of pyjamas on his first day as a Pokémon trainer, so listen carefully."

Pikachu put his hands on his hips. "Ash. Is. A. Doofus."

"...bit harsh, isn't it?" Farfetch'd asked, from where he was lounging with his head on his leek.

"No, seriously, in this context it applies," Pikachu responded. "Take it from me, a certified Ash expert. Doofus is the word."

He pointed at Latias. "Don't ever wait for him to be the one to approach you about this. Don't give him subtle signals. If you actually want to ask if this is serious, tell him, and let him think about it. Otherwise he's just going to be vaguely confused about it… and if it doesn't work out okay, who cares? At worst it's going to be a bit embarrassing, but Ash isn't going to let that affect anything."

"I guess that makes sense," Latias admitted.

"Got it!" Dragonite said. "It's a crush if you hug someone too hard!"

"...actually, that kind of works," Pikachu admitted. "Doesn't that mean you have a crush on everyone, though?"

"I've got a big heart!" Dragonite announced proudly.

 

Notes:

I decided that I wanted to write some Journeys content with Latias.

Chapter 24: Post MPM Dayjob (post-Journeys)

"Huh, that's… weird," Ash said. "I wonder where we are?"

"You wonder where we are," Pikachu replied. "I suppose that's on form for you, Ash."

"Hey, that's cool!" Ash realized. "Pikachu, I can understand you better now!"

He frowned. "Also, uh… hey!"

Pikachu stuck his tongue out.

"But, seriously, this is kind of weird, right?" Ash asked. "We just… ended up on a beach."

"Yeah, true," Pikachu agreed. "I can remember something like this happening a few times, but the combination of things is new… I wonder where the others are."

"Yeah!" Ash said. "If the others ended up lost all over this place, we'll need to find them! And then we'll need to find out how to get back home!"

He shrugged. "Or, at least, be able to send messages back home. Or maybe we are home, just in the past. Or the future! One of the two, possibly both. But it's more important to find out how to get home if the others aren't here, because they might be getting worried."

Ash took a step, and fell over.

"Oof," he said, rolling over onto his back and spitting out sand. "I didn't expect that to happen."

"That's because you're not used to walking on four legs, Ash," Pikachu told him. "You're going to have to get used to it now."

"How is that possible?" someone asked.

Ash and Pikachu both looked over, and after an embarrassed noise an Eevee came out from behind a rock.

"Sorry," she said. "I was… just passing by, but… um. How exactly can a Shinx not be used to walking on four legs?"

"Oh, I wasn't always a Shinx," Ash replied, rolling back upright. "In fact, I used to be a human until, uh, maybe five minutes ago? Maybe less? I don't remember the change though, I was just suddenly a Shinx."

"Humans aren't real, right?" the Eevee said. "I don't think they're real…"

"Maybe not here," Ash replied. "Uh. Maybe this is before humans showed up wherever here is, if Celebi or Dialga sent us back in time. Or maybe this is somewhere where humans don't exist, and any human coming here gets turned into a Pokémon by magic!"

He inspected himself. "I guess I'd have expected to be a Pikachu if it was magic, though, that's more like what I'd expect. Anyway, if you're local, do they have gyms here?"

"...what's a gym?" the Eevee asked.

Ash looked suddenly crestfallen.

"There aren't any gyms here?" he asked. "What about… totem trials? Challenges? Are there Battle Facilities?"

"There's Crossroad Town?" the Eevee told them, now confused. "What are all those things you're talking about?"

"They're the best!" Ash said. "A gym is where a trainer and their Pokémon challenge the Gym Leader, as a kind of test of how good the trainer and Pokémon combination is at battling at the right skill level! It's a great way to push yourself and your team to grow further, past where they were before, and if you get eight badges from a region you get to take part in the Pokémon League – and beating that means you get to face the Elite Four, and then the Champion. I'm the Alola Champion, and Pikachu was with me when I became the World Monarch!"

He sniggered. "I bet Dragonite would love to give me a hug now, right? I'm smaller which means it's a different kind of hug. And she loves giving everyone hugs."

"That's true," Pikachu agreed. "She would."

Eevee looked completely lost.

"I understood only some of the words of that explanation," she told them. "What's a trainer? What's a gym leader? What's a world monarch? A Champion? Is Alola a place or a thing? What's an Elite Four?"

"You don't even know what a trainer is?" Ash asked, then slapped his forehead with a paw. "Oh. Duh! No humans means no Pokémon trainers!"

"And it means you'll need to train yourself, Ash," Pikachu said. "Unless we take turns being the trainer or something."

"Yeah, that's a good idea!" Ash decided. "We both know that a trainer – Pokémon bond is super important!"

He got a contemplative look. "Hey, Eevee, are there any old stories about… Solgaleo, Lunala, Buzzwole, Kartana… Necrozma… I guess Hoopa… what are the other Ultra Beasts, those too…"

"I don't even know what most of those Pokémon are," Eevee admitted. "I've heard of Hoopa in a story though?"

"There we go!" Ash decided. "That's how we can find out how to get home, or call everyone through to join us depending on what we decide!"

---

"Parent, is there a reason why you did it that way?" Giratina asked, looking up from the World-of-Pokemon. "You have called upon chosen humans to become Pokémon before, but always you took their memories to avoid causing them distress."

Arceus looked back at Giratina.

"When my sibling said that this Chosen One of theirs could help, I looked upon the world line of fate for Ash Ketchum," they replied. "Backwards and forwards, and in great detail. And I decided that there wasn't really much point. He's going to sort everything out anyway."

Giratina considered.

"Fair enough," they said. "He does seem to be fitting in well."

"You would not believe the things I've seen," Arceus confessed. "This might actually be a vacation for him."

---

Notes:

Gee, Ash, how come you get two Partner Pokémon?

An "original" PMD setting concept.

Chapter 25: Post MPM Dayjob part 2

"Those Pokémon were so cool!" a Deerling said, staring after the Incineroar and Lycanroc who'd just left Crossroad Town.

"They're a high ranking Rescue Team," the Gimmighoul at the bank said, leaning back and resting his elbow on the side wall of his chest. "That's what high ranking Rescue Teams are like."

"What's a Rescue Team?" Ash asked. "Pikachu, have you ever heard of those?"

"I turned up here the same as you, Ash," Pikachu pointed out.

Ash shrugged, unconcerned. "Yeah, but I thought maybe you'd heard of them before we ended up here. It's so cool being able to ask you questions and understand them properly now, huh?"

"That is true," Pikachu agreed. "We did pretty well for ourselves, but it's nice to not have to try."

Eevee was looking between the two of them in shock.

"You can't mean neither of you have even heard of a Rescue Team, right?" she asked, in a strangled voice. "Next you'll be saying you don't know what a Mystery Dungeon is!"

Ash sat back on his haunches.

"Uh…" he began, thinking hard. "A place where it's easy to get lost?"

"You really are from somewhere completely different, aren't you?" Eevee asked, shaking her head. "A Mystery Dungeon is, well… actually I suppose it is somewhere it's easy to get lost, but that's not the only thing about it. Mystery Dungeons are places which are… strange. They're different every time a Pokémon enters it, and most of the Pokémon they meet there are – hostile. Ready for a battle at any time, and they can't be talked out of it."

"That sounds like a great place to train, huh, Pikachu?" Ash asked, glancing at his partner.

"Yeah!" Pikachu agreed. "You've got a lot of catching up to do, Ash!"

Eevee blinked a few times.

"That's… not the reaction I was expecting, but I forgot about what you said about gyms and trainers and so on," she admitted. "But, what I was saying… right, Rescue Teams. Rescue Teams are teams of Pokémon who go into Mystery Dungeons to help – well, rescue Pokémon who are stuck in there! Or bring them things, or, well, just generally make sure everything's safe."

She waved towards the building in the middle of town. "Actually, because Crossroads Town is where it is, a lot of the businesses here in town are about supporting Rescue Teams or making sure it's safe for people to travel…"

Ash looked at Pikachu, and Pikachu looked back.

"I know what you're thinking, and I agree," Pikachu declared.

"All right!" Ash said. "How do we form a Rescue Team?"

"What?" Eevee asked, boggling slightly. "You didn't know about them a minute ago and now you want to become one? You don't know anything about the world – Ash, you keep tripping over when you think about how to walk!"

"Hey, I'm getting better," Ash protested, demonstrating, and tripped over when he thought about how to walk.

Pikachu sniggered.

"There's no way this can end well," Eevee said. "Pikachu, you seem like the more sensible one, right? Can you get him to think again?"

"I might be able to, but I'm not going to," Pikachu replied, as Ash picked himself up and shook himself out. "Because I've been Ash's best friend for years, and I've seen what he's like. I've seen how he does things, and he's a great trainer, but that's not what he's best at."

"It's not?" Ash asked. "Really?"

Pikachu sniggered.

"Ash, we won the Masters Eight after going through several regions," he said. "But we were helping humans and Pokémon out before we'd finished collecting our first set of gym badges, and I actually can't count exactly how many times we saved the world. And I know that I was there – but you're the one who actually did so much of it. What you're best at is helping people."

Ash looked touched.

"...thanks, Pikachu," he said, smiling. "It's great to hear that."

"And that is why I'm not going to stop Ash," Pikachu resumed, turning back to Eevee. "Because he'd end up doing the same thing anyway. And I'm going to be behind him all the way."

He shrugged. "Besides, we're looking for Hoopa, right? Can you honestly tell me that it's not going to be easier for a Rescue Team to do that?"

"It's going to be almost impossible, but…" Eevee said, then stopped, torn.

Frowned.

"I guess if you're that confident," she said. "But you're really going to need someone along who actually knows how things work here! So count me in!"

"Great!" Ash beamed. "Though, uh… have you ever heard of Contests?"

Eevee tilted her head, her ears flicking in confusion.

"I guess not," Ash decided. "I was wondering, half the time the girls I'm travelling with end up being into that kind of thing…"

Notes:

A part 2 to that PMD original concept.

Chapter 26: Boons and Companions (Journeys alternate)

"A research assistant?" Ash repeated. "So… you mean I'd get to help doing science?"

"That's… a way of thinking about it," Professor Cerise replied. "Really it's more like… what I'd like for you two to do is to meet Pokémon, and document it properly!"

He frowned. "I asked Professor Oak about it, Ash, and he muttered something about how you never use your Pokédex on the really rare ones?"

"Oh, huh?" Ash said, frowning. "I guess I must just get way too excited! It's amazing to meet such cool Pokémon, right?"

"Pika Pikachuuu!" Pikachu giggled.

"Hey, I don't mean you're not cool, Pikachu!" Ash protested. "But, you know? It would have felt really kind of wrong to just pull out my Pokédex and scan Lugia while he was giving us a ride, and after that…"

"He?" Professor Cerise asked. "You sound very confident about that."

"Yeah, he!" Ash agreed. "He wasn't as big as the one from the Orange Islands, but he reminded me more of Silver than Silver's mom. Silver was a lot smaller, though, right Pikachu?"

Pikachu nodded. "Ka-chuu, Pikapi… chuuu?"

"...you what," Goh said, staring. "That sounds like… hold on. If you knew… then that must mean you'd met at least three Lugia before we met that one?"

"Yeah, that's right," Ash agreed. "I met the biggest one first, then Silver's mom and Silver at the same time so they must be three different ones, unless Lugia get smaller when they age…"

"Please become a research assistant," Professor Cerise said. "I want to see the kind of things you encounter on a day-to-day basis."

"Won't that be hard?" Ash asked, frowning. "It feels like, uh…"

He scratched his head. "It feels like that would mean I'd have to get better at something that I'm not good at, right? And that's no good."

"Chuuu," Pikachu giggled.

"Hey!" Ash protested. "I try my best!"

"Ka-chuuu," Pikachu said, patting Ash on the head and flicking his tail.

Ash folded his arms and pouted.

"...so, does that mean you're making Ash your expert in rare Pokémon?" Goh asked, stifling a giggle. "Because, uh, it sounds like he's going to be your expert in them anyway."

"That sounds like a good idea," Professor Cerise admitted. "So, what about it, Ash?"

"I still don't really know how it would work," Ash apologized. "So… how would it work?"

"Oh, that's actually the genius of it!" the Professor explained. "If you have such trouble remembering to scan Pokémon with your Pokédex, I was hoping that you two would accept these!"

He put down a pair of phones on the desk.

"These are Rotom Phones," Professor Cerise said. "Currently without Rotom, but two of my Rotom have said they're interested in helping out. I assume."

"You assume?" Chloe asked. "Did you ask them?"

"They made very excited noises and nodded a lot," Professor Cerise explained. "I couldn't get a verbal answer because they weren't in the phones. So, Ash, if you were to take up my offer, Rotom would help out and remind you to scan the Pokémon you meet! Or just do it themselves."

He coughed. "And Goh would help remind you as well, I'm sure."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Ash said. "What do you think, Goh? We could see what kind of things people can learn about all the cool Pokémon we meet!"

"I hope we meet a Mew," Goh said. "In fact, that's the Pokémon I want for my starter Pokémon!"

"Really?" Ash asked. "How would you tell?"

Goh looked mildly confused.

"Mew can change shape, right?" Ash said. "So, uh… any Pokémon could be a Mew. You just don't know!"

He picked up one of the Rotom Phones, and it flashed gold.

"Whoa!" Chloe gasped, throwing up her hand, then stared.

The phone looked… different now. It had a white body and four golden bits around the side, and Ash looked at it in confusion for a moment before one of the Rotom came skidding through the air and went diving into it.

"Dibs!" the Ghost-type announced. "Ooh, there's some weird functionality in here, I don't know how to use any of it!"

"What's a functionality?" Ash said, confused. "Is that like when someone's from Kalos instead of Kanto?"

He turned the phone around. "This actually reminds me of Arceus. A bit, anyway."

"Pika-chuu!" Pikachu nodded, making a pose. "Chuu-kachuu!"

Professor Cerise looked in surprise.

"That's a very strange Pokémon shape you're making, Pikachu," he said. "Ash, do you mean to say you know what Arceus looks like?"

"Yeah, we met a couple of times," Ash replied, shrugging. "I guess maybe it's two times, three times or four times, depending on how you count a time that didn't happen and a time in the distant past…"

"I have located a text file," Rotom says. "It states: For all that you have done for me, this is a gift. Others may have them as well."

"That's weird," Goh said. "You didn't put that on, did you, Professor Cerise?"

"Not me," the Professor replied. "Well, I wanted to discover new things and have mysteries to deal with…"

The other Rotom buzzed, then dropped into the phone which was presumably going to be Goh's.

"Well, I've got the normal apps and stuff on here," it declared. "What about you?"

"I said!" Ash's one replied. "Some weird apps I don't know how to use. But yeah, normal stuff too…"

"Well, that's… something," Professor Cerise decided. "But… I should ask, Goh. Are you going to get a starter Pokémon?"

"Yeah, I said!" Goh replied. "I said I was going to have Mew as my starter Pokémon, and I meant it!"

"...how?" Ash asked.

Goh looked at him.

"How do you think?" he replied.

Ash waved his hands. "I just mean that a lot of Pokémon, you meet them and then they're only interested in coming with you because they see how strong your bond is with your Pokémon! Or sometimes if you prove you're a good enough trainer by battling them. Things like that! And I get the idea that you wouldn't be okay with the choice of starter Pokémon, that's fine…"

He shrugged. "I guess it's just kind of… you shouldn't ignore the Pokémon who are there, unless you're okay chasing a dream."

Goh frowned, thinking about it, then shook his head.

"I get what you mean, but… I want to give it a try, first," he said. "Now I'm a research assistant, especially now that I'm alongside you, Ash, I'm sure I'll be okay!"

"Got it!" Ash decided. "Though, uh… how does being a research assistant work, anyway?"

"I'm sure we'll find things for you to do," Professor Cerise said, with a chuckle. "Though it would be more difficult if you had to commute here from Pallet Town, Ash – and, Goh, I'm extending you the same offer. We've got more than enough space."

"That would be neat," Ash said, half to himself. "It's kind of like when I was in Alola, but without the school!"

---

Some days later, Ash grinned.

"See?" he asked Goh, as his friend gave Scorbunny a high-five after a second successful practice Double Kick. "Sometimes, you just meet a Pokémon, and you know they're the best one for you, right? And when you train together, it clicks just right!"

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, then blasted Ash with electricity.

"Scor?" Scorbunny demanded, looking very confused.

"Ash?" Goh asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Ash replied, coughing. "Pikachu was just reminding me that that's not how it really worked out for the two of us… though we did get on pretty soon, right?"

Pikachu nodded. "Chuu!" he said, rubbing against Ash's cheek with a grin.

"Well, let's-" Ash began, turning to head on towards Vermillion Forest, then bumped into something in mid-air. The impact with something invisible made him fall over backwards, and he looked with some confusion at thin air.

It squeaked. At length.

"Huh?" Ash asked. "Pikachu, do you know what's going on? This seems kind of familiar…"

"Oh, so that is what's going on!" Ash's Rotom-Phone said. "That explains it."

"What explains what?" Goh asked. "What's going on?"

He glanced at Scorbunny, who just kind of shrugged – he didn't know either.

"You ran into a Pokémon," Rotom said. "To summarize what she said, she is saying that the Creator of All finally checked on exactly how many of the most important Pokémon you had helped out over the course of your journeys."

The little electronic Pokémon buzzed. "It is a lot. Consequently the Creator of All stated that those Pokémon who were willing should give the Chosen One some kind of boon."

Ash frowned.

"A boon?" he asked. "Is that like a small balloon?"

Goh did his best not to laugh. He really did.

"It's not a small balloon, Ash," he said. "I don't know what it is, but I do know it's not that."

"A boon is a gift," Rotom explained. "I assume that the phone upgrade is one of those gifts! However, the Pokémon you have run into has her own idea about what would be a suitable boon."

Latias decloaked in front of Ash.

"Oh, hi!" Ash waved. "It's been a while, huh… how have you been doing?"

"Pika-kachuuu," Pikachu said. "Kachuu, Pikapi."

Latias squeaked.

"That's a Latias, isn't it?" Goh asked, amazed. "I guess I should have known it would be a Legendary Pokémon, but… what kind of gift would Latias have for you?"

Latias squeaked again.

"Latias," Rotom told them.

"...huh?" Ash asked.

Pikachu giggled.

Then Latias dropped a Pokéball in front of Ash, and pointed at it.

"The Pokémon is Latias, and she is also the boon," Rotom explained. "Apparently she is very grateful to you for saving her life."

Ash grinned. "That's really neat!" he said. "What about if we do a battle first? That way, Pikachu and I can feel out how good you are at battling now!"

Latias nodded eagerly, and as Ash hurried to the other side of the clearing Goh exchanged a look with Scorbunny.

"I know I set out to have Mew as a starter Pokémon, but Ash's life is weird," he said.

"Bun-y," Scorbunny agreed, nodding.

---

"These are pretty cool," Goh said, leaning over the side of the dock. "Tentacool, right?"

"Right!" Ash agreed. "Though, uh, I don't see any Tentacruel. Can you see any, Pikachu?"

"Pika-kachuuu," Pikachu replied, shaking his head, and gestured along the shoreline.

"Yeah, I guess so," Ash agreed, then frowned. "Hey, now I think about it… we've been working on Aerial Ace, but this might be a great time to test out something else. Right, Latias?"

Latias materialized out of her Pokéball, and several of the Tentacool looked surprised.

Scorbunny giggled.

"Ka-chuu?" Pikachu asked.

"Ias?" Latias shrugged.

"Huh?" Ash replied. "Oh, right, yeah! So this idea I had was because we're by the side of the sea… and when I met Latias before, there was this high speed race through Altomare going on. She helped out, but it… kinda didn't work."

Latias made an embarrassed squeaking noise, and Ash scratched the back of his neck in an awkward kind of way… then shrugged. "Anyway, what I was thinking was, we could try that now! Or as soon as we get hold of a rope, so Latias can tow me along!"

Goh blinked.

"Wouldn't you need something so you can stand on the water?" he asked. "Some water skis, or something?"

"Yeah, something like that!" Ash agreed. "You never know until we try!"

"At least hold on until I get a chance to try and catch a Tentacool," Goh shrugged.

---

Goh did, indeed, catch a Tentacool, but by the time Ash was back with a set of waterskis and a rope something else was going on. An exhausted Piplup swam into shore, then collapsed, and one thing led to another as bringing the Piplup back to Cerise Labs led to a phone call from Piplup's trainer, then led from there to taking the Water-type back to his trainer, up in Snowpoint City in the north of Sinnoh.

And from there, things got even more confusing.

---

"So… okay, I think I get what's going on," Goh summarized, pacing in front of Piplup's trainer, Lauren. "Your Piplup and Croagunk are rivals, so that's why Piplup swam from here to Kanto – to try and compete with Croagunk."

He pointed. "And Piplup wants to take part in the local iceberg race, against Croagunk. That seems kind of cool, actually, I should enter with one of my Pokémon!"

"Scooor?" Scorbunny asked, looking at his paws, and making one of them light on fire. "Bun."

"No, not you, Scorbunny," Goh said. "But, uh… what I don't really know is if this is going to make it so that Piplup and Croagunk get on better."

Both Pokémon made a noise at the same time, objecting to what Goh had just said, and Ash frowned.

"You don't want to get along?" he asked. "That's kind of sad, isn't it?"

He shrugged. "Well, I guess that means there's only one way to make sure this argument doesn't get out of control!"

"There is?" Lauren asked.

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "Pikachu, you're going to have to win the iceberg race! That way Piplup and Croagunk won't have a victory to lord over one another!"

"Chuu!" Pikachu declared, grinning.

Goh blinked.

"Uh," he said. "I was actually expecting you to use Latias?"

"It's an iceberg race," Ash pointed out. "And Latias is a Dragon-type. I don't want to put her through something like that until we both know she's ready for it."

"Sorry, but… did you say Latias?" Lauren asked. "I've heard of a trainer with a Latios, but I don't think that's you."

"Yeah, Latias is new," Ash explained, shrugging. "I guess it might be good for her to watch, though… Pikachu, you up for it?"

"Pika-chuu, Pikapi!" Pikachu chided. "Ka!"

Ash grinned, then caught sight of something in the crowd. "Huh?"

"What is it?" Goh asked.

"Over there," Ash explained, pointing.

"I don't see anything," Goh frowned. "Unless you mean that trainer with a Marill is unusual?"

"Pika, pikapi," Pikachu advised, quietly, and Ash reached up to his shoulder to touch Pikachu.

Because Pikachu was right – he'd caught sight of the shape more clearly, and it was a familiar wispy shape. Blue, transparent, with a triangular head and two long tails.

It floated forwards, touching Ash on the forehead, then dissolved like mist.

"...huh," Ash said. "I wonder what that was about?"

"I have an idea!" Ash's Rotom Phone said, and he pulled the white-and-spiked-gold phone out of his pocket. "I just got an email. It says it is from Azelf."

"Azelf?" Goh repeated. "That's a Legendary Pokémon!"

He waved his hand. "I mean, uh. A more legendary Pokémon than Latias, maybe? I don't know how that works exactly, but there's only supposed to be one Azelf."

"Yeah, that's probably them," Ash replied. "I've met them before…"

He read off the email on his phone. "Oh, huh! That's neat."

Goh waited.

"...what's neat, Ash?" he asked, after a long pause.

"Azelf said hi," Ash explained. "And said that, uh, because I'd rescued them, my reward was to be recognized as the Apex of Willpower, and that apparently now I can't be mind controlled any more?"

"Pika!" Pikachu said. "Chuu-pikapi!"

"Yeah, I know!" Ash agreed. "That's probably going to be really helpful! It's annoying every time that happens."

Goh looked completely baffled.

"...uh," he said.

"Anyway, let's get everyone entered into that iceberg race!" Ash said.

Goh and Lauren watched Ash go.

"Is he always like that?" Lauren asked.

"Apparently," Goh replied.

---

Ash was back in Vermillion City two days later, still working on training up Latias as his newest Pokémon, and had brought in Unfezant to show off some of what he was after.

"That's right!" he called up. "Latias – that's what you're missing, I guess, it's that twist! You do that so that your opponent doesn't know which way to dodge, and at the same time you know what kind of twist you're doing so you know how to compensate for the dodge!"

"Chuu!" Pikachu agreed, jumping up into the air. "Pika-pika-chuuu!"

"Feee-zant," Unfezant chirped, landing on the nearby railing, and Professor Cerise shook his head.

"It's amazing to see a Legendary Pokémon from such a short distance," he said. "I never thought I'd be able to see something like this."

"Huh?" Ash asked, glancing round. "Why's that? There's Legendary Pokémon everywhere, you just need to look for them. Hey, is Noland still the head of the Battle Factory? He's got an Articuno who's a friend, and Brandon's got lots of Legendary Pokémon."

"Fezz!" Fezant called, and Ash looked back at the two flying Pokémon.

Latias was trying Aerial Ace again, and this time she got the twist right. She scored a glancing blow on Unfezant, and Ash gave her a thumbs-up.

"Great!" he said. "We can work on that a bit more, but that looks good for now, Latias – you're coming on really well!"

Latias made a pleased squeaky noise, then Goh came hurrying up.

"Ash! Professor!" he said. "I just saw this on the news – Ho-Oh was sighted in Johto, in Ecruteak City!"

"Ho-Oh?" Professor Cerise repeated. "That's an interesting Pokémon."

"Yeah, it is!" Ash agreed.

Goh's Scorbunny caught up a few seconds later, panting.

"Bun…" he said. "Scoor!"

"Sorry?" Goh tried.

Scorbunny looked offended, paws on hips, then shrugged. "Bunn."

"You said Ho-Oh was sighted in Ecruteak?" Cerise checked. "Interestingly, all observations of Ho-Oh so far have been in or around Ecruteak."

"No they haven't," Ash replied.

"Pi-kaa!" Pikachu giggled.

Goh blinked.

"...uh oh," he said.

"What do you mean, Ash?" Cerise asked. "I'm fairly sure that's the current state of information around Ho-Oh."

"Well, I saw Ho-Oh on my first day of my journey!" Ash explained. "That was north of Pallet town, between there and Viridian City. Then I saw him – or her, I guess – again, this time at Pallet Town, and flying towards Hoenn… and the third time was when I was around Pewter City, after getting freed from being possessed by the King of Pokeatlantis. And he built this whole big temple place near Pewter City to try and possess Ho-Oh, thousands of years ago, so Ho-Oh must have not lived around Ecruteak then, and they don't just live around Ecruteak now because I've never seen them there!"

Cerise was staring.

So was Goh, for that matter. And Latias.

"...laa-ti?" she squeaked, eventually. "Ti?"

Pikachu nodded, emphatically.

"Chuu-ka-chuu!" he said. "Pikapi, pika-chuu!"

"Hey, it just happens a lot!" Ash protested. "Or it did, 'cause Azelf said it won't work any more."

Professor Cerise stared.

"...Azelf?" he asked.

"I can't believe this, but I think I actually forgot to tell you about how Ash got visited by a Legendary Pokémon up in Sinnoh," Goh admitted. "But I guess only he actually saw Azelf."

He frowned. "He did get an email from them, too."

"So let's go to Ecruteak!" Ash suggested. "That way we can see if Ho-Oh is ever seen around Ecruteak!"

---

Once they got to Ecruteak, Goh tagging along because it was his first chance to visit Johto and catch Pokémon there, Latias let them quickly find out that the Ho-Oh sighting wasn't actually a sighting of a Ho-Oh at all, but was instead a sighting of a Fearow and Cyndaquil in disguise.

They also found the trainer of both Pokémon, a boy called Chad, and his grandfather, Jaye.

"I'm disappointed in you, Chad," Jaye said. "You know perfectly well that Ho-Oh doesn't exist."

"Ho-Oh does exist," Ash protested. "I mean, uh, that Ho-Oh wasn't really Ho-Oh, but I've seen Ho-Oh before and I know they exist."

"You thought you saw Ho-Oh," Jaye replied. "It's not what really happened."

Ash frowned. "Well, I saw Ho-Oh loads of times! And sure, one time I was a bit confused 'cause I'd recently been in a bike crash and a bit struck by lightning, but the other times that didn't happen, and if Ho-Oh isn't real then why would the King of Pokéatlantis have built that magic orb to put himself in Ho-Oh's body, and how would he have got stuck in it?"

He shrugged. "Brandon said that Ho-Oh attacked Pokéatlantis, and that'd be hard for a Pokémon that doesn't exist to do."

Jaye blinked a few times.

"I don't even know where to begin," he said.

"Uh," Goh began, raising his hand. "Excuse me, Mr? Why do you think Ho-Oh doesn't exist?"

"Ho-Oh is supposed to appear when a rainbow wing is waved at the top of the Bell Tower," Chad contributed, returning his Fearow who was getting a bit too concerned about how he'd been chased by something invisible. "But Gramps has done that and it didn't work… I guess that's why."

"A rainbow wing," Ash repeated. "What's one of those?"

"I read about this," Goh said. "A rainbow wing is an old word for a feather from Ho-Oh's rainbow wings, they got sort of mixed up together."

Ash scratched his head.

"So… how can you know if it was really a Ho-Oh feather?" he asked. "Because if it is a Ho-Oh feather, then obviously it'd work, right?"

"I got that feather when I met Ho-Oh in the past, or thought I did," Jaye replied. "So if Ho-Oh is real, that's one of his feathers. And if Ho-Oh isn't real, then… well, then Ho-Oh isn't real."

He shrugged. "And since the feather didn't work…"

"Hmm," Ash said, thinking. "Maybe it's just that Ho-Oh wasn't around at the time? Because, uh, Legendary Pokémon have a lot of places to be. Right, Latias?"

Latias squeaked.

"Did you just say Latias?" Chad asked, then jumped as Latias materialized. "Whoa! Wait… is that why Fearow was acting so strangely?"

"I guess so," Ash said, mostly thinking about something else.

"Pika-pikaaa, Pikapi?" Pikachu asked. "Ka-chuuu! Chuu!"

He made a gesture with his paws, putting them together over his head and then drawing them down to make the shape of an arc, and Ash considered for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, that could be right!" he agreed. "I think that's what's going on!"

He looked up. "And, uh – is it me, or does it look like it's about to rain? That's great!"

"What does rain have to do with it?" Jaye asked, glancing at his Hoothoot.

"Hoo," the Hoothoot said.

"So Pikachu had a thought," Ash explained. "Because, the first time we saw Ho-Oh, it was after it had rained, and Ho-Oh has a rainbow wing! That doesn't quite work for the other two times we saw Ho-Oh, but one of them was at sunset, so… maybe it's something to do with that? Have you ever tried using the Rainbow Wing when there's a rainbow in the sky? Or at sunset?"

"Why would I bother doing that?" Jaye asked, but there was just a little bit of doubt in his voice.

"Because, I don't know when Ho-Oh is going to be around," Ash said. "But even if they're not around all the time, there's got to be times that are a better chance, right?"

Latias shrugged.

"And Ho-Oh can only show up if they're able to tell you want to see them," Ash went on. "So, if they're nearby, maybe they'd see the Rainbow Wing, but they couldn't otherwise…"

He frowned. "So, uh, maybe we will meet Ho-Oh, or maybe we won't! But it's worth trying, right? We just need to head up there so we're ready for when the rain stops!"

---

Heading up to the top of the Bell Tower was harder than that sounded, because it was full of tricky Pokémon using disorienting illusions to make things harder.

First a Misdreavus, who used Confuse Ray to make the stairs seem soft or turn them into a ramp, then a Stantler who made it seem like they were on the edge of a steep cliff or trapped in a desert.

Fortunately, Goh had a surprisingly effective solution to that, which was just to throw Pokéballs at – and catch – both Pokémon.

"Now I come to think of it, I'm not sure what a Stantler was doing in a tower anyway," Chad said, frowning, as Latias finished helping the last of them up a set of rickety stairs.

He looked out, and gasped. "Gramps, look – there's rain just clearing up! There might be a rainbow in a minute!"

Jaye nodded, getting it out.

As the sun began to break through the clouds, a rainbow spread across the sky, and Jaye waved the Rainbow Wing around.

"Look!" Ash said, pointing. "It's glowing!"

"It's not done that before," Jaye admitted. "This might just be working!"

Then there was a thump behind them.

Goh was the first to turn around, reaching for a Pokéball, then got glared at by a very large and very Legendary Pokémon about ten feet away and lifted his hands away from his belt.

"Sorry, habit," he said. "It's my dream to catch every Pokémon, but, uh… I'll shut up now."

Ho-Oh furled their wings, rainbow highlights flashing from every feather as the sun fell on them.

"Wow," Jaye said, softly. "It's… amazing to see you again."

"Hi!" Ash waved.

"Pika-kachuu!" Pikachu agreed, waving. "Pika-pikapi, Pi-ka-ka!"

Latias waved, somewhat nervously. "Tii-as?"

Ho-Oh nodded to her, then opened their wing.

A little bell fell to the floor, and Ho-Oh gestured to it with a foot. "Ooo-uoh."

Pikachu bounded forwards, and picked it up, then brought it back to Ash.

"Oh, right!" Ash realized, glancing at Ho-Oh. "You want me to take it?"

Ho-Oh nodded.

"So it must be, uh… oh, is it because of that thing with the King of Pokéatlantis?" Ash guessed. "That's the only time I can think of where something I did helped you. I don't know if it counts, though."

Ho-Oh nodded again, shrugging their wings slightly.

"Can I have a look?" Ash's Rotom Phone asked, and Ash got the phone out of his pocket. "Processing… yes! That is Ho-Oh!"

"We can see that!" Chad replied. "And… uh, Gramps? I guess, we… should maybe not call Ho-Oh again? Because now I see them, I understand. They're a wild and important Pokémon."

"I'm just glad to see them again," Jaye said.

"I have identified the bell!" Ash's Rotom Phone added. "That is the Clear Bell! It was thought to be a myth. It is supposed to make it so that rain clouds vanish when it is rung."

Ho-Oh said something, and Pikachu nodded.

"Pikaaa, Pikapi!" he said, gesturing. "Ka-chuu!"

"Oh, that's neat!" Ash replied. "Thanks, Ho-Oh! It's great to see you up close, and thanks for visiting Jaye, too!"

Ho-Oh returned Ash's thanks with a dignified nod, then took off with a storm of wind.

As they left, though, Ash was frowning.

"I guess maybe there's some time when I'd want to stop it raining," he said. "But rain can be important for Pokémon, too, so I'll have to be careful about it…"

---

"How did your trip go?" Professor Cerise asked, as Ash and Goh returned to the lab.

"I got two new Pokémon," Goh said. "Stantler and Misdreavus! Though in hindsight I'm not sure if that's what they really are. And we saw Ho-Oh."

He held up his phone, showing the photos. "From about six feet away. And Ash got given a mythical artefact that can make it stop raining."

Professor Cerise looked torn between three different kinds of freak out.

"And I found out what I need to focus on next for Latias!" Ash said. "Being able to go invisible is great, but she can make other kinds of illusions too and working on that is really going to give more options!"

The Professor blinked a few times.

"This is going to happen a lot, isn't it?" he asked.

"Probably," Goh said. "I know, that's about how I feel about it too."

"Maybe I'm just going to point you two at unsolved mysteries and see what happens," Cerise muttered.

---

Professor Cerise got a chance to test out his idea a couple of days later, sending Ash and Goh out to investigate rumours of an island inhabited only by Dragonite.

Somehow he was unsurprised when they returned that evening… by Dragonite. One Dragonite, between the two of them, with Goh on its back and Ash in its arms.

"We found the island where they come from!" Ash explained, as the Dragonite landed and let him go. "And, there was one Dragonair who couldn't work out how to fly, but Latias and Pikachu and I helped teach her how to fly and now she's evolved!"

He patted the Dragon-type. "And she decided she wants to come with me, which is really great!"

"I… actually can't decide if I'm surprised that you're the one who caught the Dragonite," Cerise admitted. "I was expecting it to be-"

Dragonite hugged him.

"She's kind of a hugger, huh?" Ash said, though Professor Cerise didn't need that pointed out to him at the moment. "Yeah, she was that affectionate as a Dragonair, too!"

"Pika-kachuuuu, Pikachu!" Pikachu contributed, and Dragonite let go.

She looked slightly embarrassed, then turned to the boys. "Niii-ite?"

"There's lots of Pokémon here, yeah!" Ash agreed. "But don't forget to ask them first, okay? Sometimes it can be scary – people really think of Dragonite as powerful Pokémon!"

"Niii-dra-gon," Dragonite said, visibly pondering with a claw under her chin, then nodded firmly. "Iii-te!"

"I was going to say," Professor Cerise said, brushing himself off. "Goh, I thought that Dragonite was yours, since you were the one riding her."

"No, I… used up all my Pokéballs earlier in the trip," Goh admitted. "I did get a Dewgong, though."

"Don't forget to ask your Pokémon if they're okay being your Pokémon, remember?" Ash asked. "Sometimes you can make a good guess because they're sticking around, especially if there's a Pokémon battle! I don't think it's a problem with your Dewgong because he stayed around to be hit by all those Pokéballs, and because he came back to help with Team Rocket!"

"That's a very enlightened view, Ash," Professor Cerise said. "So you would say that a Pokémon that runs away is a Pokémon you shouldn't catch?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah, exactly!" he said. "Unless that's the thing they're doing to test if you're a good trainer, that is!"

"There is some bad news, though, Professor," Goh admitted. "I tried working out where the Dragonite Island was, but it was somewhere without GPS coverage."

"...sorry?" Professor Cerise asked. "That should be impossible. GPS satellites are, in the sky."

"They are?" Ash said. "Huh, I guess that makes sense… so… Rotom, did the Dragonites ask you to not tell us where the island is?"

Dragonite tapped her paws together.

"Yes," his Rotom replied. "In addition to the GPS satellites working, I have an entire app designed to prevent people getting lost. But they asked nicely."

"Well, there you go!" Ash said. "Sorry, Professor, I guess they don't want anyone to know where they are!"

Professor Cerise frowned, then shrugged.

"That's a good point," he said. "It's where the Dragonite live."

"Pika-ka-chuu!" Pikachu said.

"And they spend a lot of time rescuing people, too!" Ash agreed. "So I guess we might go back there if Dragonite wants to go home to visit her friends, but apart from that it's best if people don't know where Dragonite island is."

Then Dragonite hugged him again, possibly so she could hug his Rotom as well, and Ash laughed.

"Thanks!" he said. "Hey, I should introduce you to some of my other Pokémon, you've only met Pikachu and Latias so far! Professor, can I use the transfer system? I'm going to need to get a lot of Pokémon to introduce to Dragonite, so it'll take a while…"

"Go ahead, Ash," Professor Cerise told him, then turned his attention to Goh.

"I'm almost surprised you didn't meet Legendaries this time," he admitted, as Ash left the room talking excitedly about Dragonite meeting Gible. "But I did send you specifically after some Dragonite, and it worked…"

"Does that mean you've got an idea where to send us next?" Goh asked.

"Not yet," Professor Cerise replied. "But I'm also starting to wonder if it just wouldn't make a difference… hopefully the next thing you discover is going to be something I can publish, though."

---

"You really want to battle Leon, huh?" Goh asked, a few days later.

"Yeah, if I get a chance," Ash replied. "He had some really cool Pokémon. And he could do that thing where his Pokémon became enormous!"

Pikachu puffed out his chest, then giggled. "Pika-kaa-chuu, Pikapi!"

"I know you did it, too, Pikachu!" Ash said. "But I mean… for you, it was something that happened, right? Like using a new move. But for Leon and his Charizard, it was something that they knew how to use in the same way as Greninja and I using Battle Bond, or the way we work together!"

Pikachu nodded. "Pikaaa-chuu," he said, sitting down on the table. "Chuu!"

"It's something to aim for, that's what!" Ash declared.

"Does that mean you won't be helping Professor Cerise with his research?" Goh asked. "Trying to work your way up the ranks of the World Coronation Series is a big commitment."

"Well, yeah, but Professor Cerise seems to appreciate it when I just tell him what happened after I go somewhere!" Ash replied. "I know I'd have to win a lot of battles to challenge Leon, but I've got the time to do it, right?"

"That sounds like a big challenge you're taking on," a voice said, and Ash looked up in surprise.

"Leon?" he asked. "Hi! That Charizard of yours is really cool, I was comparing him to my Charizard! He's a really strong member of my team, but I don't know whose Charizard is tougher. And I've met, uh… Kiawe had a Charizard, and Alain had a Charizard too… did you see any of those Charizards?"

Goh was blinking, trying to follow the conversation, and Leon laughed.

"I've seen Alain's Charizard," he confirmed. "But I personally think my own Charizard is tougher than his… and I'm sure he'd say the opposite."

He folded his arms. "I've heard about you, though, Ash Ketchum – and I've heard about your Pikachu, too. I wasn't surprised at all to see that your Pikachu was the one who saved the stadium yesterday."

"Pi-kaa!" Pikachu said proudly.

"Yeah, we didn't really know what was going on but we did our best!" Ash said, patting Pikachu on the head. "Have you really never lost a battle?"

He frowned slightly. "How do you do that? Do you think it's given you trouble? I learned a lot from some of the times I lost battles and had to think again, that's how I properly made friends with my Charizard!"

Leon laughed. "Well, maybe that's true!" he said. "I really look forward to a chance to see if it is."

"There you are, Ash!" Lance said, and Goh blinked.

"...okay, I know how Leon would want to speak to us, but you know Lance as well?" he said.

"Ash has helped me out a couple of times," Lance explained. "Though we've never had the chance for a proper battle."

"That would be cool!" Ash said, then subsided a bit. "But I don't really think I can do one at the moment. Pikachu's as strong as ever but we don't know how that Dynamax or Gigantamax thing works yet, and my other two Pokémon at the moment are still new – actually, Lance, you're a Dragon Tamer, right? I bet you'd love to meet them!"

"You've got some Dragon-type Pokémon?" Lance guessed. "I don't only train Dragon-type Pokémon, but they're the ones I started out with and I still focus on them. It sounds like it would be great to meet them."

"I'm interested, as well," Leon said.

"Isn't this going to give you an unfair advantage, if you know what Ash's Pokémon are?" Goh asked. "If he does reach the finals of the World Coronation Series, I mean."

"If I reach the finals, I'll know their Pokémon and they'll know mine anyway!" Ash rebuffed. "I don't mind at all!"

He held out a Pokéball. "Come on out, Dragonite! Lance has a Dragonite, too!"

"A Dragonite?" Lance repeated, then got thoroughly hugged.

"I see what you mean," he said. "She's new to being a Dragonite, isn't she?"

"Wow," Goh said, quietly. "That's really impressive. Lance must know Dragon Pokémon really well."

"Pikaaa," Pikachu agreed, nodding.

"Scoor-bun?" Scorbunny asked. "Bunbun. Bun?"

"Pika-Pikapi, pika chuuu," Pikachu explained.

"Yeah, that's one of the bonuses of being specialized!" Ash said. "Like my friends Brock and Misty, they were really experienced type specialists so they knew a lot about their specific kind of Pokémon. But Cilan was that good with loads of Pokémon, I really learned a lot from him!"

"I like your attitude, Ash," Leon said.

"And this is Latias!" Ash went on, sending out the other Dragon-type, and Lance stared.

"That's amazing," he said, a few seconds later. "I never thought I'd see one up this close… you're a lucky trainer, Ash. Though I'm sure you've earned having her!"

Latias waved, a bit embarrassed.

"So!" Leon declared, clapping his hands together, then got hugged.

"She does that with everyone?" Lance guessed.

"Yep!" Ash agreed. "It's really nice she's got such a good attitude, right?"

"So," Leon said, again, though with a bit more difficulty owing to having Wrap used on him. "Ash, Pikachu – how about I show you how Gigantamax works?"

Goh looked torn for a moment, then sighed and got out his phone.

Ash might be too busy to take photos, but he wasn't going to be.

---

"You've been to Unova before, right, Ash?" Goh checked, as he finally finished looking around at Castelia City. "It feels like you've been everywhere!"

"I haven't been everywhere, no," Ash replied. "I've been to a lot of places, though!"

He frowned. "I guess it depends what you count as going to a place… but I still probably haven't been everywhere. But yeah, I've definitely come to Unova before, it's a place with lots of great Pokémon!"

Goh laughed.

"Where do you think doesn't have lots of great Pokémon?" he asked.

Ash frowned, clearly thinking hard.

"Is this a trick question?" he checked.

"No, Ash," Goh replied. "All right… we were looking for an archaeology site…"

He checked his phone. "Where is it?"

"The Colossus Ruins," the Rotom Phone replied. "In the Desert Resort."

"That sounds like it could be right," Ash said. "Ruins sounds like an archaeology site! And the Desert Resort… huh."

"Huh?" Goh repeated. "That sounds like you've heard of it?"

"Well, I remember Professor Juniper said something about it," Ash shrugged. "There was something about a weird energy flow in the Desert Resort, it caused a Venipede stampede from there to Castelia. She said she'd go and find out what was going on, but I never heard back what was actually going on there."

He glanced at Pikachu. "Maybe we'll find out, huh?"

"Pika-ka-chuuu?" Pikachu asked.

"I guess the Rockets might have done it," Ash admitted.

"Those… you mean the Team Rocket agents we've run into?" Goh asked. "...Ash, how long have you been dealing with them?"

"Since I first set out!" Ash replied, with a grin. "I saw Ho-Oh first, but not really by much…"

Pikachu's ears twitched.

"Pika!" he said. "Ka-chuuuu!"

"Really?" Ash asked. "I guess we are in Unova!"

Goh blinked.

"I'm still not used to that," he admitted, looking at Scorbunny for clues.

Scorbunny shrugged, apparently not able to help, or possibly lacking context for what Pikachu had said.

Aww… a mental voice complained. You're way too good at that, Pikachu!

"Pikaa!" Pikachu said, proudly. "Ka-chuu, pika!"

"...who said that?" Goh asked. "Not Pikachu, the… voice."

"This is Goh!" Ash said, pointing at his friend. "And that's his Scorbunny. They're cool, Victini, you don't need to worry about him!"

"...Victini?" Goh repeated. "Isn't that another Legendary Pokémon?"

"Yeah, and, please don't catch him, okay?" Ash asked. "I helped him out when there was trouble with the People of the Vale, there was a guy called Damon and a Reshiram and a Zekrom and I helped convince the two of them to stop arguing so they could help save Victini…"

He let that trail off for a moment, then brightened. "Oh! Is that what this is about, Victini?"

Yeah! Victini agreed, becoming visible, and waved at Goh. I didn't know if you were going to be in Unova any time soon or if I'd run into you.

He looked around at the city, then went invisible again. ...but I didn't think through how many people there were here…

"Latias is the same, sometimes," Ash said. "She's getting better, but I think some of that is that she's my Pokémon so that means she's safe against people who could try and catch her. You're better off if people don't know you're there in the first place, except the People of the Vale."

Yeah, Victini agreed, then clapped his hands. But I was looking for you for a reason! I came up with a boon that isn't cheating!

"Ka-chuu?" Pikachu asked. "Pikaa!"

"Yeah, I was worried about if it would be making my Pokémon stronger," Ash replied. "I want to do as well as I can in the World Coronation Series, but doing it because you'd made my Pokémon way stronger would be cheating… working with a Pokémon for months so you can think the same as them and really resonate with them, that's being a good trainer, but just getting the strength for free isn't the same thing."

Exactly! Victini said.

His voice altered a bit as he moved around, flying in an invisible circle. So, um… you have a phone, right? I need to do something with it.

"Sure!" Ash agreed, getting the white-gold phone out.

"Bun?" Scorbunny asked.

Goh glanced at the Fire-type, and shrugged.

Some things didn't need translation.

And… there we go! Victini declared. Mewtwo helped me with making it into an app… now if you're having trouble with Team Rocket or need to help someone out, you can pick a Pokémon and make them stronger! It takes a bit of time to recharge, and it'll be really obvious when it happens too!

"Thanks, Victini!" Ash said. "Goh and I are going to head out to the desert in a bit, but… want to share some Casteliacones first? Dragonite and Latias haven't had any yet, either, so we can make it a tasting thing!"

"...who's Mewtwo?" Goh asked.

"Which one do you mean?" Ash replied. "The answer's different for the two of them… oh, no, hold on, I actually can't tell you a lot of it because I promised. Sorry Goh."

Goh blinked a few times.

"Can I at least get a picture of Victini?" he asked.

---

Some days later, Ash's team had grown by one with the addition of Gengar – a Ghost-type who'd been haunting the Cerise Labs – and Goh's Scorbunny had evolved to Raboot.

Something seemed to be troubling the Vermillion boy, though, and he glanced at Ash as Ash flicked through screens on his phone.

"What are you doing?" Goh asked. "I'm kind of afraid to hear what the answer is, I have to admit…"

"I'm looking for who would be a good opponent for my first World Coronation Series match!" Ash explained. "I'm trying to find someone who's local – Professor Cerise explained to me how the rating system works, and right now because I've not been in the World Coronation Series until now I'm really low ranking, which means that winning a match will let me get a long way up the ranks."

He shrugged. "But that can wait! Did you want to ask something?"

"Several things, actually," Goh replied. "Because, uh… have you decided who you're using?"

"Mostly!" Ash replied. "Not for this specific battle, but I'm making a new team for the World Coronation Series matches. So far that means Pikachu of course, and then Gengar, Dragonite and Latias!"

"Pika-chuuu!" Pikachu said, proudly, glancing back at the three much bigger Pokémon relaxing at the other end of the table.

"Gennn-GAR!" the Ghost-type agreed. "Gaar!"

Dragonite attempted to hug him, and went through.

Since she'd done that several times already, she just frowned slightly, then inspected her paws before trying again.

"You're building a whole new team?" Goh repeated.

"Yeah, I do it a lot!" Ash confirmed. "Unless I really need to bring back one of the older Pokémon, and of course I do that a lot to help train the others, but the way I see it is… so, you know I've got a lot of Pokémon, right?"

"I've seen at least half a dozen Pokémon show up so far, and you've mentioned others, but I've never counted them," Goh replied, thinking. "I know you don't try and catch every Pokémon you see like I do, so… you've got, what, twenty? Twenty-five?"

"I think it's up to fifty-seven, if you count thirty Tauros as just one," Ash replied. "I might be off by one or two though, some of them are kind of weird cases. I've never really been sure if Nebby or Mimey count, or if Rotom does either."

"I am quite good at counting!" Rotom said, displaying a Razz berry on its screen.

"That's, uh," Goh said, blinking. "More than I was expecting? You've caught nearly ninety Pokémon?"

Dragonite looked just as surprised as Goh did.

"Niiiii-te!" she said. "Dragoonn-nite!"

"Sure!" Ash agreed. "It'll take a while because some of them aren't even back at Pallet, but I'll make sure you can hug everyone some time!"

Dragonite pumped her paws in the air, cheering. "Niiii-ite!"

"So you must be even better at this than I thought," Goh resumed. "I was actually going to ask about that… a lot of my Pokémon seem happy with not actually battling, but I've got no idea what's up with Raboot now. How do you make sure none of your Pokémon feel left out?"

"Some of it is that I have my experienced Pokémon help out with training," Ash replied. "Some of it is that Bulbasaur is really great and I've got him to help out. Some of it is that the Pokémon who really want to can go off on training trips, and that they all have good friends back home to spend time with, and Professor Oak and Tracey are really good at keeping them all happy… but a lot of it is actually why I'm building a new team now!"

He grinned. "Everyone gets to be part of a team for one big thing! Then I swap around and build a new team, mostly. Sometimes that's a bit different, like Donphan especially didn't have much time in Johto so I made sure to use him in the Battle Frontier, but the Battle Frontier was an extra kind of thing… anyway, that's how it works. But Raboot… any ideas, Pikachu? I think you know him better than me."

"Chuuu, Pika, Pikapi!" Pikachu said, posing. "Pika-chuuu?"

Goh stared. "Did Pikachu just do an imitation of an Excadrill?"

"Huh," Ash frowned. "So… it's not like Excadrill, huh? Is there anyone it is like?"

Pikachu shrugged. "Chuu, pika-ka."

"Okay, I guess we don't know enough to help yet!" Ash replied, shrugging. "Sorry, Goh. I guess maybe… ask Raboot how you can help? But it might just be that there isn't any way to help."

His phone went bing.

"Oh, cool!" Ash declared, picking the Rotom-inhabited phone up again. "Vermillion City Gym… oh, Lt. Surge isn't in town but there's a substitute instead?"

Pikachu's cheeks sparked.

"I know, Pikachu, but you beat his Raichu anyway!" Ash said. "Let's see what this substitute gym leader is like, if she wants a World Coronation Series battle! Come on, guys!"

"Gaar!" Gengar declared, then Dragonite attempted to hug him again.

Latias made a querying noise.

"I could try using you, if you want!" Ash replied.

"Pii-kachu!" Pikachu declared.

"Oh, if she wants me to decide… I guess I'd feel more comfortable about it if she had another move or two," Ash replied. "Dragon Pulse isn't quite working yet and nor is Extrasensory. We could wait until then?"

Latias shook her head. "Tiii-as."

"Then you can watch!" Ash suggested. "And once we're done, I'll bring Noctowl and Gible over to have another go at both moves, okay?"

---

Days after Ash's first WCS battle, in the middle of a Pokémon Orienteering event organized by Professor Cerise, a boy called Oliver returned his Meganium with a sigh.

"I guess I should have expected that to happen," he said. "But it was a really cool battle."

"Thanks!" Ash replied, with a grin. "That's what really matters, right? Having a really cool battle… that's what matters."

Oliver nodded, looking rueful.

"Still…" he said. "I know your Pikachu is really good, because I've seen some of his battles before, but I really thought Meganium would be able to beat him. He's a tough Pokémon too."

"Yeah, your Meganium is amazing!" Ash agreed. "I guess… I don't really have an exact way to explain it, but it's something like… Pikachu and I have a really strong bond, and that means I know exactly what he can do."

Oliver thought that over.

"So… because you know exactly what he can do, that means you never ask too much of him?" he tried. "Or is it something else?"

"That's some of it!" Ash agreed. "But there's other stuff too, like… because I know what he can do, and Pikachu knows it, he trusts me really deeply. So that… so that he's always going to do what I say, without hesitation, because we trust one another."

"Kaa-pikachuu!" Pikachu agreed, sounding a bit tired.

"Still!" Ash went on, glancing at his teammates on the orienteering course.

They'd been doing most of the work, with Ash around to act as a special guide and help identify the Pokémon they ran into, but right now both kids were just staring at him.

"I guess I should say," Ash said. "You don't have to be that close to a Pokémon before you start battling. It took us ages, huh Pikachu?"

"Chuu!" Pikachu agreed, and Ash crouched down to let Pikachu run up his arm and onto his back.

"I wanted to mention that because it's easy to forget," Ash went on to explain. "But the only way to learn that is to work with your Pokémon a lot! So don't worry, Latias, Dragonite, you'll get your first battle soon!"

"Did you say Latias?" Oliver repeated, blinking. "And you have a Dragonite as well?"

"Yeah, but I'm supposed to be helping these two today!" Ash said, indicating the kids who were doing the Pokémon Orienteering with him. "So I wanted to set a good example!"

"Chuuu!" Pikachu giggled. "Pika-ka-chuu!"

Then he gasped. "Pika! Pikapi, pika!"

"Huh?" Ash asked, before following Pikachu's pointing paw.

There was the silhouette of a Lugia out over Vermillion Bay.

"Let's go and see what's up, guys!" Ash declared.

"Huh," Oliver frowned. "That's not…"

---

Ash's party met with Goh and Professor Cerise's parties on the waterfront, and Goh declared that he'd caught a lot of Pokémon.

Then, in quick succession, it turned out that the Lugia was actually Team Rocket's latest balloon, then they managed to trap Pikachu, Raboot and the Cerise family Yamper, and Ash realized that Team Rocket were up to their old tricks again.

Though admittedly that last one hadn't been much of a stretch to work out.

"Let Raboot go!" Goh shouted.

"Why would we do that?" James asked. "Their cage is over the water now anyway!"

"And you shouldn't be selfish!" Jessie added. "How many Pokémon do you have now, anyway? Why not let us have one?"

"Raboot is – he doesn't want it!" Goh insisted.

"Pikachu, hold on a moment!" Ash said. "Latias – Noctowl told you what we do to Team Rocket's balloons, right? Dragonite, get ready to catch that cage!"

He sent both Dragon-types out, then there was a sound like tearing cloth and an Aeroblast slashed across the sky, straight into the balloon – popping it in moments.

Then water swirled into a whirlpool, and a real Lugia appeared from underwater. It caught the cage before Dragonite could get there, letting all three Pokémon down safely, and Pikachu smashed open the cage bars with an Iron Tail.

"You could do dat all along?!" Meowth asked, sounding deeply offended, his voice slightly muffled as Jessie and James used his charm to activate the Rocket Gacha Machine. "What's da big idea lettin' us think we were gonna win, then?"

"Pika-chuu," Pikachu said, brightly, then glanced at Raboot. "Chuuu, Pika Pika-chuu?"

"...boot," Raboot muttered, glancing up at Goh.

"Well your moral lesson is kinda annoying to me!" Meowth replied.

A moment later the Rockets sent out a Skarmory and a Crobat, and Ash considered for a moment before pointing.

"Dragonite, hug Wobbuffet to keep him out of the battle!" he said. "Latias, you handle that Crobat!"

He glanced at Goh. "Think Raboot and Pikachu can deal with Skarmory?"

"Let's try!" Goh said. "Ember, Raboot!"

---

The first Ember attacks didn't work, even as Latias put her training in Extrasensory to good use under Ash's direction, then Goh had the idea of having Raboot kick his flaming-rock Ember at Pikachu so the experienced Electric-type could whack it in the direction of Skarmory.

That and a swirl of wind from Dragonite sent Team Rocket Blasting Off Again, and Ash congratulated Goh, Raboot, Dragonite and Latias for their good work before waving at Lugia.

"Hi!" he said. "Are you the one we met before, or are you a different one? And who was the other one who helped just now?"

The Lugia frowned.

I am the one you met before, but I don't know who the other one is, he admitted, and the voice sounded surprisingly young. I was going to help out when I saw what was going on, but the other one used Aeroblast first.

"Pika-ka-chuu?" Pikachu asked. "Chuu, Pikapi! Pi-kaaa!"

"Huh?" Ash asked. "In Johto – then you must be Silver, right?"

That's me, the Lugia replied. I came to look for you before because of the whole boons thing, but I got… distracted. I was caught up in that big battle against all those trainers!

"Ash, are you telling me you actually know this Lugia?" Goh asked. "By name?"

"We helped save him and his mom in Johto!" Ash explained. "With the help of Ritchie, I mean. Silver's the name that a human boy gave him… I think the guy who named him was called Oliver too! That's a weird coincidence, I met someone called Oliver today."

Oh, so you're who he came to battle? Silver asked. That's neat! I guess he does look different now, with the hair and stuff.

He frowned. Oh! Sorry, I almost forgot again… here you go!

A bell floated up out of the water, and Ash caught it.

That's the Tidal Bell, Silver explained. If you ring it, it can calm the sea, and if you ring it twice then it'll call on me in case you need a ride!

The young Lugia looked mildly embarrassed. It… might take me a while to get there though, unless you're somewhere near Johto…

Then Dragonite hugged him, mostly on general principle.

Silver turned out to have particularly suitable wings for hugging back, and the other Lugia got sort of forgotten.

The only one to see it turn back into a Mew was Latias, and she considered before shrugging.

It wasn't her secret to tell, after all.

---

"So that's what it looks like when an egg hatches," Goh said, as the white glow faded and left only moonlight illuminating the room. "It's different when I can see it in person."

"Yeah, you never really forget it," Ash agreed, nodding. "And there's something about it that a video doesn't really show you."

"Rio…" the hatched Pokémon said, looking around with confusion.

"Pika-chuu?" Pikachu asked, then jumped up on the table where Riolu's egg had been. "Chuu?"

"Lu," Riolu replied. "Riooo-lu."

"What do you think, Pikachu?" Ash asked. "How is Riolu doing?"

Pikachu shrugged. "Chuu, Pikapi?"

Goh looked at Ash. "I still don't have any idea what Pikachu is saying, so I hope you can understand him."

"I guess Riolu is still confused," Ash replied, and Pikachu nodded. "Eggs can pick up what was going on outside, you know, but I bet it's different going from one thing to another, especially since Riolu can sense Aura."

"Aura?" Goh repeated. "I've never heard of that before…"

He checked his phone. "Does Riolu's Pokédex entry say anything about Aura?"

"Yes," the Rotom phone replied. "Riolu can see auras, which change according to emotion. It uses these to communicate with others."

It made a beep noise. "Did you mean aura or Aura? The latter has a capital letter."

"I don't know," Goh replied. "Ash?"

"I guess I think of Aura as something with a capital letter," Ash replied. "Uh… hold on a sec…"

"Rio-luuu-riolu!" Riolu said, sharply.

"Ka-pika-chuu," Pikachu soothed. "Pika-chuu-pi? Pikapi?"

"Riolu's looking for something?" Ash asked. "I guess he's still not sure what's going on. I wonder who…"

He stopped. "Hang on… Pikachu, I've got an idea!"

"Pii?" Pikachu asked.

"Let's show Riolu a battle!" Ash explained.

"What?" Goh asked. "But hasn't Riolu only just hatched?"

"Pikaaa…" Pikachu said, sounding as uncertain, then glanced at Ash. "Ka-chuu?"

"I didn't mean attack Riolu!" Ash replied. "I mean-"

He reached for his Pokéballs, and Riolu tensed up – then relaxed, slightly, as Ash sent a Pokémon out instead of throwing a Pokéball at him.

Specifically, Ash sent out Latias, who yawned and blinked a few times.

"Tiii-aaas?" she asked, shaking herself. "Laa-ti?"

"Riolu's looking for something!" Ash explained. "I've got an idea what it might be, but if I'm wrong we should help him find it! What do you think about a quick battle?"

"Tii-as?" Latias replied, sounding nervous and looking at Pikachu, and Ash shrugged.

"It's okay," he decided. "Then I'll ask Gengar-"

"Rio! Riolu-luu!" Riolu interrupted, waving his paws and looking very confused.

"What are you talking about, Ash?" Goh asked, looking just as confused as Riolu. "You keep going back and forth between wanting to help Riolu and wanting to show Riolu a battle?"

"That's because I think they might be the same thing," Ash explained. "You know how I've been having these feelings of someone trying to reach out to me? Well, that started when Pikachu and I were in a battle, and Riolu can sense emotions, and there's no feeling that's quite like being in a battle, right?"

Goh exchanged a glance with Riolu.

Despite differences of culture, language and species, their agreement on the essential detail that Ash Ketchum was thoroughly confusing was plain to see.

Latias stifled a yawn, then frowned. "Laa-ti-tias?"

"Pi-ika," Pikachu pointed out the window. "Pi, Pikapi?"

"Yeah, I guess doing it outside makes more sense!" Ash agreed. "Want to watch, Riolu? Or do you want to come outside so you can watch more closely?"

---

Two minutes later, Ash was outside – still in his pyjamas – and Riolu was sitting on the windowsill to watch, mostly because that was where Ash's whirlwind of energy had left him.

"Okay, Pikachu!" Ash said, from behind Latias. "Do your best, okay?"

"Laaa?" Latias asked, glancing back at Ash.

"Well, yeah!" Ash replied. "I want you to do your best too, of course!"

He grinned. "Ready?"

Dragonite held up both paws, then slashed them down. "Nite!"

"Dragon Pulse!" Ash told Latias.

Pikachu used Thunderbolt, the electric attack bursting out near-instantly, and it hit Latias's Dragon Pulse with an explosion of sparkling light that lit up the night.

"Dodge – right!" Ash said, and Latias whipped off in that direction. "Cloak, and come around for an Aerial Ace… and – Extrasensory instead!"

"Chuuuuu-Pi-KA!" Pikachu shouted, using Iron Tail, and his shimmering tail deflected away Latias's attack. He twirled around in mid-air, using Thunderbolt as well, and electricity flashed along Latias's feathers as she went whipping past.

"Ri-oooo…" Riolu said, then saw Ash adjust his stance slightly.

It wasn't anything anyone could have explained. It was just something about the way Ash was standing.

"Fly up high and use Dragon Pulse!" he said, and Latias did just that – shooting into the night, and firing down a pulse of green energy.

Pikachu had all the time he needed to get out of the way, and Ash pointed. "Come around to here, Latias – and – Extrasensory the Dragon Pulse!"

The burst of psychic power intersected with the Dragon Pulse attack, knocking it off the course it had been on and into Pikachu instead, and for a moment a cloud of smoke obscured the Electric-type – until Pikachu whipped his tail to drive the smoke away, revealing that he'd wrapped himself in a Counter Shield.

"How did you do that?" Goh demanded. "That intercept shot would have been hard normally, but you knew exactly where Latias was – even though she's invisible!"

"Nite!" Dragonite called, waving her arms in a time-out signal. "Drag-oonite!"

"Yeah, heh," Ash said, rubbing the back of his neck and grinning. "I actually got reminded by the whole Aura thing! I can see them if I concentrate, but I don't normally need to… and training Latias is why I know how long her Extrasensory and Dragon Pulse take to fly, that's why! Then it's just kinda… like guesswork, but a bit more precise!"

"I don't even know what words to use for what that was," Goh admitted. "When it's you commanding Pikachu, it's easy to miss, but you're like that with all your Pokémon?"

"Not all of them," Ash replied, with a shrug. "I need a bit of time to get used to a Pokémon again after they've not been on my team, they might have gotten faster!"

"Ri-oooo-lu!" Riolu declared, jumping down from the windowsill. "Lu-riolu!"

"Pi-pika-kachuuu!" Pikachu said, walking over to shake Riolu's paw.

"Oh, that was what you were after?" Ash asked, glancing at Pikachu. "That sounded like, welcome to the team, to me!"

Riolu nodded.

Ash grinned. "You know, I met a Riolu once who could use Aura Sphere, I'm kind of out of practice on doing it myself but we could work it out together, right?"

"Stop making me have more questions!" Goh pleaded.

 

Notes:

A much bigger one than normal! This one is a candidate "full series" for the future – it's not yet at that point, and I've been heavily focused on Golden-Eyed Heir To Myth over on AO3, but I thought I'd share this chapter to give people a chance to see it.

The basic idea is to have all the Legendary Pokémon who Ash helped in some way turning up to repay him, intermixed with the whole of Journeys, and Goh generally being like wtf.

Chapter 27: No Contest

"So… Ash, I have a question," Goh said.

"Oh?" Ash replied, looking up from where he'd been walking Farfetch'd through the idea of using the leek's recoil as a way to move himself around. "What's that?"

"Well…" Goh began, waving his hand. "I suppose what I'm wondering is… why you've never been into Contests? If you have never been into Contests, that is."

"Fetch'd?" Farfetch'd asked. "Fa-aar?"

"Just a moment, okay?" Ash replied, glancing at Goh. "Farfetch'd, if you want a great way to experiment with this, try with Lucario, okay? Get him to use Vacuum Wave and you can practice dodging out of the way by swinging your leek."

"Feetch'd!" Farfetch'd saluted, raising his leek, and flapped off.

"Sorry about that, Goh," Ash said, embarrassed. "I didn't want to lose my train of thought!"

He scratched the back of his neck. "And I guess, uh… a lot of it is that I really really enjoy an intense battle, against someone else who's really specialized in battle. Being able to work together with my Pokémon to overcome a challenge like that is – it's something that I've always loved, ever since the first time I did it. And that's what I find in battles."

"Pika-pika, Pikapi!" Pikachu provided, ears twitching.

"And it's what Pikachu finds, too!" Ash agreed, patting his starter Pokémon on the head. "So that works out great, and… it's what I like doing, so it's what I do?"

"Right, I get that," Goh said. "But you have loads of friends who do Contests, right… is there a reason why Contests aren't the same?"

Ash frowned, sitting down cross-legged and resting a hand on his palm.

"Chuu…" Pikachu said, thinking hard as well.

"I guess…" Ash began, then stopped, and nodded. "Yeah, I guess it's that… in a Contest, there's other people involved, as well. I don't just mean people watching, I mean people who are watching and involved. The judges, and I guess the audience as well but you have to think about the judges, not just the Pokémon and the other trainer… and, I don't know, but it feels like that makes it different. As far as the way I think of it, anyway!"

"I guess that makes some kind of sense," Goh allowed. "There is a difference. I'm just surprised you haven't tried it?"

"Oh, I've tried it!" Ash said. "It's fun for a change! But battling is what I keep coming back to."

"Pika-ka!" Pikachu agreed, happily.

"And if I see something that works in a Contest, nothing says I can't use it in a battle," Ash went on. "Or get inspired by it to do something else, myself – actually, hey, Pikachu, let's show that trick we worked out!"

"Chuu!" Pikachu confirmed, and Ash sent out Dragonite.

This may have been a bad idea, as he got emphatically Hugged.

"It's nice to see you, too," he coughed, hugging Dragonite back, then patted her on the arm to get her to let go. "Hey, Dragonite, we'd like to show Goh a cool new trick we came up with, okay? Can you use Hurricane on Pikachu?"

"Nii-ite!" Dragonite said, giving a thumb-claw-up, then shot into the air and flapped her wings.

"Pikachu, Iron Tail and Quick Attack!" Ash ordered, and Pikachu slammed his tail into the floor with a whaaang. A swirl of ultrasonic noise made Goh's teeth grate, and the Hurricane attack clashed into the sonic shield before bouncing off and dividing in all directions.

"There we go!" Ash said, as Pikachu did a flip and landed on all fours. "That's an idea that's based off the Counter Shield, which came out of some brainstorming I did with my Coordinator friend Dawn-"

"What the heck was that?" Goh asked, feeling his jaw. "My bones ached!"

"I guess that must be the resonance," Ash frowned. "Think we can tune it a bit differently, Pikachu?"

"Chaa!" Pikachu agreed, nodding.

Then Dragonite Hugged Goh, just to make sure he wasn't left out.

Notes:

A little one about why Ash might not do Contests.

Chapter 28: Noncanonicity

"The system won't boot up properly," Joy said, apologetically. "The computer system's completely disabled… we think it might be a Deoxys."

"Might be?" Max said, mostly to himself.

"It's been going on for a week," Nurse Joy explained.

"That's happened before, yes," Solana said, the Ranger frowning a little as she tried to remember her briefing about it. "It was at LaRousse City. Professor Lund said that the Deoxys there arrived by meteorite, but it didn't start causing a disturbance straight away."

"Oh, yeah, I remember-" Ash began, then Pikachu, Noctowl and Brock all tackled him to the ground.

"Pik-aaa!" Pikachu said, firmly. "Pika kachuu, Pikapi!"

"...um," Solana began. "Should I be… worried about that?"

"No, it's fine!" Max said, waving his hands. "Nothing to be worried about! That's just Ash being Ash, and Brock being Brock, and his Pokémon being his Pokémon!"

"I wonder how he got that Pokéball to work?" Nurse Joy asked.

"He didn't!" May replied. "That's Noctowl, she's an illusionist, she sometimes hangs around invisible! Nothing to worry about here! You were saying something about meteorites?"

"...yes," Solana nodded. "Professor Lund said that the Deoxys arrived by meteorite, but it didn't start causing a disturbance until years later."

Joy thought.

"Well," she began. "There is an old story of a meteorite landing up in the mountains…"

---

"Are we clear?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, Solana said, let's go up to the mountains," Max confirmed. "I asked her to wait a few minutes for us, May's chatting with her about how Contests work."

"Good," Brock said, then got off Ash.

Ash coughed, as Noctowl got off as well.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"Pikaaa-Pikapi, Pikachu pika!" Pikachu said, sternly. "KA-chuuu!"

"She brought it up first!" Ash defended himself. "I was only going to say! What's wrong with that?"

"You know what's wrong with that, Ash," Brock said. "We can't admit the movies happened on screen!"

"Chuuu!" Pikachu agreed.

Noctowl squeaked.

"And that's why," Brock went on. "You know what the writers are like about making sure that everything that happens can be explained without watching the movies."

He pointed at Noctowl. "And you know who can't be explained without watching the movies?"

"I guess," Ash admitted, then frowned. "Are you sure that would happen?"

"Do I need to remind you about what happened with that post Dragonite?" Brock asked. "If they look too closely they will notice."

Ash winced.

"Okay, okay, fine," he said, getting up. "I just… it's hard to remember that, you know?"

"I know it is, Ash," Brock agreed. "And I do know what you mean. But I don't want us to have a more recent reminder."

Ash nodded, slowly.

"And that was quick thinking, Latias," Brock went on. "I know we talked about it before, but you got it just right."

Noctowl made a squeaky, high-pitched purr, then decloaked and gave Ash a quick hug.

"Thanks," Ash smiled, hugging Latias back. "All right, all right, I'll do my best, okay?"

"Pikaaa, Pikapi!" Pikachu smirked.

"I was actually a bit worried when you were letting on that you were understanding Pikachu so well," Max admitted. "After Rota, I mean… but I think we've managed to get away with it."

Brock chuckled.

"Okay, let's go," Ash decided, and Latias shimmered back into invisibility. "And find that Deoxys to help them out!"

 

Notes:

Inspired when someone noticed that in the Deoxys anime episode in the Battle Frontier, the LaRousse City incident comes up – but not that Ash and co. were literally there.

Chapter 29: Against Type

"All right!" Ash said, with a grin. "Great work, Krokorok!"

"Rook!" Krokorok said, with a smirk.

There was a lot of smirk, because he was a Krokorok, but that seemed to be about all the energy he had left.

"Pika-kachuu!" Pikachu cheered, and Brycen nodded slightly.

"Well done, Ash," he said. "And well done to your Krokorok, as well. That was quite a finishing move."

As he handed over the Freeze Badge, Iris made a noise.

"What is it?" Cilan said. "Iris, you can't mean that you disagree with that three-course gourmet meal of a battle!"

"Can you stop with the food metaphors?" Iris asked.

Cilan looked genuinely puzzled.

"...no," he said, shaking his head. "It appears I cannot. It would be like cooking a risotto without risotto."

"Whatever," Iris said. "But I was actually wondering about – okay, I get that Ash won, but why did he rely so much on Krokorok?"

"It worked, didn't it?" Cilan asked. "If you-"

"If this is going to be about a recipe…" Iris warned.

Cilan stopped talking.

"You mean about how Krokorok has a type disadvantage, right, Iris?" Ash asked.

"Yes!" Iris agreed. "And it's not just this time either, you keep doing it – it's, weird. You get that, right? Why use a Pokémon with a disadvantage?"

"Because that makes it so the victory is so much better!" Ash told her, his eyes alight. "It's the best kind of battle, right?"

"...no?" Iris said, hesitantly. "I hate fighting Ice-types because I'm a Dragon-type trainer!"

"You have an Excadrill," Cilan pointed out helpfully.

"Not the point here!" Iris protested.

Ash looked like he was about to reply, then stopped, then frowned.

"Okay, uh…" he began. "I guess I'll try to make the point a different way? Because – if I used my Charizard to flatten Cilan's Pansage back when I first challenged the Striaton gym, does that really mean I'm any good as a trainer? Or that my Pokémon are using skill?"

"...you have a Charizard?" Iris asked. "Or is this one of those metaphorical Charizards?"

"He didn't evolve from a Caterpie," Ash said, sounding a bit confused. "But you get what I'm saying, right?"

Iris was silent for a moment.

"I guess?" she said. "Maybe? But – how does that go to what you were talking about?"

"Er," Brycen said.

"It's because the best kinds of battle are the kind where something surprising happens!" Ash explained, expansively.

"Pika-pikapi, kachuuuu!" Pikachu agreed, bouncing up and down just as eagerly.

"When you're fighting an uphill battle and you win that way, or when you do something that nobody else expected – even you!" Ash went on. "It's like my first gym challenge, waay back in Kanto – Pikachu beat Brock's Geodude for me with a Thunderbolt!"

"...is that surprising?" Iris asked, glancing at Cilan.

"Geodude are Rock and Ground," Cilan supplied, mercifully avoiding a food metaphor about two kinds of ice cream for once.

Iris blinked.

"That's impossible!" she said. "That's not fighting a type advantage, that's just – it can't be done!"

"And it happened anyway!" Ash replied, with a thumbs-up grin. "And it was great, like I say, it's the best moment because you know that it was you and your Pokémon doing the impossible! So every time I have the chance, I want to see if I can make that happen again!"

"...Ash?" Brycen said. "You do realize that a Gym Battle is a test to see if you and your Pokémon can compete in the Pokémon League, right?"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed.

"So why didn't you use your Charizard?" he said.

"Because I already know Charizard is strong!" Ash replied. "I'm training up a new team, like I do everywhere, for a fresh start! Like I did in Johto, and Hoenn, and Sinnoh, and now here too – that way I get to know more friends and more Pokémon, and there's always a new challenge!"

"I'm… actually a little bit intimidated now," Brycen said, looking at Krokorok who was now taking a nap. "You were using your fifth team against me?"

"Uh," Ash began, frowning. "How are you counting number of teams? 'cause I had more than six Pokémon some regions, but then again I've always used Pikachu… I guess the Tauros are all just one…"

As Ash counted under his breath, Iris looked at Cilan.

"All right, let's hear it," she said. "What's the food metaphor for this one?"

"A buffet, of course!" Cilan replied. "Ash is an all-you-can-eat kind of trainer!"

Iris stifled a snigger.

"I've seen him at lunch, that's probably about right," she conceded.

"Thirty-seven plus Pikachu, counting all the Tauros as just one!" Ash said. "Unless I missed one. But not quite all of them are top level battlers, so I guess the team here is my sixth or seventh!"

"I am seriously intimidated," Brycen decided.

"Wait, actually," Ash went on. "Hey, Iris, Cilan, should I be counting Zekrom? Because if he counts then there's about… maybe three or four other Pokémon a bit like that who I should count too…"

Brycen decided to keep his mouth shut in case it got worse.

Notes:

A thought about why Ash might sometimes not bother with type advantage.

Chapter 30: Just Kidding

"Ash, you need to stop being such a kid," Iris muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Pika-chuu!" Pikachu said, flicking his ears.

"Yeah, I guess," Ash agreed. "Why do you keep calling me a kid?"

Iris stared at Ash.

"...Ash, we've been travelling together for two months," she said. "Why are you only asking now?"

Ash shrugged. "I guess I thought it helped you out to call me a kid more than it hurt me!" he replied. "Because, you know, I don't mind being called a kid, not much. I'm younger than Jessie and James are, right? They're, what, twenty-five or something like that, and I'm around…"

He frowned.

"Half that, I think? Maybe a bit more?"

"That's not what I was saying," Iris muttered.

"Then what were you saying?" Ash replied. "I did ask. But I think we're about the same age."

"It's not about age!" Iris replied. "It's about maturity, because you… you act like such a kid sometimes."

"Excuse me," James said. "But are we bothering you? We can come back later if you want."

"We most certainly can not!" Jessie declared. "Twenty-five? I never! I am a well-preserved fifteen, and don't you forget it!"

"Then how come you've been sayin' that since we teamed up?" Meowth asked. "I guess if you've been fifteen for eight years already another couple years don't matter that much-"

"You can shut up!" Jessie shot back. "Come back here!"

With Team Rocket occupied chasing one another around instead of threatening to steal their Pokémon, Ash shrugged.

"What's so bad about acting like a kid?" he asked.

"It's when you're… you're… ergh!" Iris muttered. "If you don't get it, what's the point in explaining?"

Ash leaned back, shrugging. "Maybe you could try for once, huh?"

Iris did a double-take.

"What?" she asked, intelligently.

"If you just keep calling me a kid without explaining whether that's a good or bad thing, then how am I supposed to know if it's a good or bad thing?" Ash replied, which he thought was a pretty good point all things considered. "Do you not like kids or something?"

"What?" Iris replied. "No, I – I just – it's, you don't take things seriously!"

Ash folded his arms. "Well, maybe they're things that don't need to be taken seriously? I take Pokémon seriously."

"Chuu!" Pikachu agreed, nodding.

"What do you think, Cilan?" Ash added, nodding over at where their companion was surreptitiously using a spare cooking knife to cut Pansage free of his bonds. "You're older than us, right? Do you think I act like a kid?"

"I – but-" Iris spluttered. "You can't ask Cilan, he's not mature either!"

"...the Rockets?" Ash suggested. "I could ask them?"

"Not them either!" Iris protested.

"Well, how should I act mature, then?" Ash replied. "I mean… I am a kid, right? I'm maybe getting to being a bit old for a kid, but if you can't point to anyone who's actually older who you think is mature then maybe that's a you thing?"

"That's just who's here right now," Iris mumbled.

Ash still looked thoughtful.

"...so maybe what you're saying is that I need to be more like you?" he asked. "Because, I guess I could do that, but I tried that once before and it sucked."

Iris shook her head and stared at Ash.

"...what?!" she asked.

"I don't mean because it'd be being like you!" Ash hastened to say. "Just that, back in Kanto I felt like doing really well in battles was really important, and when I lost my Indigo League battle because Charizard was being troublesome I… had real trouble coping with it."

He shrugged. "I guess maybe now I don't take that kind of thing as seriously, but I like it! It's better this way, or that's what I think at least."

Iris frowned, looking thoughtful.

"...I guess," she said. "Wait, you have a Charizard? And you never told me?"

"He lives with his girlfriend now-" Ash replied, then Jessie interrupted him.

"Wait!" she said, stopping halfway through giving James a noogie. "The twerps were trying to distract us!"

"It sounds like they were trying to work through their situation," James complained. "Why don't we do that more often? I think you – that is, we – could use therapy!"

"We ain't got the time or money for that!" Meowth replied, as if they weren't using a very expensive rope-net cannon and a lot of time to do what they were doing. "Now get to the capturin' their Pokémon already!"

 

Notes:

"When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."

I think I'll agree with Clive Staples Lewis here.

Chapter 31: Pika-Less Ash

"Young man – are you all right?"

"Huh?" Ash asked, blinking a few times. "What happened? I was leaving Pallet for my new journey…"

He rolled over, looking up. "Where am I?"

"Hisui," the man standing over him replied. "I don't think I've heard of Pallet…"

"Well, I'm Ash Ketchum, and I'm from Pallet!" Ash declared, then frowned. "Hisui? I think I've heard of that place… isn't that ancient Sinnoh?"

"Sinnoh?" the man asked, as Ash got to his feet. "Isn't that the god that the Clans worship?"

He looked up, and Ash followed his gaze.

"Oh, right," Ash said, spotting the distortion at the top of Mount Coronet, and putting two and two together. "I get it! I'm in the past! Not the first time, huh, Pikachu?"

Silence answered him.

"Pikachu?" Ash asked, worried, then raised his voice. "Pikachu!"

"Ash, what are you doing?" the man asked. "Do you want to get the attention of a wild Pokémon?"

"No, just Pikachu's attention," Ash replied. "He's my best friend! But, uh… if he isn't around here, then…"

He scratched his head. "I guess maybe he's got amnesia, that happens sometimes… if he has, then Team Rocket might have got their hands on him! I'd have to rescue him, then."

"...amnesia?" the man repeated. "Ash, you… seem to be a very strange person."

"Huh?" Ash asked, with a frown. "Why do you think that?"

He reached for his belt, ready to send out one of his Pokémon to help him look, and found no Pokéballs there.

"...okay, this is getting weird," he decided. "Rotom? Do you have any ideas?"

When Ash brought out his phone, though, there was no sign of Rotom.

Instead, his phone had changed, bright white with gold spikes on it, and there was a message visible on the screen.

SEEK OUT ALL POKÉMON.

"Well, uh… I guess I could do that?" Ash said. "I wonder why my phone looks like Arceus…"

"I have so many questions," the man admitted, then shook his head a little and introduced himself. "Right, sorry… my name is Professor Laventon. And I have to admit that I'm not sure if you're crazy or not."

"Huh," Ash said. "I think Iris said that, once."

---

The next day, in Jubilife Village, Ash had a fuller sense of the problems facing him.

"People here are scared of Pokémon?" he repeated. "But… why? They're Pokémon!"

"Pokémon are dangerous," Rei said. "You need to have a good understanding of a specific Pokémon before you can be sure that they're safe to be around."

He indicated the Pokéball on his belt. "My Pikachu is… well, I'm confident that he's safe, but that's because I've worked with him for long enough to be sure about that. Other people haven't."

"But… but…" Ash began, shaking his head as he tried to put it into words. "It's… okay, you need to respect Pokémon, and not annoy them, and if you go out into the wilderness then sometimes you're going to be barging into where Pokémon live so it's best not to annoy them. But most Pokémon are nice! So many of the Pokémon I have on my team are friends who I didn't even battle to have join my team, and most of the rest agreed to a battle to join me!"

He pointed at Professor Laventon, who was checking in on an Oshawott, a Rowlet and a Cyndaquil that Ash had helped retrieve. "You don't think any of those Pokémon are dangerous, do you?"

"Ash, it's… not about that," Laventon said, trying to explain. "Here and now, we consider Pokémon dangerous unless there's a good reason to think otherwise."

"But there always is," Ash replied. "They're… Pokémon!"

Rei stifled a laugh.

"I guess things are just different in the future, right?" he asked.

"Not just then, in the past, too," Ash said. "When I went back to Ancient Forina they had loads of Pokémon working with them there, only, that was so far back they didn't call them Pokémon because Pokéballs didn't exist yet."

"...I'm starting to understand why you're so all right with being in such a strange situation," Laventon conceded. "All right… well, Ash, what are you going to do now?"

"He could ask Cyllage if he can stay here," Rei suggested. "You know, on a long term basis. Joining the survey team, maybe. I'm pretty sure she'd be okay with it, since Ash is so fearless with Pokémon… or if that doesn't work, maybe he could try the clans."

"The clans, now there's something I hadn't considered," Laventon admitted. "You know, Ash, their attitude to Pokémon is a bit closer to yours… and, now I think about it, if you have come here for a reason, maybe it's related to the clans. There have been strange bursts of lightning striking down from the sky, driving the Noble Pokémon into rages-"

Laventon's explanation was cut off as Ash's phone went ding.

Then, as he was rummaging in his pocket, it went ding again.

"What is that, anyway?" Laventon asked, curiously, as the phone emerged.

"It's a phone," Ash replied. "This one looks kind of like Arceus, I'm not really sure why, it didn't look that way before."

I GIVE, the first message said, just above the second. COME AND PICK UP YOUR POKÉMON AND TELL THEM TO STOP.

"Huh?" Ash asked.

Ding

PIKACHU IS ELECTROCUTING ME HOW CAN HE EVEN DO THAT

 

Notes:

Ash can roll with this kind of thing, in the short term.

Pikachu… can be a bit more proactive.

Chapter 32: Pokemon Shuffle

"Ash Ketchum…"

"Huh?" Ash asked, mumbling incoherently a few times before getting that out. "Who said that?"

"Ash Ketchum," the voice repeated, more insistently.

"No, I didn't say that," Ash mumbled, still not remotely awake. "Who said that?"

"Open your eyes and look, why don't you," the voice said, and Ash opened his eyes.

There was a strange pink Pokémon floating right in front of him.

"W-wha!?" Ash demanded, getting up and falling off his bed.

Part of him noticed that his alarm clock was smashed to bits, which was a problem for a reason he couldn't quite yet define, but there was also a weird Pokémon in front of him and he had no idea what that could mean.

He'd never even seen a Pokémon like that before. It had big green eyes, and curving antennae with green tips, and a head that was shaped a little bit like an onion.

"Okay, so, this is kind of important," the Pokémon went on. "So, uh, listen closely?"

"Right, right," Ash said, before yawning.

Maybe he was dreaming? He was meant to be getting his starter Pokémon today… a Squirtle, naturally, because they were the best.

"Ash Ketchum, the threads of fate have become tangled," the… weird Pokémon went on.

It had little wings, but it didn't seem to be using them to fly. Maybe it was psychic or something?

"There was an accident with the time ripple," the Pokémon told him, not that Ash had any idea what that meant. "It was an accident that went both forwards and back in time, because, time travel accident… and it was such a jumble that I and the others couldn't put it back together properly. We've got it to this point but if we poke this much more it's just going to fall apart again and I don't think we can do better than this."

Then the Pokémon waved their… her? Her hands. "Don't worry, you will still encounter all of those Pokémon whose fates are entwined with yours, it's just that… it isn't quite all going to be in the same order. I wanted to make sure you knew you haven't lost any of them."

"Right," Ash replied, frowning, because he had no idea what the Pokémon was going on about, but she seemed to think that he knew and it would be awkward to ask now. "So… you mean I'll still get Squirtle?"

"Yes, exactly, and all the others too," the Pokémon agreed. "Your travelling companions should be just fine, it only really affected you and the skeins of fate that are associated, but in a couple of cases it triggered for Pokémon who weren't strictly yours yours, like Larvitar and… look, it's really complicated and I don't think you understand paratemporal relational metamechanics. Just be aware that you'll be getting all the Pokémon you're meant to get."

"...cool," Ash decided. "Thanks?"

"I should have known you'd cope with this just as well as you do with everything else," the weird Pokémon said, and vanished in a swirl of light.

"...huh," Ash said, a moment later, in the darkness of his bedroom, then crawled back into bed.

He was really tired, but when he went to get his Pokémon from Professor Oak he should probably be able to speak without yawning.

---

Several hours later, as he hurried to the lab, Ash had basically entirely forgotten the weird dream about the hovering pink Pokémon.

He went past Gary, who gloated about already having got his Pokémon and sped off in a sports car, then entered the lab.

In his pyjamas, but still.

"Professor!" he said. "I hope I'm not late?"

"You are late, Ash," Oak replied, sternly. "You'll need to do better if you're going to be a Pokémon trainer, you know."

"I guess – but – I overslept!" Ash protested. "I was so excited and I broke my alarm clock!"

Oak's stern expression faded a little, and he smiled.

"I suppose that's a good enough reason," he said. "Ash, I'm afraid that everyone else has already turned up. That means that the Water-type, Squirtle, has been taken… and so has the Fire-type, Charmander. And the Grass-type, Bulbasaur."

Ash's face fell.

"Then… what's left?" he asked. "You mean I won't be able to become a Pokémon trainer?"

"Well, Ash, fortunately for you I do have one Pokémon left," Professor Oak told him. "Not one of the normal Starter Pokémon, but-"

"I'll take them!" Ash declared, immediately. "Professor, I've wanted to be a Pokémon Master all my life!"

Oak looked at Ash, and Ash looked contrite.

"And, I… I know I screwed up," he went on. "But I'm going to make sure that I work with this Pokémon to become the best trainer ever out of Pallet Town! Better even than you, Professor! We'll do it together!"

That got a smile from the Pokémon Professor.

"You know, if you can keep that up, I really think you will," he said, and handed Ash the Pokéball.

Ash immediately opened it.

"Wow," he said, staring at the pink-and-white Pokémon floating in front of him. "I don't even know what Pokémon this is, but they look really cool!"

The Pokémon squeaked, sounding quite pleased at his comment.

Professor Oak looked at the Pokémon, then the Pokéball, then back at the Pokémon.

"...you know, I probably should have thought this through," he said. "But, well… I promised you that Pokémon, Ash, and I'll keep to that promise. I hope you and Latias get along well together."

As the Professor picked up the Pokédex and Pokéballs Ash would need, Ash raised Latias's Pokéball, and she immediately shook her head. "-ias!"

"...you don't want to go into… really?" Ash asked, and Latias turned her nose up at the 'ball. "But… I thought Pokémon went into Pokéballs…"

"Every Pokémon is different," Oak advised him, giving him a pile of equipment. "You'll have to learn about every Pokémon you travel with, as you travel with them. And… you'll probably have to get dressed, as well…"

---

Once Ash was some way out of Pallet Town, he stopped and got out his Pokédex.

Latias immediately flew to hover behind him, looking at it curiously, and Ash waved it. "Oh, this is a Pokédex, Professor Oak… might have invented them? Or just these ones."

He looked somewhat embarrassed. "I guess I wasn't paying attention when he told me… anyway, what does it say about the Pokémon around here?"

Ash pointed the scanner at Latias, which was difficult because she wanted to keep seeing what was on the screen, and they ended up going around in circles for a bit before Ash finally managed to scan her in.

Latias, the Pokédex announced, as Ash panted from the effort of spinning around and around. The Eon Pokémon. It can telepathically communicate with humans. It changes its appearance using down that refracts light.

"That's neat!" Ash said. "Wait, you can telepathically communicate? That would mean I could understand you?"

Latias tilted her head slightly, a bit embarrassed, then shrugged. "Iii… aaas?"

"...or not, then," Ash replied. "Can you change your appearance like it says?"

The floating Pokémon brightened, and turned invisible with a brief shimmer of light.

"That's cool," Ash declared. "And I bet you've got some really great moves, too!"

Latias reappeared again, waving her hands to try and express reservations about how great her moves were. "Ti-as! Latias!"

Ash wasn't actually looking at her. "Okay, so I should see if I can catch some Pokémon… hey, you Pokémon! If you want to become the Pokémon of an awesome trainer-"

A Pidgey flew in and pecked him on the head.

"Ow!" Ash protested, flailing his hands, as Latias attempted to get the Flying-type off his head without much success. "Hey, this isn't how a Pokémon battle is meant to go!"

---

Thirty eventful minutes later, Ash slumped down outside Viridian City Pokémon Centre.

"This isn't really how I thought my first day would go," he admitted.

"Tiiii…" Latias agreed, grumbling something.

Trying to get rid of the Pidgey had provoked a Spearow, and then Latias had spent a while trying to actually battle the Spearow and an increasing number of friends. That had only revealed that Ash didn't actually know any of the moves Latias had, and that Latias wasn't very good at explaining what they were mid-battle, so Ash had to figure it out by guessing.

The first and most obvious one was a kind of protective shield, which was fortunate given all the Spearow. Then one of them was a move which calmed down one of the Pokémon she was in the middle of a battle with, which would have been great at stopping the Spearow if Latias had been using it at a point when there were only two or three Spearow instead of a whole cloud of them, and her actual attacking move was one that really didn't seem to do much at all.

Except make the Spearow mad.

They'd ended up having to flee at high speed, Latias giving Ash a ride, and both of them had plenty of peck marks from the experience.

"Sorry," Ash added, after some thought. "I really just thought being a Pokémon trainer would be easy, but I guess… being a trainer isn't just having a Pokémon. Lance and Bruno and the other Elite Four have strong Pokémon, but that's because they made their Pokémon strong… and because they know how to help their Pokémon in battle. And I don't know how to do that for you."

He reached out a hand. "But… now I know what I'm doing wrong, right? So let's make sure we do this properly. We'll make sure we get better."

Latias nodded. "Tiii-as!"

She took Ash's hand, floating up into the air and pulling him upright, then Ash let go and punched his fist into his other hand.

"So let's work on that!" he said. "We'll make that attack of yours stronger, and I'll get better at helping you out in a battle!"

"Laaa!" Latias agreed, nodding firmly.

---

The training session that resulted revealed how far they had to go, still, but Ash could feel that they were making progress by the end of the first hour. They didn't even stop when a thunderstorm rolled through, by mutual agreement, and then as the clouds parted Ash shaded his eyes to watch an amazing Pokémon with multicoloured wings fly across the sky.

Then a girl with a mangled bike accused him and Latias of going past her so fast that they'd blown her into the river, which was kind of embarrassing.

---

"I still don't get why you're following us," Ash told Misty, two days later in the middle of Viridian Forest.

"And I still don't get why you don't buy me a new bike!" Misty replied. "You've got such a rare Pokémon, you must have the money for it, they're not that expensive!"

"I didn't pay for Latias!" Ash objected. "I got her as my starter Pokémon, yeah, but Professor Oak had already given out the other three starters!"

Misty just kind of blinked at that, trying to picture what the other three starters would be for that, then they all looked up at a rustling sound.

"Maybe that's a Pokémon we can try and capture?" Ash suggested, glancing at Latias.

"It had better not be a bug!" Misty objected.

A moment later, a little blue Pokémon came bouncing out of the underbrush and looked at them curiously.

"Phaan?" it asked.

"Tii-as," Latias replied. "Laa-tias!"

"What Pokémon is that?" Ash asked, getting out his Pokédex.

Phanpy, the Pokédex replied, helpfully. It swings its long snout around and bumps with it as a sign of affection. However, it is so strong, it may send you flying.

"Cool!"Ash said, then the Phanpy bumped him with its snout.

Ash ended up upside down halfway up a tree, and one of the Pokéballs fell out of his bag. It rolled forwards, stopping halfway to Phanpy, and Phanpy bounced on their hooves for a moment before rolling forwards to copy the Pokéball.

This promptly ended up with Phanpy captured.

Misty and Latias exchanged a kind of astonished glance that crossed species barriers.

"...did… I just see that?" Misty demanded.

"As?" Latias replied, shrugging.

"I caught my first Pokémon!" Ash said, still tangled up in the tree. "Uh… Latias, little help here? Please?"

---

Phanpy was bouncy, affectionate, and quite willing to take part in training with Latias.

That mostly meant using his Rollout move to roll along the ground, making himself a harder target for Latias's attack (a move they'd eventually identified as Psywave) and that kept them occupied for some time… at least, until Misty pointed out that Ash shouldn't work his Pokémon too hard and should let them rest some of the time.

That then started another argument over whether Latias should rest in her Pokéball or not, with Misty making the point that Pokéballs were the best way to rest a Pokémon on the move and Latias explaining how she didn't want to, and really it was an argument that didn't actually involve Ash much one way or another.

"Whatever," Misty decided, eventually, with a huff. "Don't blame me if you're tired!"

Latias sniffed.

"It's up to her, right?" Ash said. "I mean, she can fly really fast, and she's just moving as fast as we are. This might not count as exercise at all… right?"

"I don't even know," Misty said. "Water Pokémon are my speciality. Though I suppose water Pokémon who were just floating wouldn't get tired…"

She looked thoughtful, and Ash turned back to the path to keep a watch out for any Bug-type Pokémon.

What he got was a sinuous blue-white blur slithering along the ground, through the trees – and right for him.

"Gah!" he yelped, reaching for the Pokéball on his belt. "Phanpy, I choose you!"

Phanpy came out, bounced on his feet, and was entirely unable to stop the long slender blur going right past him… and wrapping Ash in a noodly hug.

"...what?" Misty asked. "...that's a Dragonair. Ash, why are you being hugged by a Dragonair?"

"I don't know?" Ash replied, both hands held out as he tried not to fall over from how Dragonair's tail was tying his legs together. "Latias, do you – whoah!"

Ash lost the battle with gravity, and found himself on the floor with the Dragonair cooing at him.

"Phaan?" Phanpy asked, curiously, and Dragonair's tail uncurled enough to hug him as well. Then the Dragon-type looked up at Latias, before sighing.

"Can't Dragonair fly?" Ash asked, suddenly. "I swear I've seen Lance's Dragonair flying…"

"Aaair…" Dragonair said, sounding upset, and Ash glanced at Latias.

"Tii-la-ti-as," Latias declared.

"Phan phan!" Phanpy trumpeted, not wanting to be left out.

"Well, if you can't do it, maybe Latias can help you learn?" Ash suggested.

"Aair!" Dragonair nodded, eagerly.

"Okay, new theory," Misty decided. "Ash, you've got the weirdest luck I've ever seen… I guess the criminals with the hot air balloon back in Viridian make sense now."

She folded her arms. "Just… try and turn some of that luck into a bike!"

---

As soon as they got to Pewter City, Ash went straight to the Gym.

Then to the Pokémon Centre after Misty pointed out that it would be a good idea, but after that he went back to the gym.

"This feels so weird," he admitted, glancing at where Latias was invisible – since he wasn't going to use her first, and giving away what Pokémon he had seemed vaguely like a bad tactical idea. "I'm actually going to be having a gym battle!"

Latias squeaked, and a moment later the Gym Leader spoke up.

"Welcome to Pewter City Gym," he said. "I'm Brock, the Rock-Solid Pokémon Trainer and the Gym leader here! Where are you from, challenger?"

"I'm Ash Ketchum!" Ash introduced himself. "From Pallet Town!"

"You're not the first," Brock said. "Actually, you're the fourth! How many trainers are there from Pallet Town?"

"You mean all three of – even Gary?" Ash asked. "How did that happen?"

"We were lost in a forest for a week, Ash," Misty pointed out helpfully.

"Oh, yeah," Ash agreed. "Still, it let me train my new Pokémon!"

"Since this is your first gym battle, I'm going to make sure you understand the rules," Brock decided. "I'm going to use two Pokémon, but you can use up to three. As a Rock-type trainer, I'm required to mostly use Rock-type Pokémon, though in this case both of mine are. And if any of your Pokémon are in danger or upset, you should forfeit that match-up to be safe. That won't end your challenge… do you understand?"

"Yeah!" Ash said, nodding, then paused and actually thought about it.

And nodded.

"Yeah," he repeated, more quietly. "I get the idea… but this is going to be my first Gym Badge!"

"We'll see about that," Brock replied. "Send out your first Pokémon!"

He sent out a Geodude, and Ash replied with Phanpy.

"...um," Brock began, sounding curious, as Phanpy waved his trunk. "So… didn't Misty say you were lost in Viridian Forest for a week?"

"How do you know her name?" Ash said.

"Because-" Brock began.

"None of your business!" Misty declared quickly. "And yes, we were lost in the forest all week! There were so many bugs..."

"Then where did you get the… you know what, never mind," Brock decided. "Geodude, close in and use Seismic Toss!"

"Defence Curl and Rollout!" Ash replied. "Build up some speed so your attacks hit harder!"

"Phaan-py!" Phanpy cheered, using Rollout and speeding off, then Ash realized that with all the rock obstacles in the Gym he couldn't actually see what was going on all the time.

"Can you give me a lift?" he asked, and Latias hoisted Ash up by holding him under his arms so he could get a better view. "Okay, Phanpy – turn right, curve around – now, Rollout!"

Brock was somewhat distracted by how Ash was holding his arms out to the side and floating without any visible means of support, and Geodude got hit with a crash of elephant on rock.

"How…" the Gym Leader said, then shook his head. "Geodude – this one's serious! Gyro Ball!"

---

Gyro Ball helped out, but ultimately Phanpy built up too much momentum.

Specifically, he built up the momentum to knock both Pokémon out of the gym entirely on contact, and Brock shook his head.

"Since it's your first Gym Battle, I'll allow that, but doing it deliberately isn't a good idea," he said, helpfully. "That means you now have two Pokémon left and I've got one… ready?"

"Ready!" Ash agreed, returning Phanpy as the Ground-type came tottering back into the gym through the hole. "You'd better put me down now, it's your turn!"

Latias lowered Ash to the ground, then floated forwards, and Brock's jaw dropped as she unstealthed.

It made his sending out an Onix a little bit anticlimactic.

"How did you even…" he began.

"She's my starter Pokémon!" Ash explained. "Okay, Latias, ready?"

Latias glanced back at him, nodding, then Brock called for them to begin.

"Rock Throw!" he added, and Onix flicked a large rock at Latias.

"Dodge and use Charm!" Ash retorted.

Latias pirouetted gracefully out of the way of the attack, sliding sideways through the air, and spread her arms. "Aaas-tiii-latias? Ti-as!"

"Oon?" Onix asked.

"Charm again!" Ash told her. "You're doing great!"

"Bind!" Brock decided. "She's building up to something – catch her!"

"Get out of the way!" Ash warned. "Dodge – right! No, left!"

Latias zipped back and forth, taking two or three hits from Onix's tail and managing to look Charming while she did that, then Ash waved.

"Back here, Latias!" he called, and she flew back over to his side. "I'm calling her back but not using her Pokéball, she doesn't like it… that's okay, right?"

"You mean you're using your third Pokémon?" Brock asked, as Onix attempted to shake off a serious case of Squee. "I'm afraid to ask…"

"Dragonair, your turn!" Ash said, sending the other Dragon-type out. "Use Wrap!"

Dragonair used Wrap.

"I meant on Onix," Ash mumbled, and Dragonair tilted her head for a moment before looking embarrassed.

"Aiir," she said, uncoiling, then slithered across the floor to use Wrap on Onix.

Onix used Wrap back.

"...yeah, this could take a while," Misty said, rolling her eyes. "Any idea if the local Nurse joy knows how to undo knots?"

"I'm sure she does!" Brock said. "She's a paragon of loveliness!"

"What's a paragon?" Ash asked. "Is that a Pokémon I haven't heard of?"

---

On the other side of Mount Moon from Pewter City was Cerulean City, and once the group – now with Brock accompanying them – reached the city, Misty promptly decided that she had to go off and do… something.

She wasn't very clear about it, and Ash didn't ask in case it turned out to be girl stuff.

"So… what's the gym here, anyway?" Ash asked.

Brock stifled a laugh, and Ash glanced at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "What's funny about that?"

Latias squeaked.

"Don't you start," Ash sighed. "Anyway, Brock, I asked…"

"I'd have thought you'd know this, Ash," Brock explained. "This is a gym in your home region."

"...right," Ash realized. "That is true, I guess."

"Well, this is Cerulean City, which means the gym is Cerulean Gym," Brock said. "Naturally! But the type is that it's a Water-type gym."

Ash frowned, thinking, and glanced down at his belt with his two other Pokémon.

"You probably can't use Phanpy," Brock said. "It wouldn't be a good idea."

"That's not what I was thinking about," Ash said. "It's something else, actually… if it's a Water-type gym, then it's got to have a pool, right?"

"Well… yes?" Brock replied, thrown. "I think Cerulean has several, actually. But I don't think it's available for swimming."

"What about for Pokémon training?" Ash asked.

This didn't seem to explain things for Brock.

---

"Oh, a challenger!" one of three very similar looking women said, as Ash came in. "Unfortunately, we're not taking any more-"

"Ssh!" the second woman cut her off. "We have to take challengers! And your challenge is Seel!"

"A Seel, huh…" Ash asked, then shook his head as the Water-type scooted up. "But I'm not here to challenge the gym yet!"

This seemed to confuse Seel, who stuck his tongue out and revealed a Cascade Badge on it.

It also confused all three of the Gym Leaders.

"You're… not here to challenge us yet?" the third woman said. "Is it your friend, then?"

"The Sensational Sisters are sensational!" Brock declared, clearly only having eyes for the Gym Leaders. "Daisy, Lily, Violet, you're all beautiful!"

Seel stopped sticking his tongue out, because apparently nobody else was interested.

"I'm going to challenge you, but not yet," Ash explained. "First – can I use the pool for training one of my Pokémon?"

That seemed to be a bit of a puzzler, and Daisy, Lily and Violet talked amongst themselves.

As they did, Ash frowned.

"...do they have to take challengers?" he asked. "What if all their Pokémon were tired?"

"Gyms do need to have a certain minimum level of ability," Brock said, now that he wasn't distracted any more. "But you can say you're not taking any more battles and for a challenger to come back tomorrow."

"I guess that's not a problem," Violet said, speaking for all of them. "Just, uh… don't make too much of a mess?"

Then a door burst open, and Misty came in.

"I'll do your gym challenge, Ash!" she said.

"...what?" Ash asked, now as lost as everyone else.

---

Once that had been slightly cleared up, Ash sent out Dragonair, and all of Misty's sisters immediately cooed over her.

"Dragonair are such beautiful Pokémon!" Daisy said. "It's a real pity that they're not Water type!"

Dragonair cooed, then splashed into the water and went over to give them a hug.

"...why are you having Dragonair go swimming, anyway?" Misty asked.

"She can't fly, remember?" Ash replied. "But I got to thinking… swimming is like flying, right?"

Misty gave him a very confused look.

"No, it's not," she told him.

"You can float for both of them, right?" Ash asked, glancing up at Latias.

She nodded, and Misty huffed.

"Fine, fine, don't trust the Water-type expert," she said.

"Didn't you send out a Goldeen to battle in a Pokémon Centre when we met?" Ash asked.

"...I'm not used to battling on dry land, that's what that was about!" Misty objected. "But I don't get what your idea is."

"Okay, so…" Ash said, then waved Dragonair over. "Dragonair – let's try this first, okay?"

He pointed. "Swim down to the bottom of the pool, then back up again as fast as you can! You'll come out into the air!"

Misty blinked.

"What?" she asked, then managed to stand back just before the instructions resulted in everyone getting splashed.

Dragonair hung in the air for a moment, then splashed back into the water, and Ash nodded.

"Right!" he said. "Only, just kinda… stay up there! Latias, can you demonstrate?"

Latias plunged into the water herself, then splashed out again and hovered there, and Dragonair nodded in determination before diving and jumping again.

And again.

"This is stupid," Misty muttered. "Right, Brock?"

"Maybe, but it's working," Brock replied.

Misty did a double-take. "What?"

"Watch," Brock said,

Ash already knew what Brock meant.

Dragonair was coming out of the water with more force as she got used to it, but she was also managing to hang in the air. A bit at a time. Longer each time.

Then she sprang out one more time… and didn't come down.

"Great!" Ash said, applauding. "Well done, Dragonair!"

Then the Dragon-type hugged him, and it was his turn to fall into the water.

Latias giggled, then fetched them both out again.

---

"I still want a rematch," Misty grumbled, as they made their way through the woods.

Or what was probably their way, anyway.

"Are you still talking about that?" Ash replied. "It's been whole days since I beat you!"

"That was a draw," Misty declared, folding her arms. "Staryu's Rapid Spin broke out of Dragonair's hug, and I still had Starmie to use, while Latias can't really battle and Phanpy is no good in a water match… only the way those Team Rocket guys turned up meant you got the badge."

Latias made a hurt sound, sniffing and folding her arms.

"Latias is improving," Ash agreed. "Dragonair can't help teach her Dragon Tail, because she doesn't really have a tail and Dragonair is all tail, but she's faster now!"

"You really should try and get Latias a proper attacking move, though," Brock said, then frowned as they reached a river. "...huh."

"What's wrong?" Misty asked.

"Well – look at it," Brock said, pointing at the rickety bridge. "Is that the main road from Cerulean City to Vermillion City? Because I… really don't think it's the main road."

They looked at the bridge, which swayed in the breeze.

"...yeah, probably not," Ash admitted. "How come we're lost, Misty?"

"Me?" Misty demanded. "Why are you blaming me?"

"You're from Cerulean," Ash objected. "Have you never gone to Vermillion City before?"

"That's not important, Brock's the one with the map," Misty replied. "Besides, I used to take the train."

"Uh…" Brock began. "I was… expecting that you were leading us, Misty. Or that you'd say something if we took a wrong turn?"

Latias started giggling.

"Well, whether or not this is a wrong turn, we should cross the river, right?" Ash asked.

"No, of course not!" Misty countered. "We don't know where this road leads, and it's not to Vermillion!"

"How do you know that?" Ash challenged. "Anyway, it's going to lead to somewhere, right? And if we get somewhere then we can ask for directions!"

"Fine!" Misty declared.

"Fine!" Ash agreed.

Brock sighed.

"I could imagine exactly that conversation but with the names the other way around," he said, shaking his head.

"You take that back!" both younger trainers demanded, at the same time.

---

Once over the bridge – with only one case of Latias needing to fly down to rescue Brock when he nearly fell in the water – they continued on, hoping to find out where they were, in addition to hoping that they weren't actually going in entirely the wrong direction.

The road had to lead to somewhere, after all.

"I guess you're enjoying being able to fly?" Ash asked, glancing at Dragonair as she floated alongside them. "That's great!"

"Air!" Dragonair agreed, nodding enthusiastically, and the nod flowed down her body like a wave. "Dra-gon-aiiiir!"

Then the ground gave way beneath Ash, and he fell into a pit.

"Ash, are you okay?" Brock asked.

"Mostly just confused," Ash replied. "Who puts a pit trap on a road?"

"Someone who doesn't want guests," Misty suggested. "But this is really dangerous… now we've got even more reason to find out what's going on."

She looked worried. "Or maybe Team Rocket was doing it?"

"I kind of hope it was Team Rocket," Brock said, thoughtfully, as Latias and Dragonair hauled Ash out of the hole. "Because if they're digging pit traps to catch a Latias we probably don't need to worry about them much."

"True," Misty agreed. "But Team Rocket couldn't build the road this way, right?"

She frowned. "Especially because they couldn't know that we'd get lost."

"I don't know, they have met us," Brock said, thinking out loud. "All right, let's keep an eye out for any more traps."

---

Their journey took them down a road that went further and further into forest, and after the second trap they discussed it a bit and Ash asked Phanpy to roll ahead of them and look out for traps.

The Ground-type took to his new task with enthusiasm, trundling along and trumpeting happily to himself, and set off at least half a dozen traps before they finally came upon a house.

With a woman sitting out in front of it.

"Oh, hello," she said. "My name's-"

"Are you the one who made that road so dangerous?" Misty interrupted. "Ash fell in a pit! A rope trap caught us in a cage and we had to get Dragonair's help to get out of it! And I don't think there's any reason for the rolling logs."

"Rolling… oh, dear," the woman said, shaking her head. "No, some of them are mine, but not all. I wanted to keep trainers from coming here and capturing Pokémon, but… I didn't do the rolling logs, and I think I know who must have got carried away."

She looked sternly at them. "But while you're here, I have to ask you – no catching Pokémon. Pokémon come to me for help in recovering, and so this is a safe place for them."

"You're a Pokémon medic?" Ash asked. "I get it, but… isn't that what Pokémon Centres are for?"

"Some Pokémon aren't comfortable being around Pokémon centres," the woman explained. "Especially if they've been abandoned by humans before. My name's Melanie, and they trust me, but… that doesn't extend to all humans."

Brock looked amazed, but not in the way he'd looked with Misty's sisters.

Instead he looked… thoughtful.

"So you've dedicated yourself to Pokémon medicine?" he asked. "That's interesting… it's one of the things I've thought about. But I've never been sure if I could find the time for a qualification."

"I don't have a qualification, but I've learned a lot by asking," Melanie explained. "I couldn't do anything advanced like they can do in a Pokémon centre, and sometimes I do have to take them to a centre if it's serious, but most of the time it's just making sure they don't hurt themselves and keeping them safe while they heal on their own."

Latias nodded to herself. "Tiii…"

"Phan!" Phanpy said, bouncing on his hooves. "Pyyy?"

Melanie looked thoughtful. "You've got a very strange assortment of Pokémon… is one of them invisible? One of those noises didn't sound right."

Latias revealed herself, waving, and Melanie's eyes widened.

"Yes, I understand," she said. "I think… who is your trainer, Latias?"

Latias pointed at Ash.

Phanpy had missed the exact question, but pointed at Ash with his trunk because pointing at Ash was a lot of fun.

And Dragonair hugged Ash, because that was sort of her whole thing.

"I think I can trust you," Melanie decided. "And… there's something I'd like to ask for your help with. You see, one of the Pokémon here is very strong, and they've been keeping the hidden village… a bit too safe."

"Why is too safe a bad thing?" Ash asked, curious.

"Because the Pokémon aren't supposed to stay here permanently, I'd guess," Brock suggested. "But if it's too safe, then that just means the Hidden Village gets more and more Pokémon… coming here to heal is fine, but you don't want them to just stay here forever."

"Exactly," Melanie said. "And if there's anyone who I think I can trust to be a good trainer to my friend, it's someone who has a Legendary Pokémon."

She whistled, and there was a peculiar sound off in the distance.

Ash looked curious.

"Which one's the Legendary?" he asked.

Misty and Brock exchanged a glance of I-thought-you-must-have-mentioned-it, then sighed.

"That's Ash for you," Misty said.

"Yeah," Brock agreed. "But… Melanie, you do know that Pokémon can get out of Pokéballs if they want to, right? Or refuse to come out?"

Melanie looked embarrassed.

"I did not, no," she said.

Then what was probably a Pokémon came hurrying over.

"...what Pokémon is that?" Brock asked, staring, as a green-bodied Pokémon with a blue and vaguely piscine head came bounding up before skidding to a halt in front of them.

"Dracooo-vish!" the Pokémon declared.

Ash held up his Pokédex, which beeped.

Unknown, it stated. Please record all the information you can on this Pokémon.

"Sure thing!" Ash agreed.

"Dracovish, this trainer is one of the good ones," Melanie said. "Do you want to-"

Dracovish nodded before Melanie had finished speaking, then began nibbling curiously on Ash's head.

"Are you sure that's one Pokémon?" Misty said. "Instead of two?"

Melanie shrugged. "I don't have any specific qualifications," she replied.

Notes:

Another one of those ideas that could turn into a full length fic, like Boons and Companions. In this, I took the list of all Pokémon who were Ash's (going by the wiki box) and added two Travelled With (Larvitar and Latias) then… randomized them.

Chapter 33: Pokemon Shuffle - 2

"Guys!" Ash called, from behind the others. "Dracovish learned Water Gun!"

"Water Gun," Misty repeated, thinking. "That sounds like they might be a Water-type."

She glanced at Brock. "Admittedly I'd already assumed that they were a Dragon-type, but I guess they could be Water-type as well. About the only clue we've got at this point is the name and how they look."

"Huh, I guess that makes sense," Ash said. "Watch! Dracovish, Water Gun!"

The cheerful Pokémon jumped up and down. "Dracoooo-vish!" they declared, then spat out a jet of water, and knocked a branch off a tree.

"...that was surprisingly powerful," Misty said. "It's almost a pity the Vermillion City gym is Electric-type… though, actually, Dracovish wouldn't be all that bad a choice if you didn't have Phanpy and Dragonair and Latias."

She sighed. "You have such a weird team."

Ash patted Dracovish on the head, and the Dragon-type (?) made a cooing noise.

"I think it's great that they're so strong!" he said. "I know we've still got to work on a good fighting style, though. Like how Phanpy uses his speed and Dragonair loves hugs!"

"I can't deny it, it's a good point," Brock nodded. "That's part of becoming a good Pokémon trainer, and it's good that you've learned it so quickly, Ash."

"I guess with a Latias he didn't have much choice," Misty said. "Especially with the moves she knows."

Latias decloaked for long enough to put her hands about where her hips were and huff, which drew a laugh from Ash.

"I think she was being polite, Latias!" he reassured her. "...you were being polite, right?"

"I was being polite to her," Misty said.

Latias giggled, and Ash frowned.

"...hey!" he complained, after a moment of thinking. "Okay, so what should I work on with Dracovish, then?"

Misty slowed, turning to look at the Water-type, and Latias quietly vanished in another shimmer of blue light.

"I guess… physical moves? They look like they're strong," she said. "Water Gun can be powerful, don't get me wrong, but being able to physically hit an opponent is sometimes more important. It's more tricky for fish-like Water-type Pokémon because they need to build up momentum underwater, but Goldeen's got some moves that do that…"

She frowned, thinking about the question seriously, then they turned a corner and Brock stopped.

"Look," he said, distracting both his friends, and they looked. Ahead of them was a large rock, about eight feet high, and there was a strange lizard Pokémon on top of it.

"What Pokémon is that?" Ash asked, raising his Pokédex.

"Not a Water-type," Misty said. "That's the extent of my knowledge."

"I don't think it's from around here," Brock volunteered.

Scraggy, the Pokédex provided. The Shedding Pokémon. The lower half of Scraggy's body is covered by a tough rubbery skin, and when someone makes eye contact it responds with-

Scraggy launched himself off the rock, hitting Ash in the chest, then backflipped up to the rock.

-Headbutt, the Pokédex finished.

"Scraggy are from Unova," Brock said, thoughtfully, as Latias helped Ash up again. "I wonder what one's doing here?"

Misty coughed, waving in Ash's general direction.

"...Scraggy are usually found in Unova," Brock amended.

"So what's this one doing here?" Ash asked. "Are you lost?"

Scraggy huffed, looking away and closing his eyes.

"Latias?" Ash asked. "Does Scraggy seem like he needs help?"

Latias made a curious noise, then floated up and asked. "Tiii-as?"

"Scra!" Scraggy insisted. "Gy-ggy-scraggy!"

"Tii-la-tias," Latias provided, shrugging.

"I guess not, then," Ash decided.

---

Ash's attitude lasted roughly until they reached a Pokémon Centre, and the friends overheard someone bragging about his imported Pokémon.

"...thing is, what they don't tell you about some of these Pokémon is that they're difficult," he said. "Like, there was this Scraggy who kept hitting me in the chest whenever I looked at him!"

He laughed. "Well, I just left him on a rock and told him that I'd be back. Little brat's probably wandered off now, and good riddance-"

"Hey!" Ash protested. "What's the big idea?"

"What?" the trainer replied, glancing over. "What is it, squirt?"

"You mean you abandoned Scraggy and told him you'd be back for him?" Ash asked, loudly enough that the Nurse Joy started paying attention. "What kind of trainer are you?"

The older boy snorted.

"Shut up, kid," he said. "I'm a way better trainer than you are. What have you got, anyway?"

Latias, knowing a good cue when she heard one, promptly unstealthed.

Dragonair came out of her Pokéball, mostly just to glare crossly, then Nurse Joy came out from behind the counter.

"Is what he said correct?" she asked, looking sternly at the older boy. "You abandoned a Pokémon?"

"No," the boy replied. "This kid's just trying to get me in trouble."

Ash clenched his fist, then glanced at his two flying dragons.

"We'll have to bring Scraggy over here so he can explain!" he said. "Come on!"

"Ash-" Misty began, but Ash was already charging out the door. Latias followed, zipping through the door before it closed, and Dragonair pointed her tail at her own eyes, then at the other boy, before following Ash.

"...I was going to say the weather forecast predicted rain," Misty went on, then turned to the Joy. "But yes, I overheard him saying it."

"She's lying as well," the boy replied. "I don't even have a Scraggy."

"All right, can I see your trainer card?" Joy requested.

The boy looked suddenly less sure of himself. "Uh…"

---

By the time Ash got back the next morning, wet and bedraggled but triumphant, Damian had already been arrested.

But Ash got a new team member out of it, so that was all right then.

---

"So!" Ash said, the next day, as they continued down the road. "I know you're great at headbutts-"

"Scrag!" Scraggy said, bouncing up and down, then tried to demonstrate.

Ash caught him out of the air, and laughed.

"Yeah, like that!" he agreed, putting the Fighting-type down again. "You hit hard, which is great! But I'm trying to think about… you know, how you can battle better! And what fits with the way you already do things."

"...ggy, scragg?" Scraggy asked, sounding like he was definitely listening.

"The first thing I thought of was… how to defend yourself," Ash explained. "Sometimes you won't be able to hit someone so hard you win in one blow, after all."

Scraggy puffed himself up, and muttered something that sounded like he could too do that, thank you very much.

"How much is this like how you train Pokémon at your gym?" Misty asked, curious.

"Well, normally I'm focused on durability, because Pewter is a Rock gym," Brock answered. "Though admittedly Zubat is a bit of a departure from that… but, anyway, where I come from is a position of endurance first. That's always seemed to me like it's more tactical, because it gives you more time to think – if your Pokémon goes down in the first hit, you have to come up with an answer and do it before you even get hit."

Misty nodded.

"And Ash?" she pressed.

"I'm not sure normal procedure really applies, with Ash," Brock said. "But he's starting from the other side of things – he has a Pokémon who's already good at attacking, and he's thinking about how to give them more options. That's actually different from Latias, who's very defensive, for example – she's a bit more like what I'd normally do."

"What about dodging?" Ash asked. "Latias knows Psywave, and you're a Dark-type! So it's safe to practice dodging that way… how does that sound?"

Latias squeaked an agreement, and Scraggy looked interested.

"I guess that's good news!" Ash said, pleased. "Okay, let's try it!"

Scraggy ran ahead, turned around, and bounced up and down with excitement.

"Okay, uh… I guess I should be telling Scraggy to dodge, not Latias to fire, right?" Ash checked. "Because Scraggy is who I'd be working with… Latias, can you appear, okay?"

Latias decloaked, then used Psywave, and Ash pointed.

"Dodge left!"

---

Things got a bit more complicated when Dracovish got involved as well, since they weren't immune to Psywave, but they didn't seem to mind being hit anyway. It quickly turned into a game, with Ash trying to spot which of his other Pokémon Latias was aiming for and getting them to dodge out of the way as soon as he realized, while Latias tried to disguise which Pokémon she was actually going to aim at.

Then the ground gave way, and all three humans fell in a hole.

"Ow," Misty mumbled. "What is it with pit traps around here?"

Latias hovered over the hole, looking worried, and Scraggy and Dracovish peered over the edge as well. Then there was a noise as Ash picked himself up, and Latias hurriedly stealthed herself again.

"Viiish!" Dracovish said, waving cheerfully, and Scraggy puffed himself up.

"Scra! Ggy!" he said, launching himself across the pit, and hit something with a hollow thump before bouncing off. Ash caught him, then looked up out of the pit, and a whole collection of weird Pokémon lined up at the place Scraggy had bounced off from.

"What Pokémon are those?" Ash asked.

"Well, they're from Unova, just like Scraggy," Brock replied. "They're Roggenrola, which are kind of like Geodude? But I have no idea what they're doing here."

"Ro!" one of them said, loudly, and the others backed her with a chant of "-genROLA!"

"You have no idea what they're doing, huh?" Misty asked. "Personally I'm starting to think all those school lessons on what Pokémon lived where were just wrong."

"Did you dig this pit?" Ash asked the Roggenrola, and got a response that amounted to chuckling. "Well, why?"

"Gen!" the lead Roggenrola said, bouncing up and down. "Ro-ggen-rola! A!"

"...uh," Ash admitted. "I was kind of hoping to work out why from the way they said it…"

Then the Rock-types all scattered, and an Officer Jenny appeared at the edge of the hole.

"Are you guys okay?" she called.

"I am now that an angel's come to rescue-" Brock began, then got headbutted by Scraggy.

"Ignore him," Misty advised. "Ash, can one of your Pokémon get us out? I don't think we need help with getting out of the hole, but we could use some information on what's going on with those Roggenrola."

---

Dracovish eventually pulled them out, once Latias had explained the concept, and then Jenny gave them an explanation of what had happened.

Brock was right, and the Roggenrola weren't native to the area. They'd been brought in because of a fad, then abandoned when the fad wore off, and now they were just going around causing trouble and playing pranks on everyone.

"...I wonder why they're playing pranks on everyone?" Ash said, thinking out loud. "If they weren't happy, you'd think they'd try to get help, right? But if they didn't like people, then maybe they wouldn't try and get help, but if they don't like people then they could just live in the wild, huh?"

He glanced at the others, and at his Pokémon. "Is that making sense?"

Latias shrugged slightly.

"Phaaaan?" Phanpy asked, scratching his head with his trunk.

Dragonair made a twisting motion, curling herself into a question mark, then giggled.

"Ggy!" Scraggy said, hands on hips. "Scra-ggy!"

Dracovish was just happy to be here.

"So, what does that mean?" Brock asked. "Are you going to try and sort this out?"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "I'm going to go and talk to them!"

"How?" Misty asked. "They ran off, and if these… what did you call them?"

"Rowdy Rocks," Jenny provided.

Misty nodded her thanks. "If these Rowdy Rocks are causing trouble, wouldn't the locals have stopped them if they knew where to find them?"

"Maybe!" Ash replied. "But I'm going to try anyway!"

"How?" Misty repeated.

"I'm just going to wander around until I find another pit trap!" Ash said, setting off.

Jenny blinked at him, then at the two Gym Leaders.

"...is that normal?" she asked.

"No, it's Ash," Brock replied.

---

Twelve minutes later, Ash was in another hole.

"...what I'm asking is, is this what you guys want?" he asked. "Because… look, I know that people haven't treated you well. But not all humans are the same! Not all Pokémon are the same, either, most Pokémon don't dig pit traps."

"Viiish!" Dracovish provided.

"Yeah, Dracovish does, but Phanpy doesn't!" Ash agreed. "I think. You don't dig pits, right Phanpy?"

Phanpy shook his head, giggling.

The Roggenrola exchanged glances, having a muttered conversation.

"Gen!" the leader said, eventually. "Rog-gen-rola?"

"Well, why not get help from Officer Jenny?" Ash suggested. "She sounded really upset about what happened to you… and abandoning Pokémon isn't really something that should happen, but if it does happen then the important thing is making sure the Pokémon is okay. They shouldn't be hurt by anything like this."

He shrugged. "I guess I just want to know… is this what you want to do? To play pranks? Or do you… want something else?"

---

"Somehow, I'm not surprised," Misty muttered, as they left town again. "Ash, are any of your Pokémon going to be normal?"

"Maybe?" Ash said, frowning. "I don't know? I guess if I got a Pidgey or something…"

He beamed. "But now I have six Pokémon! And it seems like the town and Roggenrola both learned a lesson – that's great, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," Brock said, thoughtfully. "Though I think the lesson was mostly about how useful Sturdy was, as an ability…"

He shrugged. "Well, at least it worked out okay. And that's a powerful Pokémon you've got there, Ash."

"You're not proud that she's a Rock-type, right?" Misty asked.

"I'm trying not to be visibly jealous," Brock replied. "Though I really need to find out if Onix or Geodude can learn Flash Cannon…"

---

"...all I'm saying, Ash, is that you really need to catch a Pokémon in the normal way," Misty said. "Just to prove you can do it."

"The normal way," Ash repeated, thinking. "What is the normal way, anyway?"

He pointed at Brock. "Brock caught Zubat by throwing a Pokéball, does that count?"

"I-" Misty began, then looked extremely concerned. "...hold on, I need to work out what answer is best for my argument."

She began muttering under her breath. "Uh… so… if Ash catches several Pokémon that way and Brock catches… then…"

Ash frowned, then glanced at Latias and Brock. "What do you two think?"

Latias giggled.

"I've got an answer!" Misty declared. "If you actually throw the Pokéball, or have a battle, that counts as the normal way! Because otherwise one of you would tell me that I was the only one who'd ever caught a Pokémon the normal way."

"Which ones did you catch that way?" Ash asked, curious.

"...shut up," Misty replied.

"Okay," Ash replied. "But I still think it counts if I catch the Pokémon one of those ways you don't think counts."

"Of course you'd think that," Misty grumbled.

Ash was already looking around for a Pokémon, and Brock chuckled.

"I wonder if he'll find one before we reach Bill's lighthouse?" he asked.

Then blinked.

"Wait, hang on, we're talking about Ash. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if he discovered another new Pokémon."

"Hey, there's one!" Ash said, throwing a Pokéball at a Pokémon in the bushes.

The Pokéball sailed right over the head of the bush he'd aimed at, and all three humans stared.

Latias materialized, and stared too.

"...so, uh… did you actually practice throwing a Pokéball, before you set out?" Brock asked.

"That's something to practice?" Ash said.

"It's an important skill," Misty told him. "Something you should remember, Ash!"

"Hey, cut me some slack!" Ash protested, then a brown-and-grey canine Pokémon came bounding up to them and dropped Ash's Pokéball at his feet.

The Pokémon raised a paw, panting. "R-uff!"

"What Pokémon is that?" Ash asked, holding up his Pokédex, and picked up the Pokéball.

Rockruff, his Pokédex declared. The Puppy Pokémon. A Rock-type, Rockruff have lived with humans since ancient times.

Ash listened to the explanation, then Latias waved. "Tiii-as, Lat-!"

"Huh?" Ash asked, looking at her, then down at Rockruff. The Rock-type was prancing back and forth, staring at Ash's Pokéball, and Ash frowned for a moment before realizing.

"Oh, I get it!" he said, and threw the Pokéball again. Rockruff immediately went bounding off to catch the ball, paws throwing up little specks of dust and sand, then Ash glanced at Brock.

"So what's the difference between the two kinds of Lycanroc that the Pokédex mentioned?" he asked. "They sound like Rock-types, do you know?"

"One of them has four legs, the other has two," Brock summarized, as Rockruff brought the Pokéball back again and Ash picked it up. "That's the biggest difference, but there's others."

Ash's third throw went up, and Rockruff ran off again – looking up, tracking the ball on the ground, then springing into the air to snag the ball out of the air.

It bounced off her nose, and she vanished into it.

A moment later, the Pokéball vanished.

Ash blinked, then grinned.

"I did catch a Pokémon the right way!" he said. "Right, Misty?"

"I…" Misty said, mouth open, then shook her head. "I just… I don't have the words. I don't have time to…"

She groaned. "All right, Ash. I walked into that one, but… I have to give you that, at least…"

---

Once they reached Vermillion, Ash talked to Professor Oak, then sent him Dracovish in return for Rockruff to get to know her.

Professor Oak just sort of stared at Dracovish for a few seconds, then shook his head, and the call ended.

"So, Ash, have you decided how you're going to handle the Vermillion Gym?" Brock asked.

"Not really," Ash replied. "I've got some ideas, but I don't really know much about the Gym Leader."

He glanced at Latias. "He was, uh… Surge, right?"

Latias shrugged.

"Oh, yeah," Ash admitted. "Sorry, Latias!"

Then the doors of the Pokémon Centre opened, and someone ran in.

"Nurse, can you help?" a young trainer asked, handing over their Nidoran, and Nurse Joy took the lapine Pokémon.

"Not another one…" the Joy sighed, putting them down to scan, and the trainer did a kind of push-up on the counter to watch.

"Another what?" Brock said.

"It's Lt. Surge," Joy answered, absently. "So many trainers with young Pokémon come in with them being injured, these days…"

"That is not how a gym leader should do things!" Misty said, shocked. "Nurse, please tell me I'm not understanding right – are you telling me that Lt. Surge is doing this?"

Joy nodded, slowly, as her Chansey got to work.

"You should be complaining about this-" Misty began.

"That's awful!" Ash interrupted. "Why is he doing it?"

Latias made a distressed noise, and Joy glanced up.

"Oh, you have a Latias?" she asked. "That's… actually sort of relevant, my cousin Joy is a Gym Inspector but I haven't been able to get in touch with her. She's got a Latias as well… but the last time Surge was inspected, he didn't have any problems."

The nurse looked thoughtful, while Latias squeaked.

"Ti-aas?" she asked. "Lati-tii-as?"

"It is kind of cool that your cousin has a Latias," Ash said. "But how come he didn't have any problems? What's a Gym Leader supposed to be like?"

"What I think is going on is that… Surge doesn't like Pokémon who haven't evolved," Joy clarified. "He insists on evolving his Pokémon as soon as possible – his signature Pokémon is a Raichu."

"Then…" Ash began. "Uh… do you know what moves his Raichu has?"

"He's strong," the young trainer said. "He punched Nidoran across the room…"

Ash looked down at his belt, then sent out Rockruff. The Rock-type immediately jumped up at him, yipping, and Ash patted her.

"I've got an idea, and you might help," he said. "But you're probably not going to go first, okay?"

Rockruff yipped, sounding okay with that, and her tail wagged back and forth eagerly.

Ash reached up, adjusting his cap and turning it backwards. "I'll show this Surge guy what Pokémon that haven't evolved can do!"

"Really?" Misty asked. "I guess… it would be a great thing to watch, actually, but how?"

"...I'm kind of working on that," Ash admitted. "Actually, can you guys give me some help? I want to be sure I'm ready…"

---

"I'm challenging you!" Ash said, after the appropriate amount of prep work, pointing dramatically at Lt. Surge.

"What, really?" Surge asked, stifling a laugh. "A baby trainer with a baby Pokémon?"

Latias made a cross squeaking noise, and Rockruff's eager tail-wagging turned into a growl.

"What does it matter if a Pokémon is little or not?" Ash asked. "They're a Pokémon anyway!"

"Sure, sure, but I'm a Gym Leader!" Surge insisted. "My job is to beat people whose Pokémon aren't strong enough, and show them how much stronger they need to get. And I hope you realize that my best attacks are going to work just fine on a Rock-type, because you need a Ground-type to resist electric attacks!"

"You haven't even checked how many badges Ash has," Brock pointed out. "You're supposed to give an appropriate challenge, not try to put all the unevolved Pokémon you face in the hospital!"

"Yeah, whatever, kid," Surge said, with a snort. "You're not at your gym any more, don't try and tell me how to run mine!"

"I really hope this works," Misty muttered.

"So what's the challenge?" Ash asked. "I'm going to earn a Thunder badge from you!"

"Don't say it before it happens, pipsqueak," Surge snorted. "One on one. You beat my Raichu, and I'll give you the badge… but when you lose, you'd better accept that you need an evolved Pokémon to deal with me."

"Normal rules, apart from that?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, whatever," Surge said. "Of course it is, that's why it's called normal rules – they're what you normally do!"

Surge sent out his Raichu, and Rockruff glanced at Ash.

Ash crouched down for a moment, whispering to her and giving her a pat… then returned her, and sent out Roggenrola instead.

"...huh," Surge frowned. "I actually don't know that one."

He shrugged. "Whatever. It looks like a Rock-type… Raichu, hit it with Iron Tail!"

"Sandstorm!" Ash replied, and a whirl of sand immediately filled the air. "And Stone Edge!"

"Sand – faugh!" Surge coughed. "Just aim your tail wherever, you'll hit it sooner or later!"

The Electric-type lumbered forwards, tail glowing, and they could hear swishing sounds as the tail swished through the air. After almost twenty seconds, there was the sudden whack as Raichu finally found his target and slammed into Roggenrola with an Iron Tail attack. The sound of the blow was immensely powerful, hitting Roggenrola in the side with a smack – but Ash grinned.

"Now!" he said, suddenly. "Stone Edge!"

"Rog!" Roggenrola shouted. Then there was a crash, and Raichu went flying up into the air, out of the sandstorm itself, and flipped over before starting to fall.

"Keep it up!" Ash said. "Flash Cannon!"

"Uh – Thunderbolt!" Surge called.

Raichu used Thunderbolt, but Roggenrola had – sensibly enough – moved out of the way, and Raichu couldn't see where she was. Instead, the Thunderbolt gave her a great target for her own Flash Cannon, then another Stone Edge attack.

"And knock him out the door!" Ash said, finally, as the slightly dazed Raichu fell back into the sandstorm.

"What?" Surge demanded, then Raichu emerged from the sandstorm cloud once more. He went sailing past Latias and right out the Gym doors, bouncing once and rolling to a stop outside.

"Raichu has left the field!" Brock said, as the sandstorm dissipated.

"You little punk!" Surge snapped, then paused.

Took a deep breath.

"All right," he said, slowly. "I guess… maybe you've got a point. I sure underestimated your little Pokémon."

"Does that mean you're going to stop trying to hurt other Pokémon?" Ash demanded. "Is it really that important to you?"

"Roggg-enrola!" Roggenrola added, firmly, then did the I'm-watching-you gesture.

It was really a very impressive bit of gesturing for a Pokémon with one eye and no arms.

Raichu came stomping back in, complaining, then Surge raised his voice. "Raichu, attention!"

The Electric-type stood upright, looking confused but attentive, and Surge recalled him.

"Yeah, maybe," the Gym Leader added. "But… still-"

Latias decloaked, and waved.

"-oh crud she's not here, is she?" Surge asked, looking around nervously.

"Latias is one of my Pokémon," Ash said.

"But if you were so worried about having a Pokémon League inspector show up, that means you know you're doing something wrong," Misty pointed out.

"How do you know that?" Ash asked, curious.

"We've got siblings," Brock and Misty chorused.

---

"That's great!" Ash said, as Rockruff came loping back over and dropped the ball. "Great work, both of you!"

Phanpy blew his trumpet, and Rockruff yipped companionably at him before sitting on her haunches and tilting her head to the side. "Roo-ck? Rockruff?"

She gestured at the ball, then at Phanpy, asking if Ash was going to roll the ball again for Phanpy to hit and her to fetch.

"I… don't think so," Ash replied, a bit awkwardly. "The next Gym we're going to is the Grass-type gym, and you'd both have trouble there."

"Phaan," Phanpy sighed, then perked up. "Py?"

"I'm still thinking about who to use," Ash admitted. "But I don't want to make the same mistake I did at Saffron."

"Yeah, that was weird," Misty admitted. "Well, not the bit where you didn't pick the right Pokémon at first. That's kind of understandable."

Rockruff whined slightly, and Ash put his hands on his hips.

"What's that meant to mean, Misty?" he asked. "Rockruff did okay!"

"She did," Misty said, gentling her criticism slightly. "And then she lost, and we got turned into dolls until Latias helped out!"

Latias squeaked.

"Yeah, what I should have done is sent out Scraggy the first time," Ash conceded. "But still!"

"But still what?" Misty replied. "You had a Dark-type and you forgot him when battling a Psychic gym!"

"Only the first time," Ash protested.

"I think what Misty's trying to say, Ash, is that you sometimes do well with Pokémon in… unusual situations," Brock tried, delicately. "And that sometimes you forget which Pokémon types are effective against one another."

"That's not all I was saying," Misty muttered.

"Okay, then what else are you saying?" Ash asked.

"I still don't think you're a very… normal… trainer," Misty said. "And sure, sometimes that really works out for you, but sometimes it doesn't! I mean, look at your Pokémon!"

Ash looked at them.

Dragonair was coiled up, snoozing, and Scraggy was leaning against her coils with his eyes closed. Roggenrola, for her part, had just looked up (or… listened up) from where she was discussing something with Geodude, and Latias tilted her head in confusion.

"Aas?" she asked.

Rockruff barked.

"I don't get it," Ash replied. "What's the problem?"

"There isn't a problem with your Pokémon," Misty said. "They're all nice, if… odd. But you don't have any Pokémon from Kanto!"

Ash looked at her in confusion.

"Yeah, they are," he replied. "I met them all here in Kanto! I guess maybe Scraggy came from somewhere else, but…"

"I mean they're not-" Misty began, then shook her head.

"Does it matter?" Brock asked.

"Well, maybe not, but… it's weird, right?" Misty resumed. "You don't think maybe that's why that Team Rocket keeps turning up?"

"I guess it's possible," Ash admitted. "So what do I do, then?"

"I don't know!" Misty said. "I just think it's weird!"

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Misty?" Brock warned.

"...why wouldn't it be?" Misty replied.

"I guess…" Ash said, thoughtfully.

Rockruff perked up, suddenly, then barked. "R-uff!"

"Huh?" Ash said, looking down.

"Rooock-ruff!" Rockruff said, pointing, and Ash followed her paw.

There was a Pikachu peering at them over a rock.

"...huh!" Ash said, taking out a Pokéball, then paused. "Hey, Misty, is that a Pokémon from Kanto?"

"...uh," Mist began. "Because, I wouldn't normally see them in this part of Kanto, but… yeah, that is a Pokémon from Kanto."

"Great!" Ash declared.

"Ka?" the Pikachu asked, then Ash threw a Pokéball at him. He yelped, ducking behind the rock, then sprang up again and hit the ball right back at Ash's face.

"Wha-!" Ash began, then got hit by the Pokéball. He staggered backwards and fell over, and his hat fell off.

"Rock!" Rockruff barked.

"Ti-aas!" Latias said, zipping down to Ash, then the Pikachu came darting over and snagged Ash's hat.

"Huh – hey!" Ash protested, shaking his head. "Give that back!"

"Pika-chuuu, Pikapi!" the Pikachu replied, sticking his tongue out, then dodged away from Ash's swipe. "Chuu!"

"...okay, this is going badly," Misty admitted. "Wow. How did you know, Brock?"

"I didn't," Brock replied.

Ash got out his Pokédex. "So, uh… what's this Pokémon, again? Maybe I'm not doing this right…"

The Pokédex beeped.

This Pokémon is wearing its Trainer's cap, it said. Since the cap's not the right size, the fit is a bit loose. The cap is a precious symbol of a fateful encounter.

Ash blinked.

"...huh," he said. "Wait, that makes it sound like I'm your trainer?"

Pikachu's ears flicked, and he held onto the cap with one paw as he nodded. "Pi-kaaa, Pikapi!"

"I don't believe this," Misty said.

Ash got out the Pokéball, and promptly got electrocuted.

"Ti-aaas!" Latias squeaked. "Lati-ti-tias!"

"Chuu," Pikachu replied, sticking his tongue out.

"...okay, no Pokéball then," Ash decided, coughing. "...I… might need to ask Professor Oak about that…"

---

Fortunately, Professor Oak said it was quite possible to register Pikachu as one of Ash's Pokémon without actually using a Pokéball, if Pikachu was so opposed to them, but not having a Pokéball did mean that it wouldn't be possible to transfer Pikachu by the Pokémon Transfer System.

Pikachu shrugged. "Chuu!"

"I guess that's fine," Ash agreed. "If Pikachu doesn't mind, anyway."

"Ruff-rockruff!" Rockruff said.

Pikachu shrugged again. "Kaa-chu."

That seemed to be all that needed to be said on that front. Though Ash was wondering if maybe he should get a second hat.

Notes:

Some more of this Pokémon Shuffle story.

Oh, hey, it's Pikachu!

Chapter 34: Strats

"Silence!" Primal Dialga roared, slamming his hoof on the ground, and echoes and ripples of distorted time pulsed out from the point of contact.

He glowered at the two Pokémon in front of him.

"For all those who threaten Temporal Tower… I will show no mercy!"

"This isn't good!" Vulpix fretted, as Dialga roared. "What do we do?"

She glanced at her friend, and blinked.

The Riolu had just pulled something out of their bag, wound up, and threw it at Dialga.

Vulpix had just enough time to spot that it was – a seed? - before it went straight into Dialga's mouth.

"How did you-" she began.

"After so much practice throwing Pokéballs, that was easy!" Riolu replied, most of his attention on Dialga, as the huge Dragon-type looked puzzled and made a face.

Then gulped.

"You dare-" the Legendary began, then shivered slightly and froze in place.

"Great!" Riolu declared, taking another seed out of their pack on the run and swallowing it as he ran right up to Dialga's nearest, massive, hoof. He adjusted his footing slightly, then red light flowed over him as the Violent Seed took effect, and he drew back his fist.

"Focus… PUNCH!" he shouted.

Dialga shook off the effect of the Stun Seed exactly as the Focus Punch hit, and Vulpix stared in awe as her partner punched the Legendary so hard he went through the wall of Temporal Tower.

"Didn't see that coming, did you?" Riolu asked, then glanced at Vulpix. "What do you think? Do you think that will have made Dialga calm down?"

"...I have no idea," Vulpix admitted. "He might be unconscious."

She tilted her head. "What happens when time is unconscious?"

Riolu shrugged.

"We can probably put the gears back," he suggested. "Even if he isn't unconscious then the tower's got a lot of floors."

 

Notes:

Plz Nerf.

Chapter 35: Gen 2 Moon Ball

"Thanks!" Ash said, inspecting his share of the Pokéballs they'd just been given. "These look amazing!"

"I'm glad you think so," Kurt replied, with a smile. "You can find modern Pokéballs just about anywhere, but I deal in unusual choices. Bespokéballs, if you will."

Brock laughed, but Ash just looked confused.

"...right?" he said. "So, uh… what do these do? What are they called?"

"That grey one with the blue dots on it is a Heavy Ball," Kurt explained. "It works especially well on heavy Pokémon, like the name says."

"Like… an Onix, right?" Ash asked. "Or something like that? That's kind of cool."

"Pika ka-chuu," Pikachu volunteered.

"Yeah, it does seem like a shame I didn't have one of these when I got Snorlax!" Ash agreed. "What about this orange and yellow one?"

"That's a Fast Ball," Kurt told him. "It's especially good at catching-"

"-fast Pokémon?" Ash asked.

"...actually, it's especially good at catching Pokémon that can run away," Kurt said. "Or, at least… Magnemite, Tangela and Grimer are the ones I know it works on. It's a bit hard to test on the others, they run away first."

He shrugged. "But they still look good, right?"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed.

"So this is mostly just marketing?" Misty said.

"It's not just that, it's part of a tradition," Kurt objected. "And when a Pokémon is caught in one of my special Pokéballs, it knows you put some thought into it. That Pikachu of yours… actually, bad example."

"Pika," Pikachu said, nodding.

"Pikachu doesn't like his Pokéball," Ash admitted. "But maybe you would like one of the other designs, right?"

Pikachu zapped him.

"I guess not," Ash decided, as Togepi giggled, then shook his head. "Then, uh… what about this one, with the blue and red?"

"A Lure Ball!" Kurt said. "Now that's the kind of Pokéball that a fisher should treasure. It works especially well on Pokémon that have been fished up, or come out of the water recently!"

"Good, I've got one," Misty declared. "Actually, Ash, can I have your one as well?"

"I catch Water-types sometimes, Misty!" Ash objected. "I got Lapras and Krabby and Squirtle!"

"But did you get any of them fishing?" Misty replied.

Ash groaned. "That's just because I didn't have a Pokéball to help me out, of course!"

"What about the last one?" Brock said, because he could see an argument coming.

"Yeah, that one looks really cool!" Ash agreed. "Wait, hang on… so it's got a moon on it… does it work really well at night?"

"Or with Pokémon who evolve by Moon Stone?" Brock asked. "Since it has got a moon on it."

"...no," Kurt replied. "It was designed to work on Pokémon who evolve by Moon Stone, but there's something wrong with it. So it's still called a Moon Ball, but that's just because it has a moon on it. It doesn't do anything special."

"Oh," Ash said, slightly disappointed, then shrugged. "I guess it's the coolest looking one, though… and we did get these as gifts. Thanks!"

---

"You've been looking at that for the last few minutes, Ash," Misty pointed out, as they entered Ilex Forest.

"Yeah, I'm thinking about what kind of Pokémon I might use a cool Pokéball on," Ash replied, still looking at the Moon Ball. "I could use it on any Pokémon, it's just a tricky choice."

"Pika kachuu, Pikapi?" Pikachu said.

"Maybe a Pokémon that you catch at night, like you suggested," Brock pointed out.

"Oh, yeah, that would work!" Ash agreed. "I-"

There was a blur of blue through the trees, and a moment later a mysterious blue-white Pokémon was standing shockingly close to them.

Ash reacted automatically, throwing the Pokéball he was carrying, and – without any fuss – it sucked the blue-white Pokémon into it.

Then went ding.

"...uh," Misty began.

"Isn't that that Pokémon we saw when we entered Johto?" Brock asked.

"I got a good look that time!" Misty said. "Ash, that's Suicune! That's a Legendary Pokémon!"

She blinked a few times. "A Water-type Legendary Pokémon."

Ash picked up the Moon Ball. "Uh… why did that work?"

Then he opened the Pokéball to let Suicune out, who seemed as surprised as he was.

"...uh," Ash began. "Sorry? Or did you mean to actually battle me or something?"

Suicune shrugged, apparently not sure what to answer.

"...Professor Oak is going to want to hear about this," Brock pointed out.

Notes:

So the Gen 2 Moon Ball would only work on units that evolved with Burn Heal..

Chapter 36: It Just Is.

There was a knock at the door, and Professor Oak mumbled something to himself.

Then, sighing, he got out of bed, picked up his dressing gown, and pulled it on as he made his bleary way to the door.

"You know it's six AM, right?" he asked, opening the door.

"Our apologies," said a tall Legendary Pokémon with a steely blue coat. "We are still on Unova time."

Professor Oak blinked.

"...um," he began, looking at the Legendary, then past him at the other three Legendary Pokémon stood behind him – one green, one brown, and one excited-but-nervous tan-coated Pokémon at the back.

There was no possible way to mistake them. These were the Swords of Justice.

"...why are you here?" he asked, then yawned.

"You may recall our email conversation?" Virizion asked, helpfully. "We were asking about enrolling our ward in your summer camp."

"The parenting books say that a summer camp is a good idea for a young boy, especially one who does not have friends where he lives," Cobalion contributed. "It is a good way to make them."

"Is something wrong?" the Keldeo asked, stood behind the low-slung Terrakion and sounding very young.

"I guess he's just not woken up yet, kid," Terrakion suggested.

Professor Oak did his best to go from being unsure what was going on to being woken up, though it was a bit of a struggle.

He did remember something about…

"Iron Will at Unova dot Sword?" he asked, suddenly making the connection.

Everyone else who was enrolled in the summer camp, he had their names and pictures and the names and pictures of their parents or guardians, and with just one to go he hadn't really put much effort into chasing them up. After all, with only one left it would have been a process of elimination…

"Yes," Cobalion confirmed. "I apologize again for the earliness of the hour. Is there anything that we need to sort out, and when should we turn up to drop him off?"

He coughed. "Depending on the time, we may be somewhat teleport-lagged."

Professor Oak thought that through carefully.

"The meet and greet is this afternoon," he said. "I suggest you get some sleep to try and reset your internal clocks to Kanto time… where are you staying? I need an emergency contact."

"We have a booking at a local room share place," Virizion supplied. "I can provide the details if you have a moment…"

---

"We have a problem," Terrakion said, three days later at breakfast.

Probably breakfast. Their internal clocks were still somewhat confused.

"What's that?" Cobalion replied, inspecting the steamed rice and sliced Sitrus, then took a bite.

It was better than he'd expected. The Sitrus really helped the flavour.

"Well, uh… I guess it's not a problem so much as a good thing?" Terrakion hedged. "But Keldeo's really getting on well with one of the kids at the camp, I mean, really well. They've hit it off great."

He shrugged. "Thing is, uh… it's the first time he's had a friend at all, anything like this, and I don't know how much he'd like being separated."

"What are you suggesting?" Virizion asked.

"Well, I'm not suggesting anything," Terrakion objected, then shook his head. "Yet. I'm not suggesting anything yet. Just, uh… like I say, it'd break Keldeo's heart if they had to say goodbye."

Virizon and Cobalion exchanged a glance.

"I'm not sure there's another option," Cobalion said, poking at his food before taking another bite.

"Hmm," Virizion said, thoughtfully. "What's the local Legendary Pokémon, anyway?"

She and Terrakion both looked at Cobalion.

"I think it's… Ho-Oh, yes," Cobalion said. "He covers this area, and Johto as well, well, he lives in Johto. There's technically a Zapdos as well I think but they're not very reliable. Why?"

"Oh, just wondering…"

---

"Man, I wish this camp lasted longer," Ash sighed, glancing over at Keldeo. "Right?"

"Right," Keldeo agreed, holding out a hoof, and Ash fist-bumped it. "But I do have to head off some time, because… well, you know."

Because Keldeo lived in Unova.

They were mostly just waiting for Keldeo's… parents? Guardians? Keldeo said they were the Swords of Justice, but Ash didn't really get what that meant, except that they were Pokémon and somehow pretty important Pokémon.

Ash really should have been home by now, but he lived about ten minutes' walk away from where the summer camp had been happening, so he hardly had to bother. And waiting here with Keldeo would mean a good chance to say goodbye.

Ash thought Keldeo was lonely a lot of the time. A lot more lonely than Ash ever was, because he had Gary to speak to even if Gary was a butt, and there were the other kids too… but Keldeo didn't really have anyone.

Hopefully they'd be able to stay in touch?

Keldeo looked up, and Ash did too – seeing that the blue Pokémon, Cobalion, was trotting closer before halting.

"Are you ready to go home, Keldeo?" he asked.

"Yeah," Keldeo replied, with a sigh. "I guess."

He drew his legs up, and slowly stood. "This was a really great experience, and I know we have to go back to training now, and I don't mind that. It's just, uh… the other thing."

"The other thing?" Cobalion asked.

There was something funny about his voice.

"About not being around any friends any more," Keldeo explained.

Cobalion nodded, slowly.

"I'm sure you'll be able to handle it, Keldeo," he said. "But I understand. Perhaps your friend here would like to accompany us some of the way… Ash, I think you said his name was?"

"Come with you?" Ash replied. "You mean, to where you're going to head home?"

He frowned. "Actually, you teleported, right? Does that mean that you can just go back from anywhere?"

"It's difficult for a Pokémon to teleport you if you're not where it is," Cobalion said.

"Right," Ash said, thinking. "And – oh – yeah, if that's okay? I know I can't come with you to Unova because I'd need to ask my mom…"

"That won't be a problem," Cobalion said, confidently, and Ash stood up.

If it meant he got to meet all of Keldeo's… guardians? Then he was okay with it, they were pretty cool Pokémon.

---

Keldeo was mostly paying attention to a conversation with Ash, talking about Pokémon types and what it was like to be a Fighting-type, so he didn't really pay attention to where Cobalion was leading them.

Until, that was, the Steel-type suddenly stopped.

"Are we… um… there?" Keldeo asked, confused, because it didn't look like they were there. He couldn't see any of the kind of powerful psychic Pokémon that could send them halfway across the world in a single overpowered teleport.

Instead, they were at a large building, sort of like a barn, which had several Machoke and a Dragonite carrying supplies in and out of it and talking cheerfully about renovations, while that Professor Oak guy was holding a set of plans and talking to Virizion.

What was going on?

"Professor Oak?" Ash asked, sounding just as confused as Keldeo felt. "Isn't this the old barn?"

"Hello there, Ash my boy!" Professor Oak replied, cheerfully. "Well, that's what it is now, but before long it's going to be a renovated two-story four-bedroom barn house! Specially reinforced, as well!"

He was, by all appearances, incredibly pleased.

"I see you've already made friends with your new neighbours!" Professor Oak went on.

New what?

"Neighbours?" Keldeo repeated.

"Yep!" Terrakion agreed. "We talked about it, and then when your friend there used some Aura without realizing it, that really made our minds up!"

"Aura?" Ash asked.

Cobalion sighed.

"Terrakion," he said, repressively.

"What, was I not supposed to mention that bit yet?" Terrakion asked. "...oops."

"You mean we're staying here?" Keldeo asked, his voice brittle, then swallowed a lump in his throat. "That's… I… thank you, thank you! I really didn't want to have to say goodbye…"

Then he frowned. "But, uh… who's handling things in Unova?"

---

"Are you sure you're a Sword of Justice?" a Deerling asked, dubiously.

"I'm a Dog of Fast," Raikou replied. "I hope that's okay?"

"Well… um, we're supposed to get help from the Swords of Justice if there's a disaster," the Deerling explained, looking over her shoulder. "And there's a forest fire!"

"I'm sure Father will be able to handle it," Raikou said, with a nod, then paused.

"...how could the Swords of Justice handle a forest fire?" he asked.

"Tally-ho!" Ho-Oh declared, sweeping low overhead, and rainbow light seethed off his wings.

"So, I'm not really an expert, but isn't Ho-Oh a Fire-type?" a Tranquill inquired, nervously.

"Yes, but he's also a rainbow Pokémon," Raikou explained, sitting on his haunches. "And rainbows require-"

"RAIN DANCE!" Ho-Oh shouted, which promptly resulted in a downpour.

"You know, it's good to see him getting out of the tower, meeting new Pokémon and having fun," Raikou added, thoughtfully. "I wonder where Entei and Suicune have got to, actually. If Entei is underneath this, I'm never going to hear the end of it from her about her fur…"

---

"What's so special about Ash's friend, anyway, Gramps?" Gary asked.

Professor Oak looked up.

"You don't sound very happy, Gary," he noted.

His grandson sighed.

"I'm not… look, I'm not unhappy," the pre-teen said, kicking the wall in a way that proved he was probably not telling the truth. "I just think it really… I don't get why this Keldeo is so important. Or why you're spending so much time researching him and the others."

Professor Oak thought for a moment, then put his pencil and notebook down.

"You know what I do as my profession, don't you, Gary?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course," Gary answered, confused. "You're Oak, the Pokémon Professor. Everyone knows that."

"I mean what a Pokémon Professor does," Oak replied. "I study Pokémon, and this is… an opportunity that I could never otherwise have. To study Pokémon society, even if it's from an unusual perspective, and to do it with Pokémon who can talk to me about it. The difference with what we do about every other Pokémon is significant, and that's before considering that they are Legendary Pokémon."

Gary frowned.

"...I still don't get what it is about Ash that makes them so interested," he said.

"I'm not entirely clear about that either," Oak admitted. "They've said what they call it, and given me some explanation, but – well, I won't know for sure until I can properly relate it to what I know. It's like building a jigsaw, I've got several pieces put together, but I need to connect them to the edge."

Gary nodded, slowly.

"I think I get that," he said. "Or, uh. I know why I don't get it, I guess. And whatever Ash is doing seems to involve a lot of being really exhausted."

He made a face.

"But I'm going to be a better trainer than Ash, anyway!"

"I'm sure he'd say the same thing," Professor Oak replied, so warmly that it would take Gary some time to work out what that actually meant.

---

Time passed, and all boys leave home someday.

"Pika-chuu," Ash's new starter complained, squirming to try and get out of his grip, then zapped him.

Again.

"Hey, stop that!" Ash complained, then coughed out some smoke. "I get it, you don't really like me all that much, but we've only just met! At least give me a chance!"

This got him zapped.

It was becoming something of a trend.

"Chuu, pika-kachu," Pikachu muttered to himself, shaking his head.

"What are you calling me, anyway?" Ash asked, lifting Pikachu up and turning him around a bit so they could have a face to face conversation. "Because I'm kind of… having trouble with the way you speak, and I've only really learned a few so far so it'd really help to have some kind of clue!"

"Pikaa-chu!" Pikachu said, blasting him mostly out of habit.

"Traveller!" a familiar voice said, and Ash turned – switching how he was holding Pikachu so he was supporting the Electric-type under one arm instead.

"Keldeo!" he said, with a grin. "How come you're out here?"

"Virizion and Terrakion said I should go out and do some adventuring on my own!" Keldeo replied, prancing back and forth slightly. "It's great that it's the same day you're heading out! It took a while for Cobalion to decide it was okay, but I guess it is a big step, right!"

Pikachu had stopped squirming or complaining and was just looking confused.

"...kachu?" he asked, head tilting and ears twitching.

"Oh, yeah, I should introduce you!" Ash realized. "Pikachu, this is Keldeo, he's from Unova! He moved into Pallet Town a few years ago, he's…"

Ash trailed off.

"...are you my closest friend or one of my closest friends?" he asked, in tones of deep puzzlement. "I really don't know how to count it."

"I guess 'one of' is right?" Keldeo suggested.

"Yeah, that should do," Ash agreed. "He's one of my closest friends! Him and his guardians have taught me a lot of cool stuff."

He adjusted his backpack with a shrug, trying not to jostle Pikachu too much. "And, Keldeo, this is Pikachu! He's my starter Pokémon, I guess he's still not one of my closest friends just yet, but he seems pretty strong! I think he doesn't like his Pokéball… is that right?"

Pikachu folded his arms. "Ka-kachuu, Pika!"

"He doesn't – you don't understand Pikachu yet?" Keldeo asked, tilting his head. "How come?"

"I'm working on it," Ash grumbled. "The last time I had a new Pokémon to learn it with it was that time the Arcanine turned up, right? The one with the bad leg?"

"Yeah, I remember," Keldeo agreed. "Anyway, uh… where are you going?"

"Well, I was going to go to Viridian City first!" Ash said. "Because… I guess it's the only option? But I don't want to start out my Pokémon journey with a gym battle against a Ground-type gym leader with only Pikachu, that seems way too hard… so maybe to Pewter City or something?"

Keldeo nodded.

"That sounds like a great place to go on a quest to!" he said. "We should probably travel together."

"Yeah!" Ash agreed, nodding.

"Pika!" Pikachu said, waving his paws. "Pika-ka-chuuu, pikachupi?"

"What?" Keldeo replied, defensively. "No, there's nothing suspicious about it! We definitely weren't up until about four AM last night working out how to do it!"

Pikachu sighed.

"Anyway, we should get going if we're going to reach Viridian City!" Ash declared. "Or we could stop for lunch, I guess. Is it nearly lunchtime?"

He put Pikachu on Keldeo's back absently as he reached for his bag, taking out a lunchbox. "I think… yeah, this one's yours…"

"Chuu," Pikachu said, shaking his head. "Pikaa-chuu."

Then looked up. "Ka?"

Keldeo and Ash followed his gaze.

There was a very interested looking Spearow staring at the open lunchbox.

And a lot of other Spearow at slightly greater distances, also looking at the open lunchbox.

"...hey, Keldeo?" Ash said, thoughtfully. "You know that time we did long distance endurance training?"

"Yeah," Keldeo agreed. "Last one to Viridian City's probably going to get pecked by Spearow!"

---

"Are they going to be okay?" Ash asked, later that afternoon.

Nurse Joy lowered her scanner.

"Your Pikachu is going to need some assistance, because he's strained his cheeks," she said. "That should be something we can handle on an outpatient basis – it won't take long. And your, uhm… I actually don't recognize the other Pokémon."

"I'm Keldeo," Keldeo informed her. "And I'm Ash's friend, not his Pokémon. We're just travelling together."

"My word," Joy said, with a smile. "It's nice to have a patient who I can understand! We do our best with body language and the like, but sometimes it's nice to just get a single firm answer. Anyway, Keldeo will probably be all right – by what you said, it was mostly you and Pikachu who were having trouble anyway."

"That's a good point, Ash," Keldeo said. "Are you okay?"

"It's just scratches," Ash replied. "Most of that was when I tripped down the bank anyway! I only wish I'd been able to keep running…"

He shrugged, then looked at the tired but not particularly unhappy Pikachu lying on the counter. "Oh, yeah, and – Pikachu doesn't like his Pokéball, and Keldeo doesn't have one. Is that okay?"

"We can treat them without putting them in Pokéballs," Joy assured him.

"I feel better about humans already," Pikachu quipped.

"Pokémon Centres always seem really nice," Ash noted.

As Pikachu was taken into the back for some physiotherapy, though, the door opened again and a panting and dishevelled trainer came through the door.

"I knew it!" she said, marching right up to Keldeo and pointing a finger at him. He looked down at the finger, eyes crossed, then glanced at Ash.

"What did she know?" he asked. "Is this a human thing?"

Ash shrugged.

"You're a Legendary Pokémon!" the girl declared. "And not just any Legendary Pokémon, a Water-type! I thought I recognized you when you went past, but you didn't slow down when I asked! And then I got mobbed by Spearow!"

She paused. "Which, uh. In hindsight does kinda explain why you didn't stop, but still! How are you so fast that you beat me here?"

"I run a lot?" Ash suggested.

"I came here by bike!" the girl replied. "And you still got here before me – that's just…"

She frowned. "How come you're so… not-surprised… by seeing a Legendary Pokémon?"

"Why would I?" Ash asked. "Keldeo's my friend! And he's my next-door neighbour, too."

"...huh," the girl muttered. "Where are you from, anyway?"

"Ash Ketchum!" Ash introduced himself. "From-"

"You're from Ash Ketchum?" the girl said.

Keldeo giggled.

"I wasn't finished!" Ash protested. "I'm from Pallet Town! And Keldeo is, uh… how did Mom put it?"

"I'm from Pallet Town, but of Unovan extraction," Keldeo provided.

"Maybe I should have visited it before now, then," the girl said, thoughtfully. "I thought it was just some two-bit town that's completely unimportant."

"Hey!" Ash complained. "Professor Oak lives there! Where are you from, anyway?"

"Cerulean City!" the girl told him. "My name's Misty – remember it!"

"Misty Rememberit?" Ash said, curious.

The Chansey at the desk was the one who giggled this time.

"...well!" Misty said, with a sigh. "Look, my name's Misty. Just… Misty. And… look, where are you going, anyway?"

Ash blinked.

"I guess I was thinking of going to Pewter City?" he said. "Why?"

"Well, one, I'd love to travel with someone with a water Pokémon like that!" Misty explained. "Or, with someone who's with a water Pokémon like that. And, two, I'm… kind of hoping for some help getting through Viridian Forest anyway, I don't like bugs much."

She coughed. "And, three, the Spearow ate all my food. Staryu and Starmie did their best, and Goldeen did really good moral support all things considered, but I don't have anything left."

"I think I might still have some food," Ash replied. "Pikachu and Keldeo fought most of them off and I got a few good moves in too, and I don't think they got into the lunch boxes…"

He picked up his bag. "I guess you could see how much there is you like?"

Misty took the bag from him, and came very close to toppling straight over forwards in a vertical-to-horizontal ninety degree sweep.

Fortunately Keldeo's hoof caught her in time.

"What the-!?" she asked, confused. "This has got to be, what, fifteen kilos? How can you carry this?"

"Is that a lot?" Ash asked.

Misty put the bag down, and shook her head.

"I guess we should eat here this evening," she said. "If you're okay with me coming along?"

"Sure!" Ash agreed. "I think, anyway. Right, Keldeo?"

"Yeah!" Keldeo agreed, with a firm nod.

---

They'd only just finished eating when the power went out, and two people with extravagant hairdos sent forth three Pokémon – including one talking one – into the Pokémon Centre, as the lights came back on in a wavering sort of emergency way.

They introduced themselves, which was nice.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Ash asked.

"...we just did the motto, kid!" Meowth declared. "You gotta listen to this kind of thing, right? Or you ain't gonna get far!"

"We're Team Rocket, that's what!" Jessie added. "Now let's go get those Pikachu!"

Keldeo objected, bracing himself on three hooves and firing a blast of water from the fourth, and both Ekans and Koffing got carried out of the building in a wave of high-pressure water.

"You're not going to steal any Pokémon while I'm around!" he said. "Especially not my friend's first Pokémon!"

"...uh," Meowth said, then his eyes lit up. "So, uh… you're sure that the Pokémon here ain't bein' kept in a bad condition?"

Keldeo and Ash both blinked.

"...what?" Ash asked, confused. "Pokémon being kept in a bad condition in a Pokémon Centre?"

"Of course!" James agreed, sounding entirely on board with whatever it was that Meowth happened to be saying.

"Yeah, see?" Meowth agreed, glibly. "Because trainers have got all kinds of protections, so sometimes you've gotta do things to rescue a Pokémon from bad trainers – and that means doin' it when they ain't around, because otherwise they'd get in the way!"

"That's what we're doing!" Jessie said, though there might have been a question mark at the end of the sentence. "...of course!"

"How could you think anything else?" James added.

Keldeo and Ash exchanged a glance, then both looked at Misty.

"I've never heard of Team Rocket doing that," she said.

"Of course, you wouldn't have," James said.

"Yeah, the rich guys who own the media love to make it out like anyone who helps rescue Pokémon from trainers is some kind of monster," Meowth agreed, nodding.

"We're watching you," Jessie finished, then the three of them left in a hurry to pick up their waterlogged Poison-types.

"...I never really thought about that," Keldeo admitted. "And it must be hard to find out when they actually need to help, so they have to guess… I know Cobalion and the others always talked about how I had to be careful because I could get it wrong when I try to help..."

Notes:

Because the idea of Ash and Keldeo growing up together was fun, so I put together a way it could work.

Chapter 37: Dans l'hotel

"Come on, guys," Ash said, pointing. "It's… uh… this way, I think? Yeah, down here!"

He paused, checked his phone, then turned around and pointed in a completely different direction.

"...we're going to end up so lost," Chloe sighed.

"Vee," her Eevee said.

"I think we're already lost," Goh pointed out. "I don't know my way around Lumiose. Do you know your way around Lumiose?"

"No," Chloe conceded. "But I'm not sure Ash knows his way around Lumiose."

Goh shrugged.

"Yeah, but… he did say he knew somewhere we could stay," he said. "And we are getting a good look at the outskirts of Lumiose."

Cinderace looked around, ostentatiously, and Chloe and Eevee both giggled.

"Come on, guys!" Ash called.

"Pika-kachuu!" Pikachu agreed, waving.

"Well, he's stopped moving," Chloe admitted, walking a bit faster. "I wonder if that means he found it?"

"So do I," Goh said. "Let's go and see – and see if there's any good Pokémon around there!"

"You're as bad as him, sometimes," Chloe said, amused.

---

"Here we are!" Ash said, halting for a moment to wave up at the building, and both Goh and Chloe gave it a good look.

It was a seven-floors-high building, made of white stone and covered in a riot of ivy and other climbing plants, with verdant trees growing either side. It sat in the middle of a small court, almost by itself, though it seemed to have a connection to the other buildings on either side.

"This looks… kind of nice, actually," Chloe conceded. "How did you know this was here, Ash?"

"I've been here before, I said!" Ash replied, walking up and pushing the door. "Come on in, guys!"

"Chuu!" Pikachu said, bouncing on Ash's shoulder, then hopped down as the door opened. "Pi-ka! Pi-ka!"

Goh and Chloe followed, their Pokémon at their heels, and entered the hallway just in time to see an enormous man stand slowly up from behind the counter.

"Ash!" he said, sounding quietly pleased. "It's so good to see you again."

"Thanks, heh," Ash replied, blushing slightly.

"Is that man a giant?" Chloe mumbled, staring.

He looked… strange. He had a mane of white hair that stretched down almost to his knees, which made it over two metres tall, and he had a cane he was leaning on. His clothes were oddly patched together, as well, like they'd been made by combining multiple entire outfits to get the right length for the sleeves and trouser legs, and there was a Floette floating over his shoulder in colours that neither Chloe nor Goh had ever seen before.

Then the man folded himself down to a lower level, and gave Ash a hug.

"Look at you," he said, warmly. "The World Monarch, no less!"

He chuckled. "I'm impressed, Ash."

"Thanks, Dad!" Ash replied, hugging him back.

"...what?" Goh asked, startled. "Did you-"

"This is your dad!?" Chloe said. "But – uh – how?!"

"Oh, it's kind of a long story, really," Ash replied, breaking away from the hug a bit, as Pikachu and Floette exchanged a nod. "Actually, Dad, is it okay if I tell them?"

"Why not," the man invited.

"So, this is my dad," Ash explained. "His name's A Z, spelled with just the two letters, and he's three thousand years old!"

He grinned. "That's actually how it is that I've looked like I'm ten years old for, you know, about six or seven years? I guess I inherited ageing really slowly from him, it's kind of lucky it only kicked in once I was old enough to go on my Pokémon journey!"

"But he's… three metres tall," Goh objected. "He's huge."

"Wait, did you say you – he's three thousand years old?" Chloe said, at about the same time.

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "If you think about it, it kinda makes sense, because, once someone's immortal it's not like they're going to get less immortal the older they get!"

He glanced at AZ. "And, we've met a couple of times, but – the way it is, is, because it looks like I'm immortal too then we'll always have time for each other. And other friends are… the people who I have to enjoy time with while I can, right?"

"That…" Goh began, then stopped, and tried thinking about it. "Uhm… I don't think I ever thought about that, before."

"Ash knows several Legendary Pokémon," AZ pointed out, with a chuckle. "I understand he's talked to some of them about it."

Ash nodded. "Yeah, it was really helpful talking to Darkrai about it, we kinda had a chance to work it out together… and Squishy, too. Squishy was really helpful."

"I find that Squishy is always helpful, if you can persuade them to stick around long enough for a conversation," AZ said, leaning on his cane and sitting back down. "They come around here, sometimes. So does your Greninja, Ash."

"That's great!" Ash decided. "Maybe we'll get lucky and Greninja will show up while we're staying here – oh, yeah, I was going to say, I hoped that my friends and I could stay here? Is there space?"

"Of course," AZ replied. "I'm sure you'll get a better room here than anywhere else in Lumiose."

"I have so many questions," Chloe said, faintly.

Notes:

Look, it makes as much sense as some of the other options. And it explains two things at once, that's value.

Chapter 38: Electrical Induction

"So…" Lucario began, with a slight frown.

"So?" Pikachu asked.

They were both leaning back on a hillside, watching as Ash worked with Sirfetch'd and Dragonite. This seemed to mostly involve Sirfetch'd trying to poke Dragonite and Dragonite trying to hug Sirfetch'd, and Ash was running after them giving both Pokémon advice more-or-less indiscriminately.

"What does Chosen One mean, exactly?" Lucario asked. "I heard about it a couple of times from the others, but I never got around to getting the full story."

"Ah, right," Pikachu said, shaking himself a little, and stretched. "Yeah, I must never have got around to giving you new guys the Talk."

Lucario frowned at him.

"What do eggs have to do with it?" he asked.

"Not that kind of talk," Pikachu said, trying not to snigger, then shook his head. "Okay, so… the short version is this. Ash Ketchum is… kind of cursed."

"Cursed?" Lucario repeated, worried, then looked at his trainer through Aura Sight.

There didn't seem to be anything alarming.

"I mean cursed in the luck sense," Pikachu said. "If there's a problem or disaster around, Ash is the one who's chosen by fate to go and deal with it. Happens all the time."

"We have been through a lot of adventures," Lucario conceded. "And I do think Ash is great, but… you're sure it's Ash, not Goh?"

"I've been through so many more of these adventures than you," Pikachu pointed out. "Either Ash is the Chosen One or I am, at this point."

His ears twitched. "It's probably Ash, mind you, just saying that there is that one possible weird exception… I've been through slightly more adventures than Ash, but he's been more involved in some of the more critical stuff."

"So… it's you or Ash," Lucario said, thoughtfully. "Because of all the things you've been involved in?"

"Well, like I say, it's probably Ash, I'm just allowing for all the possibilities," Pikachu clarified. "For a while I thought it might be Ash's Pokédex, but then he switched the old model for a Rotom Pokédex and then a Rotom Phone and the strange situations continued."

He frowned. "Actually, come to think of it, we are a little bit overdue for something to happen."

Lucario stared at him.

"Overdue?" he asked. "We were right there when Zacian and Zamazenta fought with Eternatus!"

"Yep," Pikachu agreed, enunciating the ka at the end of the word. "But that was a whole month or so ago. Honestly, by now I'm surprised we haven't met, oh, Calyrex, or any Galarian Legendary birds."

His ears twitched, thoughtfully. "Or one that nobody's heard of yet."

"Does that happen-" Lucario began, then shook his head. "No, wait, Melmetal, I forgot. Silly question."

"It's okay, you're still getting the Talk," Pikachu advised him. "But, hey, don't take my word for it. If we have some spare time this evening I'll ask Dragonite to take us to Rota…"

---

Several hours later, Dragonite brought them back from Rota.

Pikachu was mildly pseudo-scorched, Lucario had several patches of psychic ice on his shoulders, and Dragonite was bearing two foot-shaped scuff marks but seemed entirely pleased about the situation.

"So," Lucario began. "About that theory that this chaotic nonsense is you?"

"The Pichu Brothers were involved," Pikachu replied. "That part of it was all them."

"I'm checking off the Galarian Birds on my hugdex!" Dragonite said, entirely pleased with how the evening had gone. "Got to hug them all!"

 

Notes:

You've got to explain the pattern to the new guys some time.

Chapter 39: The World's Most Chosen Trainer

"Good luck on your journey, Ash," Delia said, smiling. "You'll be okay?"

"I'll be fine, mom!" Ash replied, giving her a hug.

The new Pikachu on his shoulder was still a bit baffled by the whole situation.

"Just… be careful," Delia told him. "Remember to call me, so I know you're safe. And… don't forget to take a change of clothes with you."

"Oh, right!" Ash agreed, and took a second hat from his mother. "Thanks, mom! I almost forgot!"

"...am I the crazy one?" Pikachu asked, quietly, to himself. "Is that it?"

---

Most of the way to Viridian, and a couple of hours later, Ash slid down a bank and glanced back up.

A flock of Spearow flew past, then no more, and Ash exhaled.

"Phew," he said. "I think we've lost them-"

"What the hell?" a girl asked, straightening up from where she was sitting by the riverside. "You're a Pokémon!"

"I am?" Ash asked, looking down at himself.

He had a gray body, a long, purple tail and a large purple underbelly, with a kind of defined breastplate-like structure around his chest and shoulders, and each of his hands had three fingers while his feet were digitigrade.

Though it was much more difficult for him to see, he also had a tube at the back of his neck. And, of course, he had an exasperated Pikachu on his shoulder and a cap on his head.

"...no, I don't think so," he said, floating slightly off the ground.

"But – but – you're floating!" the girl said.

"Yeah?" Ash asked, folding his arms. "I'm psychic. Just because I'm psychic doesn't mean I'm a Pokémon."

"You – that-" the girl said, then paused, and shook her head.

"You're obviously a Pokémon," she told him.

"Oh, really?" Ash said. "What Pokémon, then?"

The girl opened her mouth, frowned, and tilted her head slightly.

"I… don't know," she admitted. "I actually don't recognize-"

"Then obviously I'm not a Pokémon," Ash interrupted, shrugging, and adjusted his hat. "Anyway, uh, which way is Viridian City? I got lost dealing with the Spearow."

"...that way?" the girl pointed, numbly, then shook her head. "Wait, no, this conversation isn't over! Just because I don't know what kind of Pokémon you are-"

"Do you call anyone a Pokémon if you don't like how they look?" Ash objected.

"I don't call just anyone a Pokémon, but you're clearly a Pokémon!" the girl replied.

"Uh, Ash?" Pikachu asked.

"And I asked you what kind of Pokémon I was for a reason!" Ash shot back "If you don't know what kind of Pokémon I am, and Professor Oak doesn't know what kind of Pokémon I am, then clearly the only logical answer is that I'm not a Pokémon!"

"Ash," Pikachu said, more loudly, then slapped his trainer in the face with his tail.

"What?" Ash replied.

Pikachu pointed, and the two… trainers… both followed his paw, though the girl only did it because she was sure Pikachu had to be pointing at something.

As it turned out, he was pointing at a lot of Spearow.

"...change of plan," Ash said. "Come on, let's get to Viridian before they reach us!"

"Wait-" the girl protested, picking up her gear in a hurry, then Ash exerted his psychic powers to carry them along. "Hey! Stop! Go back!"

"I think they're gaining on us," Pikachu said, and Ash did his best to move faster.

---

As Ash found out once they reached Viridian City, the girl's name was Misty.

She was also quite annoyed that Ash had left her bike behind, and that it had been set upon by frustrated Spearow so by the time Ash went back to retrieve it it was a bit of a mess.

For her part, Misty found out to her intense annoyance that Ash's trainer card was entirely valid, had the correct photo, and listed him as Ash Ketchum, Pokémon Trainer.

Ash may have had his thumb carefully over the comma between Pokémon and Trainer.

But, on the whole, Ash was pleased with his first day as a trainer. He made good friends with his starter, or at least proved to be highly resistant to electrocution, and he'd successfully argued that he wasn't a Pokémon before the first person to try to expose him as a Pokémon.

Notes:

Mewtwo Ash does not bother with disguises beyond a hat.

Chapter 40: Eon

"...and I'd like to have Sparkle back," Tobias finished. "I've got an important battle coming up soon."

"Aww, really?" his sister asked. "But Sparkle's so useful around the house!"

Tobias chuckled.

"I know," he said. "But you should really get your own Espeon, one of these days. Or another Psychic-type."

"Sparkle likes me, though," his sister complained.

The Psychic-type appeared in the frame of the video call, tail waving, and did a blep.

"He knows you're a better cook than me," Tobias said, which prompted a nod from his Espeon. "But I really do need him for this – I don't have a Steel-type and getting past Roxie is going to be an absolute headache if I don't have someone who's psychic."

"Right, right," his sister sighed. "All right, all right, I'll send you Sparkle. Hear that? Your mean trainer is going to make you fight someone with Poison-types!"

Sparkle laughed, tail lashing with interest.

"-oh, before I forget," his sister added, halfway through getting up. "You don't need him to bring anything with you, do you?"

"Well, Sharpshooter been interested in evolving," Tobias replied, thinking. "I don't know if she's sure, yet, but it would be good to have the option on short notice."

"Right, got it," his sister said. "I'll send it over with Sparkle… okay, look, you silly cat, where did you hide your Pokéball?"

Tobias smiled, as the Espeon darted off to go and retrieve his Pokéball for her, and as Cassie went off to dig out the Dragon Scale he'd asked for.

He enjoyed travelling and battling too much to settle down, but it was nice to give his Pokémon a break now and then. It meant they were properly rested and eager for a bout of intense training when the time came.

"Okay, here we go," Cassie said, a minute or so later, holding up a full Pokéball. "Who are you sending back?"

"Crescent has been a bit in need of a rest," Tobias answered, holding up the Pokéball with his Serperior in it. "I know Vine Whip isn't as handy around the house, but that should tide you over."

He put the 'ball on the transfer plate, and Cassie did the same. Both balls flashed, vanishing into the transfer system, then Sparkle's Pokéball appeared on his end.

"Thanks," Tobias said, sent out Sparkle, and fell off his chair as a Latios came out of the Pokéball.

"What the-!?" Cassie asked.

"Tiii-?!" Sparkle said, apparently just as surprised.

"...well," Tobias decided, from the floor. "Extra training, then."

He had always wondered where Legendary Pokémon came from.

 

Notes:

Eon Pokémon.

-eon Pokémon.

Alternatively: Local Trainer Figures Out One Weird Trick

Chapter 41: Direct Messages

As the girl walked away – and was she Bianca or Latias? - Ash looked down at the paper she'd given him, and raised it.

"Take a look," he said, showing Pikachu. "It's us!"

"Pika!" Pikachu said, pleased.

It wasn't quite a painting, but it was vibrant and full of life. Ash's attention was on Pikachu, and Pikachu was smiling in pleasure as he clung to Ash's shoulder, and Ash's hand was up to cradle Pikachu if he fell – ready to support him at a moment's notice, without actually doing so right that second.

It was a nice sketch.

"But… was that Bianca or Latias?" Misty asked.

"I can't believe it," Brock complained. "How did Ash get a girl, when I've been trying for so long?"

"I think that's your answer," Misty said, tugging Brock back down into the boat. "Coming, Ash? Don't forget, we still need to stop by New Bark Town before going to the Silver Conference."

"Right," Ash said, turning towards the boat, then frowned. "Uh. Do either of you guys know how to keep artwork safe? I don't want this to get wrecked, not when it looks so good."

"Normally it would be in a poster tube," Brock said, apparently having gotten over his despair. "But we don't have one and I don't know where there's an art store in Alto Mare. Bianca might know?"

"Pika ka-chuu pi?" Pikachu suggested, pointing at Ash's belt.

"That might work, yeah," Ash agreed. "Who could… I guess Noctowl isn't carrying anything right now, and she won't be out while we're on the move…"

As he reached for her Pokéball, though, Pikachu's ears perked up.

"Pikapi!" he said, pointing, and Ash turned the picture over to look.

There was a scribbled number on the back, along with the word text, and Ash frowned before getting his phone out.

"What's up, Ash?" Brock asked, saw the number, then gave an all-new wail of despair.

Misty just sighed.

---

Once they were on their way, because they were supposed to be on a schedule, Ash finished entering the number into his phone and frowned.

Then he began typing.

So… I'm doing this right, right?

A moment later, a text came back from someone who was apparently called 'Mareon'.

New phone, who this?

Ash blinked.

"Huh?"

A few seconds later, another text appeared.

I'm joking, she said. I know it's you, Ash, nobody else has my number yet.

A pause.

Also, your display name is Ash_Ketchum, which kind of makes it obvious.

"Hey," Ash protested, frowning.

What sort of name should I have had, then?

A better one, Mareon said – and Ash still wasn't sure if that meant she was Latias or Bianca. It should be meaningful, or at least a bit clever. You get what I mean, right?

Not really, Ash admitted, texting back again. Though… I guess I feel like making Ash Ketchum into a meaningful name, then!

He paused, thinking.

Why did you give me your number, anyway? Ash asked, after a long moment.

Partly boredom, Mareon said. Because… right now, I guess, my brother's… you know. And I'm going to be thinking about that for a while, but… being distracted from it is good. And I wanted someone to properly talk to, and with Latios gone…

There was a long pause, and Ash wondered what he should say.

The only thing he could think of was that at least he knew who he was texting, now, but… that didn't sound right.

And I wanted to have the option, Mareon – Latias – resumed. So that this doesn't turn into something that happened, and then all I have is memories. I want it to start something, too.

Ash stared at that for a long time.

So… I guess I could tell you about how my journey has gone? he suggested, eventually. Would that help?

That would be great, Latias agreed, and Ash smiled.

Then started trying to work out where to start.

Starting at the beginning was normal, but also… kind of embarrassing…

"Ka-chuuu," Pikachu said, his voice understanding, and Ash glanced at him.

"I guess," he agreed. "It all worked out in the end, right?"

So he began typing.

---

Several hours later, in a Pokémon Centre back on the Johto mainland, Ash's eyes opened in the middle of the night.

"Ohh," he said. "Now I get it! Alto Mare, and an-"

Misty hit him with a thrown pillow.

---

So, I was wondering, Ash texted, half his attention on Nelson's plan and half his attention on his phone. Do you have any idea if Legendary Pokémon can be caught?

Latias didn't reply for several long seconds.

Why do you ask? She said, eventually.

Oh – I don't mean, is it possible, Ash clarified, rapidly. I mean, is it okay, is it something that people can do without getting in trouble? Catching one without a Pokéball always seems to cause chaos, but there's this trainer who wants to catch an Entei by using Mean Look to stop them running away.

Oh, Latias replied. Yeah, let them try, LOL. That's going to keep Entei stuck for about three seconds.

As it turned out, Latias was incorrect.

By about a second.

---

The next day, as they trekked towards Mount Silver, Ash's phone beeped.

"Again?" Misty asked. "How much time do you spend on that phone, anyway?"

Ash waved Misty off, because he actually was worried – Latias had been halfway through explaining something, then just… broken off, and not said anything.

Ash had been worried that she was in trouble, but he didn't really have any way to help her.

"Pii-kapi?" Pikachu asked.

"Tar," Larvitar added, tugging on Ash's leg, and Ash unlocked his phone before going to the text app.

The old messages were there, including his question about if Latias was okay, then – below it – a new one.

I'm fine, just, I know something new about my phone, she sent.

Ash frowned, then the next message arrived.

It is less waterproof than me. In unrelated news, I now have another new phone...

---

After his first battle of the Victory Tournament phase, Ash sat back in his accommodation and tried to just… relax.

It had been a weird battle.

"Well, Pikachu, I guess we did it," he said, reaching out to pat the Electric-type. "We beat Gary."

"Ka-chuu, Pikapi!" Pikachu agreed, nodding.

"Everyone did great," Ash went on. "And… yeah. I'm really proud of what happened, and of all of you. You know that, right?"

"Chaaar-zard," Ash's Charizard said, lazily, and Ash chuckled.

"Yeah, you too," he told the Fire-type.

Then his phone went bwip, and Ash checked in on it.

Okay, so… firstly, I saw the battle, Latias sent. But I didn't know the schedule, so I didn't want to distract you or something… is now a good time?

It's fine, Ash replied. I'm thinking about tomorrow's battle, but that's not something you have to worry about.

Good, Latias told him. It was pretty cool, I've not really paid attention to competitive Pokémon battling before. vOv.

"...that's a shrug, right?" Ash asked Pikachu, showing him.

Pikachu shrugged, which could mean yes or that he wasn't sure, so it really wasn't a very helpful answer.

Do you want me to explain? Ash asked.

Sure! Latias said. So why didn't you use Pikachu, anyway?

That's actually a rules thing, Ash replied. I had to pick the Pokémon before the match, and I guessed that Gary would think I'd use Pikachu. So I didn't.

Why would he do that? Latias asked. Because you always have Pikachu with you?

Actually, we grew up together, Ash replied, grinning. And he knows I use Pikachu all the time.

LOL

That must have surprised him, Latias added. He's all like, wait, where's Pikachu? And Pikachu is cheering for you instead!

"Pika-kachuu," Pikachu giggled. "Ka-pika-pikapi!"

"Yeah, I'll use you next time, though," Ash reassured Pikachu.

Charizard made a curious noise.

"And you," Ash went on. "You came all this way, so of course!"

Of course, I don't really have much idea what Pokémon Harrison will use, Ash added. So now it's sort of my turn to guess…

---

A few weeks later, Latias leaned back on the grass and checked her battery charge.

She was currently on her third phone, the second one having… slipped… while she was flying rapidly over Alto Mare. Water resistant phone two may have been, but it was not high-speed-impact resistant.

Latias was still a bit embarrassed over that one. When she started carrying her phone around more often, for safety and to keep in touch with her new friend, she hadn't really considered the possible pitfalls.

Perhaps it was because a Latias didn't have trouble with pitfalls. She could, after all, float.

A new message appeared, and Latias opened it to see what Ash had to say now.

Need advice, it said.

What's up? Latias replied.

Almost as soon as she sent it, Ash's second message turned up.

What do I do if I'm chased by Taillow? It said.

Latias frowned.

Are you being chased by Taillow? she asked, confused.

Not yet but there's a lot of them, Ash told her, then paused. Have been chased by Spearow before. They can be mean.

Well, if it were me I'd just outfly them, Latias sent. But I guess you can't fly faster than the speed of sound, LOL.

She giggled at the idea of Ash swooping overhead at several hundred miles an hour, possibly with his hands held out to both sides.

Latias, I need an idea of what to do, Ash pleaded. They're looking like they want to eat all our food! And maybe then get mean!

Latias tilted her head slightly, claws poised and ready to type, as she thought about what she would do in a situation like that.

Flying faster than them wouldn't be an option for Ash, so…

Is there a lake nearby? Latias decided to ask. Or a canal or something? I'd just go underwater and wait until they went away.

Then there was no reply for several minutes.

Latias wasn't sure if that meant that Ash was busy, or that he'd taken her advice, or possibly if he'd just decided that her advice wasn't very helpful right now.

Come to think of it… was Ash's phone waterproof? If it wasn't then he'd probably have to get a new one, at least if he'd hidden from angry Taillow underwater or something.

Hopefully he'd written her number down.

Then her phone beeped again.

I've got a new Pokémon! Ash sent. First one for Hoenn!

Is it a Taillow? :P Latias replied.

… Ash replied. ...yes.

A photo followed, but Latias was too busy giggling to have a good look at first.

---

So, good news! Latias sent, while Ash was looking nervously into the water, and he took his phone out. I've got another new phone! Also I feel kind of embarrassed because the second phone slipped out of my hands while I was turning a corner at four hundred miles per hour, it hit a wall and absolutely exploded. Anyway, what's up?

Okay, so, you know how we were going to Dewford? Ash asked. Because we've got a problem. You swim, right?

Of course, Latias replied.

"Pika-kachuu?" Pikachu asked.

"I'm asking," Ash said, still typing. What would you do if you were surrounded by, like, 100 Sharpedo?

"Shaarrrrrr…" one of the Sharpedo growled.

I'd fly away, Latias responded. I don't want to have to deal with a hundred angry Sharpedo, lol

Ash stared at the answer.

"...that doesn't help much," he said. What if there were Spearow as well?

That kind of thing only happens around you, Latias told him.

Then paused.

Wait, are you surrounded by Sharpedo at the moment?

Yep, Ash replied.

"Ash, have you got an idea of how to deal with this?" May asked. "Who are you talking to, anyway?"

Brock could have answered, but he made a sort of lamenting noise instead.

"I'm trying to get advice," Ash explained. "Uh… hold on…" Do you have a moment?

Sure, what's up? Latias replied. Apart from like a hundred Sharpedo, that is.

"Why are you guys doing this, anyway?" Ash asked, tapping something, then held out his phone.

"Shaaar-pedo, do, do!" the lead Sharpedo snarled, teeth gnashing.

Ash's phone dinged as a new message arrived, and he turned it so he could look at the screen.

I guess they don't like people in general, Latias said, then sent another text. And also there's this Seviper who hurt the leader?

"A Seviper hurt you?" Ash asked. "None of us have a Seviper, uh… but I know who does! Can you tell them, Pikachu?"

"Pika-ka-chuu!" Pikachu declared, making faces, and looked remarkably like a Meowth. "Pikachuu ka-chuu!"

"Shaar-pedo!" the leader replied. "Pe-sharp-do-shaaaarp!"

"Sharp!" the other Sharpedo agreed.

What? Latias asked, sending another text. Now I want photos of whatever they're saying is a really good impression.

I'll get you photos in a minute, Ash texted back.

Max just looked mystified.

"Does the Pokénav have that app?" he asked, searching through it. "Where would a translation app be…"

Pikachu giggled.

---

Latias inspected the results of her latest painting effort, then frowned.

"Hmm…" she said, to herself. "I can't help but feel like I've misunderstood something about this."

She'd heard about this online as a kind of trend on Pokévision, but the results were just coloured streaks down the canvas that didn't seem to give any kind of merit except for abstract art. Which was… maybe nice, but it was nothing like the pictures everyone else had posted.

Frowning, she clicked on a video, and watched the first ten seconds.

Then stopped, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Oh, so that's what speed painting means," she said. "You… right. In hindsight, trying to paint at two hundred miles per hour does seem like something humans generally couldn't do."

She paused.

"Maybe with a Pidgeot or something?"

Then her phone went bing, and she looked at it.

Hey Latias, Ash had sent. Quick question? You know mroe about Legendaries.

I know a bit more, Latias texted back. What's the problem?

How much do u know about Groudon? Ash asked.

Not a lot, Latias admitted. Why?

Kinda wandering if you've herd of a giant version of Groundon, Ash texted back. That eats Pokémon.

No, Latias replied, hurriedly. WTF? Where did that come from?

After a moment, a terrible idea occurred to her.

Is this hypothetical? she asked

About ten seconds later, a photo arrived.

No, Ash explained. There was a wish thing with Jirach and now we're running

---

"Ash!" May shouted. "Why are you on your phone again?"

"Trying to get help!" Ash replied. "I know this expert on Legendary Pokémon!"

"Pika-ka-chuu, Pikapi!" Pikachu called, then used a massive electric attack. The shock broke up the glob of material that the weird Groudon was launching at them, and Ash ducked to the side.

"Thanks, Pikachu!" he said.

"We need to rescue the others!" May called. "Max – is Max okay?"

Any ideas? Ash texted, with one hand, as he sent out Taillow with the other to go and find Max.

Ash, I have literally no idea how to win fights, Latias replied. Or even do fights.

Ash missed how long the next message took, because there was a Flygon buzzing around and attacking the Groudon, but he looked back and saw a new message had appeared.

I'm a supersonic dragon who lost a fight to a spider and I don't actually know any attacks.

"Wait," Ash said, looking at it. "I – May, we need to get to Jirachi!"

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, leaning over to look at the text, then turning to Ash with some befuddlement.

"Why?" May asked.

"Because we need to ask if he knows any attacks!" Ash replied. "I just realized we never checked!"

---

Thanks for the help, Ash texted, some minutes later.

Latias looked at the reply, then scrolled up through the conversation.

...if what I said helped, cool IG, she sent. Mind telling me how?

 

Notes:

So I had this idea… because, hey, why not?

Chapter 42: The Night Before

"I understand you're my opponent tomorrow," Tobias said.

Ash hadn't seen him coming, and jumped several inches in the air. Pikachu whirled around as well, cheeks sparking, and Tobias held out his hand and shook his head.

"I apologize," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Pika ka-chuu, pikapichu," Pikachu grumbled.

"Yeah, you didn't mean to startle us, but you did," Ash agreed. "What is it, anyway?"

"I was interested to meet you," Tobias replied. "Since, as I say, we're going to be opponents."

"Right," Ash said, dubious. "Do you do this with everyone you go up against?"

"Not everyone," Tobias replied. "But sometimes I'm interested."

"I guess that kind of makes sense," Ash said, though he still wasn't sure about what was going on. "Why, then?"

"It's because… you've got a history of meeting a lot of strange Pokémon," Tobias said. "And because, when I had a look at your past performance in other Pokémon Leagues, I noticed that you have a habit of training up a lot of new Pokémon in every region."

"That's not unusual, is it?" Ash asked. "I know Gary does that kind of thing, and Paul does too."

"It's not unusual, but it's not usual either," Tobias replied.

"Pika-kachuu," Pikachu voiced, folding his arms and sitting down. "Kapichu, Pikapi."

Ash frowned, thinking about Pikachu's attitude.

He didn't understand every word Pikachu said as if he spoke Pokémon, but he usually got a pretty good idea…

"...so why is it that you always use the same Pokémon, then?" he asked. "You were talking about how I train a new team in every region, and that's kind of true, but… you don't seem to use any Pokémon at all except for one. Why is that?"

"Is there something wrong with that?" Tobias asked.

"Well, it's unusual," Ash pointed out. "You know, how you said that what I did wasn't usual? What you do isn't usual either, so… why do you do it?"

"What about if you answer first?" Tobias suggested.

"Pikaaaa…" Pikachu complained.

"Yeah, I guess," Ash said. "I asked first, but… okay, sure."

He was silent for a long moment, and reached out to slowly stroke down Pikachu's back. The Electric-type made a pleased chu sound, leaning back into Ash's hand, and Ash smiled.

"It's because… of a lot of reasons," he said. "Because going out and finding new Pokémon to be on my team is great, because new team members means new friends. Because I learn way more about how to work with all different kinds of Pokémon, and that's part of being a Pokémon master. Because… because it means that I get to see my Pokémon grow from how I meet them, and become stronger."

"And your Pikachu?" Tobias said.

"He's my best friend," Ash answered. "We trust each other, so much that… it's not me going out to do these things. It's us. Me and Pikachu together."

He looked up. "So. I asked first, so… what is it?"

"It's a different reason to the one you've given," Tobias said. "I think… I have Pokémon who I've worked with for a long time. It's been the same team, for a long time. We're good friends and I don't have a reason to change my team."

Ash frowned, a little.

"Do you like your other Pokémon?" he asked. "Because you haven't used any of them apart from Darkrai. They must be bored by now, right?"

"Oh, I like my other Pokémon just fine," Tobias replied. "It's just that nobody has been enough of a challenge yet… perhaps the Elite Four will be, but nobody else has been."

Ash took a deep breath, then met Tobias's gaze head-on.

"Then that's going to change tomorrow," he said. "Right, Pikachu?"

"Pika-kachuu, Pikapi!" Pikachu confirmed, cheeks sparking.

Tobias looked right back at Ash… then smiled, slightly.

"I look forward to it," he said, turning. "See you tomorrow, Ash Ketchum."

Notes:

And an attempt to speedrun characterizing Tobias without actually changing anything substantive about him.

Chapter 43: Mythical, Pokémon

"So, uh… hi!" the little purple dragon said, waving cheerfully and fluttering her dragonfly wings. "It's nice to meet you!"

She tilted her head a little, curious. "I felt the pull of your powers from Elysium! Only, I'm not really sure how it all works, so I just got here and I know you've got some powers but I don't know the specifics. I know it's going to be fun, though!"

Ash blinked.

"...uh," he said, then looked at Lucario. "Do… you have any idea who this is?"

"I do not," Lucario replied.

"Oh, okay," Ash said. "I was wondering if, uh, if she was something to do with Sir Aaron."

Lucario slowly shook his head.

"How come you can talk, anyway?" Ash added. "Are you using telepathy like Lucario is?"

"Of course not!" the dragon said, shaking her head and lashing her tail for emphasis. "I'm a havoc dragon! And my name is Aivu, since you haven't asked."

She padded around Ash and Lucario, inspecting them both. "I don't think I've met someone like you. Are you a gnoll?"

"I do not know what one of those is," Lucario replied. "I am a Lucario."

"So what's your name?" Aivu asked, curious. "And what's your name, too? I know what humans are but I realized that I should have asked your names before now, that's very rude of me."

"I'm Ash Ketchum," Ash introduced himself.

"...Lucario is my name," Lucario added. "It is both a who and a what."

"That must make things a lot easier," Aivu said, nodding. "If you meet someone you already know what they're called! But it must make things very confusing if you're going to have a party or something."

She tilted her head. "Anyway, so… what are you doing? I just realized I don't really know."

"Pikachu went missing," Ash said. "...look, uh, are you a Legendary Pokémon or something? Can you help us?"

"I would be surprised if any Pokémon not only had not heard of a Lucario, but had never heard of the concept of a Pokémon's name being the same as their species," Lucario pointed out.

"Yeah, but… she's small and kind of purple?" Ash countered. "She's reminding me of Mew a lot."

"The personality isn't a bad fit, either," Lucario conceded.

"Yeah, I can help!" Aivu agreed. "Only, I don't know how, so… um. Any ideas?"

"What moves do you know?" Ash asked, getting out his Pokédex. "Uh… let's see…"

His Pokédex went beep.

No clue, it stated, then continued in Professor Oak's voice. You did it again, Ash? Make sure to get some good pictures this time.

"Pictures of me?" Aivu asked. "Do I have to stand still for them? I'm not good at standing still."

Moves determined, Dexter added, somewhat surprisingly. Fly, Boomburst, Charm.

"...maybe you're a Dragon and Fairy type?" Ash asked, more-or-less just guessing now. "Anyway, uh… if you want to come along, you can?"

"I like the sound of an adventure!" Aivu declared. "Only, can we have lunch first? Adventures are always better with lunch involved."

Notes:

A slightly unusual appearance of Aivu from my various WOTR fic stuff, only here in Pokémon.

Because if Ash became mythic he might not even notice.

For more Aivu from me, see the Mythic Skywalkers Star Wars short and the Azataylor fic. For a LOT more Aivu, see Golden-Eyed Heir to Myth!

Chapter 44: The Ring of Truth

"You seem confused, my chosen," Arceus said. "What troubles you?"

"I'm kind of just… wondering," Ash replied. "Mostly about… how you look, actually?"

"Pika?" Pikachu asked. "Ka, Pikapi?"

"I'm not saying there's anything wrong with them!" Ash said, waving vaguely at Arceus. "I just got to thinking about it, because Arceus created the universe – you did create the universe, right?"

The Creator of the Universe inclined their head.

"Yes," they said. "I did create the universe."

"And I realized that, uh… most Pokémon don't get to choose how they look," Ash went on. "But Zorua and Zoroark do, and so do Mew and Ditto… and I was wondering about it, because you don't just get to choose how you look, you… kind of got to choose how you'd be. Right?"

"...right," Arceus decided, after several seconds of thought.

They pointed past Ash. "Are you going to actually ask me to resume time at some point?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to get some thoughts straight, and I haven't had the chance to ask you questions before," Ash pointed out. "Last time there were all the… you know, meteorites and stuff!"

He frowned. "Or was that the time before last? All the time travel made me confused – anyway, what I was asking was, how did you decide how you were going to look? Because I'm just… me, and Pikachu is a Pikachu, he looks a lot like other Pikachu. But for you it was a choice so I wondered how you made it!"

Arceus inclined their head.

"A fair question," they said. "And I will answer it, my chosen. But first you must understand… as a transcendent being, I understand the nature of existence, and when I came into existence it was as part of a destined rebirth that took place both forwards and backwards in time. In addition to being the Alpha Pokémon, I am also the Omega Pokémon, and the fact that I am both beginnings and ends at the same time is what permits me to exist, when I created myself. In a very real sense, it is my nature as a being that is reborn at the start of time that ensures that all of existence may exist."

Ash looked like he'd lost track, but nodded anyway.

"Therefore, how I was going to look was always known," Arceus went on. "And the nature of that appearance is that it consists of two components, in accordance with the rebirth. And those are – first, a dial, golden and eternal and yet always changing, representative of the cyclic and permanent nature of time."

"...right," Ash said. "I think I get that. Right, Pikachu?"

"Pika?" Pikachu said, head tilting and ears twitching.

"And second, a llama," Arceus went on. "For I am outside time and space, and yet a part of it; this is a Pokémon world, and so I am a Pokémon. To be born I must have a shape to be born as, and this is the one that I am most comfortable in."

They raised their left front hoof, drawing a little circle in the air. "So, you see why the eternal recurrence of my existence demands these two parts."

"...no, actually," Ash answered.

"A dial," Arceus repeated, intoning it slightly differently. "A llama. A reincarnating ruler and leader of the Legendary Pokémon… dial… llama?"

Ash's expression did not change, and Pikachu's only did because he tilted his head the other way.

"It's funnier if you're transcendent," Arceus stated. "Anyway… when you drop back into time, don't forget to ask Giratina for help, he appreciates being asked to help with things…"

Notes:

Yes, that's a Lama joke.

Chapter 45: Would You Still

"Ash?" Latias asked.

Ash paused, halfway through rubbing the damp cloth down her side to get off some of the scorch marks.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You… do still like me, right?" she said, sounding worried.

Ash blinked a couple of times.

"Why wouldn't I like you?" he asked.

"Because-" Latias began, then winced. "Because… that was such an important battle for you, and… it didn't work out?"

Ash exchanged a glance with Pikachu.

"Ka-chuu, pika-ikachu," Pikachu opined. "Chu, Pikapi pika chuu!"

"Latias… I guess-" Ash began, then stopped and sighed.

"I'm going to put this in a really bad way," he groaned. "But… uh… so, first, yeah, losing a battle sucks, and losing at the Pokémon League really sucks. Because so many people are looking at us."

Latias looked crestfallen, and Ash dipped the cloth in water before getting to work again.

"But that happens," he said. "I know it sucks, but I also know – it happens. Harrison and his team pulled out all those surprises, to try and stop us, right?"

"Chuu," Pikachu muttered, rubbing his side.

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "Some Pokémon I've never even seen before – some really cool Pokémon, at that! And – yeah, he stopped us, but he had to do all of that, right? And then that Jon guy who's been doing so well is up against him next, and… oh, right, you might not have noticed?"

"Noticed what?" Latias asked.

Pikachu giggled.

"Yeah, I keep forgetting you're not experienced," Ash said. "It's just one of those things that… makes sense, to me, and to Brock and Misty too… Jon is going to be ready for all those tricks that Harrison has, because Harrison had to use them all on us to stop us."

Latias frowned, then made a thoughtful noise.

"Right!" Ash said, nodding, as he finished up with her right flank and moved on to her wing. "So – I don't know if Harrison's got other tricks left, but he brought back some Pokémon from Hoenn with really neat abilities that were a huge surprise! I don't know if that Jon guy is going to win or lose, but… he's going to have it easier, and Harrison is going to have it harder, because Harrison decided he needed to use all those tricks against us. Right?"

"I… think so?" Latias frowned.

"It means that – no, there's nothing to be ashamed of!" Ash explained. "And I guess… maybe that's easier for me to explain to someone else than to remember myself, hehe… but, don't worry, Latias. You did really well. You're new to battling, and I'm glad you chose to come along with me as my Pokémon, and… you're brave."

Latias tilted her head, shifting her weight a little as she lay on the floor, and Ash nodded.

"You are," he said. "Because… like I say, you're new to battling, and you didn't have much training, or much experience, and you went for it anyway, and you kept fighting for so long to try and pull it out for me. And… I guess… getting better at battling, getting stronger, getting more experience, learning more moves… all of those are things we can work on. And you're already brave, which is… great, it really is."

He washed the cloth again, then looked at the water. "Uh. In fact, you've got so many scorch marks from Blaziken's Blaze Kicks that I guess I need more water, this one's turned black…"

Latias giggled, and Ash grinned.

"So – don't worry, Latias!" he reassured her, getting up. "Because… yeah. We lost. And now I'm going to get better at being a Pokémon trainer, so we'll all be ready next time and we'll do even better!"

"Ka-pikapi, kachu!" Pikachu pointed out, holding up both paws and showing a total of four fingers, folding them in, then another four.

"...oh, yeah, and I guess that's easy to forget, too," Ash admitted. "Which is that – yeah, not many people make it to the quarter finals. Not many people even make it to the Pokémon League. And we were battling in the quarter finals, and – you fit right in, Latias. You should be proud of that."

Pikachu nodded. "Chuu!"

Ash was about to go and get some more water, but Latias picked herself up off the floor and gave him a spontaneous hug.

"Thank you, Ash," she said. "I… I feel a lot better now."

"Heheh, I'm glad to help!" Ash replied, grinning. "Though I really do need to go and get some more water to finish cleaning off those scorch marks…"

"Chuu, ka-chu?" Pikachu asked.

"...actually, why aren't we just going to a Pokémon Centre?" Latias asked.

Ash shrugged. "I guess… I wanted to make sure you didn't feel uncomfortable?" he said. "I know it's the first time you've been knocked out, and normally for my Pokémon that happens where Brock or Tracey can take care of them, not at a Pokémon Centre…"

Notes:

Inspired by a bit of art involving a sad Latias:

https://fxtwitter.com/yu_Rey_/status/1914996142280233329/photo/1

Chapter 46: This Looks Like A Job For

"Huh?" Argus Steel demanded. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Ash admitted. "This kind of thing… usually isn't good."

He glanced back. "Diancie, do you have any idea?"

"No!" Diancie admitted.

"Ash!" Serena called, hurrying to the edge of the crater with Clemont, Bonnie and the Carbink – then gasped, at the sight of the crater lake starting to glow with a fell, black-red energy.

"Princess Diancie, Ash, you need to get out of there at once!" Dace said, the elderly Carbink sounding very worried. "That is the site of the Cocoon of Destruction!"

All the thieves looked worried, exchanging glances, then Riot and Marilyn both broke for it – splashing through the deep water towards the edge of the crater, where their Bug-types lifted them into the air.

Mills and Argus Steel floated up on their Doublade and Aegislash as well, and Ash, Pikachu and Diancie were left in the lake as the sinister Cocoon of Destruction emerged from the waters of the lake.

It was red and black, and as it emerged the sun vanished behind clouds. The temperature dropped noticeably, and Diancie made a worried noise – then, with a sound like tearing cloth, the Cocoon opened – and Yveltal was revealed, wings spread, eyes blazing, with a beak that crackled with an eldritch red light.

"Phew!" Ash said, relieved.

This was such a shock that everyone turned to face him.

"...what?" Mills demanded, leaning off Doublade. "How come you're relieved?"

"I was worried that the Cocoon of Destruction would be evil or something!" Ash said. "It's a really scary name! But – look, turns out that they're just a Pokémon!"

Yveltal spread their wings, but sort of floated there.

"That is not the reaction I normally get," the God of Death admitted.

"Well, yeah, I get it!" Ash said. "This is where you were asleep, right? And we were making a big noise right on top of where you were asleep, so – we're the ones who made the mistake here! And – I've sometimes met a Pokémon who was nasty, but it's really rare and even then usually it's just been a misunderstanding. Like that time Pikachu got kidnapped by a Mew, right, Pikachu?"

"Pika kachuu," Pikachu nodded.

"Or that time Mewtwo got convinced that he had to wipe out humans," Ash checked off on his fingers. "Then – well, I guess Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres in the Orange Islands were just really annoying, but Lugia was great! So that sort of balances it out. Anyway, uh… not counting Celebi, that was a human doing it… and… Rayquaza and Deoxys were both just scared, that's what was going on there… I guess the closest thing is what happened with Dialga, Palkia and Arceus! Right, Pikachu?"

"Chuu, pikapi," Pikachu pointed out, making a pose. "Pika kachu?"

"Have you really met all of these Pokémon?" Diancie asked.

"Cha!" Pikachu nodded. "Pika a-kachuu, kachu pii…"

"Yeah, I guess it could be like Kyurem, too!" Ash conceded, as Pikachu kept listing Pokémon to an increasingly incredulous Diancie. "So, uh… Yveltal, is this all about making sure that Diancie learns a lesson to get over her problem?"

"How would I know?" Yveltal asked. "I've been asleep. I didn't know Diancie had a problem."

They flapped their wings. "What sort of problem?"

"She's having trouble making a Heart Diamond," Ash provided.

"Hmm," Yveltal mused. "So, Diancie should be able to create a Heart Diamond, and she cannot. Would you say that is correct?"

"What's going on?" Argus Steel demanded. "You're just standing there and talking to the incarnation of Death?"

"Yeah?" Ash replied. "So? I had a great conversation once with the incarnation of… of… Pikachu, what's Mewtwo the incarnation of?"

"Chuu-pi?" Pikachu shrugged.

"Chuuni, yeah," Ash agreed. "Yveltal's a Pokémon! That's all there really is to it! If Yveltal didn't want to talk, then we couldn't have a conversation, but Yveltal is okay with talking so we can!"

"I… yes," Diancie said, nodding slightly. "That… that is correct. I've been trying to find out how to fix that, but… Xerneas said the power was within me already."

"Oh, Xerneas said that?" Yveltal said. "That is actually very convenient."

"Chuu?" Pikachu asked, curiously. "Pika kachuu, chuu-pi?"

"Why would I do that?" Yveltal said. "I work with Xerneas. I trust Xerneas's work. Xerneas is Life, I'm Death, you can't have Death without Life. You could technically have Life without Death but then Zygarde would get on both of our cases, simultaneously, because they can do that. Anyway… Diancie, since Xerneas has confirmed that the power is already within you, then that means I can solve this. Hold still."

Diancie blinked. "What?"

Then Yveltal hit her with Oblivion Wing.

Diancie flinched, Ash ran forwards, and Pikachu's cheeks flashed with electricity.

"Wait, wait," Yveltal requested, wings flaring. "Hold on – in hindsight I should have explained."

"Chuu!" Pikachu declared. "Pika ka-chuu, pikapi! Chuu-kachu!"

"… I am now somewhat intimidated," Yveltal conceded. "Congratulations. But anyway… I didn't hurt her. I killed her issues."

"You did what?" Serena said. "How can – is that possible?"

"Not for Xerneas," Yveltal said, just a little bit smugly. "Xerneas is Life. I'm Death. If you didn't have the ability to do it, then that would be a job for her. But because you do have the ability, that means that there's something stopping you. And I killed it."

"...I am beginning to suspect that my advice was not quite accurate," Dace conceded.

Notes:

Because Death doesn't have to be a bad person.

They can be op plz nerf, though

Chapter 47: User Verification

"No data, huh?" Ash asked, looking up from his Pokédex at the Pokémon they'd just found in Bonnie's bag. "That's weird. That reminds me of when we first saw Ho-Oh, right, Pikachu?"

"Pika chuu, Pikapi," Pikachu nodded.

"Ho-Oh?" Squishy asked, and Bonnie blinked.

"...did Squishy just speak?" she asked.

"Oops," Squishy added, then pulsed. Green light poured towards it from all over the clearing, and they manifested into a kind of black-and-green canine Pokémon instead.

"Wow!" Clemont gasped, as Bonnie stared in awe. "I didn't know any Pokémon could do that!"

"It reminds me of Wishiwashi," Serena volunteered. "I heard about them once."

"Query," Squishy stated, head tilting. "Ho-Oh? Please elaborate."

"Chaa!" Pikachu nodded vigorously. "Chuu-pika, chu!"

"I saw Ho-Oh on my first day as a Pokémon trainer!" Ash added. "I don't really know why my Pokédex didn't recognize him. Ho-Oh is a him, right, Pikachu?"

Pikachu shrugged.

"Them?" Ash guessed, then shrugged. "Maybe Ho-Oh's a her, I haven't had a chance to speak to Ho-Oh yet. Not like Lugia, I'm sure Lugia's a him. Or the Lugia from the Orange Islands was at least…"

"What Pokémon are you, then?" Clemont said, because Ash sounded like he was going to go off on a tangent. "And how can you talk to us?"

"My designation is: Zygarde," Squishy said. "However, that is an imperfect designation because I am we and we are many. I are a gestalt entity."

"...is Squishy okay?" Bonnie asked.

"It is acceptable to refer to this node," Zygarde-slash-Squishy allowed. "Please elaborate on the nature of your interactions with Lugia."

"Where do you want me to start?" Ash said.

"Chuu, pika," Pikachu pointed out.

"Right, yeah," Ash agreed. "So this was at Shamouti, there was this climate disruption caused by some guy capturing Moltres and Zapdos and trying to capture Articuno, then we had to help Lugia out and help him fix things so the climate stopped being in chaos."

"Evaluating," Squishy stated. "Please wait. Searching for information on: Ash Ketchum."

The canine form fell apart in a blaze of light, turning into just the original squishy Squishy, and Bonnie picked them up.

"...are you okay with being carried?" she asked. "Dedenne shocks me if I'm carrying him when I shouldn't."

"Carrying is acceptable, squeezing is not," Squishy declared.

"How are you searching for information?" Clemont said. "How did you do that?"

"This individual is a Core," Squishy explained, helpfully. "A Core is a focused individual intelligence unit. Cores provide the direction for the overall Zygarde network. Cores form the nucleus around which a full Zygarde is manifested. Under ideal conditions Zygarde is one individual, but thinks slowly. Under focused conditions, a Zygarde is a coalesced gestalt with a specific identity, but does not know everything. I have determined to load all available information on Ash Ketchum into my next gestalt, for storage in this Core."

Ash frowned.

"Uh… I think I got most of that," he said. "So you're kind of like the trainer and then the rest of you is the Pokémon? And you want to make sure you have the right Pokémon on hand?"

"I do not have hands in this form," Squishy replied. "But that is a reasonable summation."

The wave of green light came in again, and Squishy bounced out of Bonnie's arms before returning to the canine form.

"...there is more information about Ash Ketchum than I was expecting," Squishy said. "Evaluating… global or major regional climate crises averted, minimum estimate: 3. Lesser consequential climate catastrophes or global climate-adjacent crises averted, minimum estimate: 5. Maximum estimate difficult owing to nonlinear nature of temporal involvement. More minor disasters averted: too many to meaningfully evaluate owing to imprecision of filters and high magnitude of number of individual incidents."

They sat down on their haunches. "Overall conclusion: accounting for Ash Ketchum's role as a trainer as the core of the Ash Ketchum team gestalt, the Ash Ketchum team gestalt is the single most beneficial person for the planetary climate."

"...really?" Serena asked. "That's… I was expecting that sentence to include a since."

"This Zygarde would have included a since if a since would have been correct," Squishy declared. "By some internal definitions the gestalt 'Squishy' may now technically work for Ash Ketchum. However, this unit also has a request to make."

"What is it?" Ash asked.

There was the sound of shouting in the distance.

"This unit recently escaped from villains," Squishy explained. "Please help?"

"Sure!" Ash agreed, immediately. "Right, Pikachu?"

"Chuu, pikapi chu!" Pikachu confirmed, nodding firmly.

Notes:

And an appearance by another member of the Aura Trio, the simple countryside dog. (The dog that is also the countryside.)

Chapter 48: Matched Pair

Ash shaded his eyes, looking up at the huge bulk of the Tree of Beginning, then over at Lucario.

"You're… sure?" he asked. "That's where Pikachu went?"

"Almost certainly," Lucario replied. "And… I do not know precisely why, but I can guess. It is a matter of Mew being… I am not sure of exactly how to express it. Mew is tired, but not by effort. By their life."

"...oh," Ash said, swallowing. "I guess… I can kind of understand that, but… what can we do, then?"

"There are some possibilities," Lucario replied. "It may be that the Tree of Beginning can be healed. Or it may be that I can help Mew in another way-"

He paused, then looked over. "And it may be that we can skip this whole tedious business with modern machines that grumble and emit foul gas, and instead get their help."

"Whose help?" Ash asked, confused.

"Their help," Lucario replied, pointing.

"...what's up with the back of the car?" Max said, frowning.

"Wait, hold on," Ash said, thinking. "I guess… this must be because of aura, right? So you can see something that the rest of us can't?"

He frowned. "But… you said that my aura was like Sir Aaron's, so I can see with it as well, can't I?"

"With training, yes," Lucario replied. "Though… actually, I may as well just see how quickly you learn. First, close your eyes."

Ash closed his eyes, and the rest of his friends watched with interest.

"Now, focus on the fire in your heart," Lucario went on. "The pulse of your soul. The condensed form of all the experiences you have ever had. Feel it around you. Understand what it is to be yourself, and to be separate from the world but still a part of it. Aura is an expression of yourself, but in order to reach out into the world you must understand your place in the world – not apart from it, but not solely a part of it either."

"Right…" Ash said, sounding uncertain but determined.

"And… without opening your eyes, try to see," Lucario said. "Look around. Your eyes aren't necessary to see."

"I'm pretty sure-" Brock began, and May hushed him.

"...huh," Ash said, eventually. "I can see some weird glowing things in the back of the car. I guess that's about where the supplies and stuff would be kept?"

"I am impressed," Lucario declared. "Well done, Ash. Normally that takes hours."

"You couldn't have said that?" Ash demanded, turning to Lucario. "I could have been standing here for hours!"

"I said I was impressed," Lucario replied. "And I didn't tell you in case exactly this happened… but we're getting off topic."

He stepped closer to the car. "Are you willing to help?"

There was a long pause, and Ash could hear a whispered argument.

Then all the piled supplies scattered everywhere as two very familiar faces came springing out.

"It looks like we'll have to reveal ourselves!" Jessie said.

"Because otherwise we'd be given the boot," James agreed, flourishing a rose, as the two of them posed on top of the car.

They paused.

"Oh, it's not the same without him," Jessie sighed. "We couldn't do the whole motto without his smart comments."

"Team Rocket!" Ash said. "What are you – wait…"

He frowned. "Where's Meowth, then? If he's not here he must be somewhere else… did Mew take him too?"

"That's what we've decided to assume!" James said. "And that Mew should prepare for trouble!"

"Because we'll make it double!" Jessie agreed. "And-"

Lucario coughed.

"Why are you doing this, exactly?" he asked.

"They're Team Rocket!" Ash explained. "They keep trying to steal my Pokémon!"

"No, they don't," Lucario replied. "If they were trying they'd probably be better at it."

"...what?" Ash said, thoroughly derailed.

"How does that work?" Max asked. "Though I guess they are terrible at it."

"Watch it, brat!" Jessie said.

"But you've tried – how many times now?" May asked. "It must be about a hundred just since I met Ash. And how often have you succeeded?"

"More like three to four hundred or so all told, but how does Lucario know how good they are?" Brock frowned. "Something here doesn't add up."

He glanced at Kidd, who'd mostly been watching in something like fascination. "Do you have any idea what's gong on?"

"We're far beyond my frame of reference," Kidd admitted. "And that's saying a lot from me… thousand year old talking Pokémon that can see through walls isn't something I've had to deal with before."

"Wait…." Ash said, thoughtfully.

He had his eyes closed again, and he was looking from Team Rocket to his friends.

"...I can see them, but not you," he explained. "Not nearly as well, anyway. So there's something weird going on… Lucario, how come you were asking them for help?"

"I admit, I didn't know the bit about how you'd had to deal with them trying to steal your Pokémon," Lucario said. "But I'm still sure that they are both trustworthy and able to help us get to the Tree of Beginning, in… about five minutes, actually."

"Okay, I'm even more confused than before," Max said.

Ash, for his part, had started suddenly frowning.

"...wait," he said. "It just occurred to me… you guys actually do tend to help when there's some kind of disaster, don't you? And you do way better when you are!"

He put his hands on his hips. "So what's going on, huh?"

Jessie and James exchanged glances.

"...well, we had a good run," James sighed. "It figures the Twerp would eventually run into someone who could clock us."

"Honestly we've been on borrowed time since the end of his Johto trip," Jessie replied. "And still we don't have the kitty-cat with us."

"Then we'll improvise!" James declared. "Let's do this!"

They struck a pose.

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

"It's speaking to me, loud and clear!" James answered.

"On the wind!" Jessie said.

"Past the stars!" James agreed.

"In your ear!" they chorused.

The two of them swapped places, and Ash noticed that it was Lucario's turn to look perplexed.

"Do they do this a lot?" he asked.

"Yep," Max said. "This song's new, though."

"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace," Jessie told them.

"Dashing hope – putting fear in its place!" James said, throwing his rose into the air, and Jessie caught it.

"A rose by any other name is just as sweet," she said, sniffing it.

"When everything's weird, our work's complete!" James announced, as they linked hands and leaned over either side of their perch on the car.

"Jessie-"

"-and James!"

"And Meowth's also a name!" they said, in unison once more.

"I can't believe we're all just watching this," Kidd Summers said, quietly.

"Putting the do-gooders in their place," Jessie hinted.

"We're Team Rocket!" James went on.

"In your face!" they chorused, then Jessie's Wobbuffet landed on top of them.

"...that didn't explain anything," Max complained.

"Are you hoping that if you're confusing enough you'll forget what I asked?" Lucario said, folding his arms. "If you'd been causing less nonsense we could have rescued them by now."

"Spoilsport," Jessie muttered.

"Twerps!" James said, struggling out from underneath Wobbuffet – though not without difficulty. "Don't you ever wonder how we have such amazing disguises?"

"How we're always back without issue after being launched into the sky?" Jessie asked.

"And how we have such fabulous hair?" James went on. "Really, Jessie's hair isn't very realistic, but it looks great."

Lucario glared at them, and both Rockets wilted.

"Fine, fine," Jessie muttered, then flashed bright blue and turned out to be a Latios.

James did the same, turning out to be a Latias, and everyone stared.

"...okay, I'll be honest, I was expecting you to be the other way around once I saw you," Lucario conceded. "That,I didn't realize."

"We take turns!" Jessie-Latios said. "Depends which of us feels more boy-mode or girl-mode today!"

"Or what Mew thinks would be funny," James-Latias added.

"...what… the hell?" Max said, which was pretty much what everyone was thinking.

"We were asked to keep an eye on the Chosen One and our instructions were very broad," J-Latias declared, with a thumbs-up. "So we decided to give him special training!"

"Though it's mostly because it's funny," J-Latios added, shrugging.

Notes:

...look, I had this idea, and…

(Meowth is a Mew called Meowth.)

Chapter 49: Piano Alto

"Whoa!" Ash said, shading his eyes and looking up. "That's-"

"The Sword of the Vale!" Iris gasped. "It must be – there's nothing else it could be, right? It even looks like the stories say!"

"I'm surprised you know the old stories," Juanita admitted. "It's… one of those things that seems like such an old story, I'm always surprised when someone from outside Eindoak Town knows about it at all."

"Of course I know about it!" Iris defended herself. "I'm a Dragon specialist!"

She coughed, nervously. "...in training. Once I've got enough dragons I'll be a proper Dragon specialist, though!"

Pikachu sniggered. "Pika kachuu!"

"Then… we need to rescue Victini, right?" Ash asked. "I promised that I'd help Victini go and visit the world outside Eindoak, and I'm going to keep my promise!"

"I think that's a fine idea!" Cilan said. "Though I have to ask – how exactly are you going to put together the recipe? There may be a few missing ingredients."

"...huh?" Ash said, confused.

Iris looked annoyed. "I think he's asking how we can get up there," she said. "Though I'm not certain."

"You don't just need to get up there," Juanita said. "There's a terrible problem – the Dragon Force is going to ravage the land, running wild and out of control, and to stop that you need to stop Damon and release Victini. But Damon's got Reshiram, so the only way you can stop him is with Zekrom."

Ash nodded.

"So… where's Zekrom?" he asked.

"In the castle dungeons," Juanita replied, then pointed. "Which are… up there, attached to the rest of the castle. Which is now in the air."

"Then I guess there isn't a choice," Ash declared. "We need to get up there to get hold of Reshiram – Latias, I need your help!"

"...what?" Iris asked.

Latias destealthed in a flash of blue.

"What?" Iris repeated, more hysterically. "Latias – how – how long has she been there?"

"Uh…" Ash began, frowning, as Latias waved. "So I guess that would be… and… yeah, about three years?"

Pikachu took one look at Iris's new expression, and fell off Ash's shoulder with an overwhelming fit of the hysterical giggles.

Latias giggled as well, then Iris shook her head and rounded on Ash.

"What the hell?" she demanded, perhaps not unreasonably. "How did – but – three years!? How have I not heard about this before? You've got a Latias! And I pay attention to legendary dragon sightings!"

"Pika-chuu, kachu pikapi kaa!" Pikachu called, from the floor, and Ash nodded.

"Yeah, Pikachu has a point," he said. "How come you didn't recognize that time he battled a Latios?"

"I… shut up," Iris said, in the tones of someone who'd just made a connection. "But what I'm getting at is that I'm pretty sure I'd have seen it if someone had a Latias, because I did see about that guy with a Latios!"

"But Latias is invisible most of the time," Ash said. "So how could you have seen?"

Iris just kind of stared at Ash for a long moment.

"...I can't tell if you're being funny or not," she groaned. "And… I really don't know which I'd rather… I just… gah!"

"Um," Juanita said. "How much longer is this going to take?"

"And how come you didn't tell me?" Iris added. "You know I'm a Dragon specialist in training, you should have known I'd be interested in that!"

"I told you about Zekrom and you didn't believe me," Ash defended himself, quite reasonably if you asked him. "And that was the most recent one so I stopped there, I didn't mention that time I rode Giratina or the time that Dialga sent me and my friends back in time or the time we stopped Dialga and Palkia from fighting or the time when I helped rescue Rayquaza from an army of crazy robots-"

He stopped.

"...hey, Pikachu?" he checked. "Is Lugia a dragon? I'm not really sure but there was that giant blast of energy and I guess that could qualify…"

"Lugia isn't a dragon," Cilan provided. "His flavour is a fine blend of Psychic and Flying! Though I have to say, Ash, you're quite a good fit for all sorts of types, as we've seen."

"But-" Iris protested, then stopped and took several deep breaths.

"...Ash," she said, as calmly as she could. "Is Latias on your team?"

"Kind of?" Ash answered. "It's complicated."

"And she's been with you for all that time?" Iris went on. "Three years, you said? Since well before you arrived in Unova?"

"Yeah!" Ash confirmed.

"Then why didn't you say anything?" Iris asked.

Ash shrugged.

"Because I heard you shouldn't kiss and tell?" he replied.

Latias giggled.

Iris took a few seconds to process that, then the ground began to shake as the corrupted Dragon Force burst forth.

"Ti-a-as!" Latias squeaked, casting an illusion of herself as a Latias holding a sign between her paws.

"Oh, yeah, the catastrophe!" Ash said, remembering. "Latias, how many people can you take up there?"

Latias held up both paws, raising two claws on one and one on the other.

"I've got a Golurk to take me up there," Juanita provided.

"Right!" Ash decided. "Then let's go and get that Zekrom, and save Victini!"

He swung up onto Latias's back, and she offered her paws to both Iris and Cilan to hang on to.

---

"So… how many people have you actually told about Latias?" Cilan asked, curiously, once Iris and Zekrom had managed to beat up Damon's Reshiram and once Victini had been freed.

"A few people, before I heard about the kiss and tell thing, but they didn't really believe me anyway," Ash replied, shrugging.

He was leaning back against Latias, who was tired but happy with the whole situation, and Victini was snoozing next to Pikachu as they decompressed after the whole sequence of events.

Iris was still off zooming around on Zekrom and having a wonderful time.

Ash shrugged. "I guess there's something about saying that I have an invisible legendary dragon Pokémon as a girlfriend that's just… hard for people to believe. Not sure why, it's not like it's weirder than the idea of Brock having a girlfriend."

Cilan chuckled, tasting dinner to see if the risotto was ready just yet.

"You're certainly one to order off menu, Ash," he said.

 

Notes:

Because Altoshipping and also I had some fun ideas.

Chapter 50: Bedrock Assumptions

"That was… uhm," Max said, blinking a couple of times, as they carried Bagon back to the Pokémon Centre. "That was, really impressive, but… how did you do that, Ash?"

"Do what?" Ash replied.

"The tree!" Max said. "You picked up a tree about three times as tall as I am and threw it! You're not that much bigger or older than me, are you?"

Ash frowned, then visibly realized what Max was talking about.

"Oh, yeah, that!" he said, chuckling. "Yeah, it's just normal for me, I guess it's kind of a long story…"

"What kind of long story could explain that?" May asked. "And how haven't we heard about it yet?"

"Because I didn't actually find out about it for a while after it happened?" Ash said or possibly asked, shrugging.

"Pika kachuu," Pikachu declared.

"Gon?" Matt's Bagon said, looking confused.

Pikachu shrugged.

"Anyway, I'm technically made of animated rock," Ash resumed. "I… think it's basalt?"

"Actually it's a welded ignimbrite," Brock supplied. "Because it's made of Ash."

Ash nodded, clearly immediately forgetting the technical details.

"How does that… what?" Max asked, staring. "Is that… how does… I don't even know the right words for that! How did that happen?"

Ash chuckled. "Uh… I actually don't remember," he admitted, which got Max to stare daggers at him, not that Ash noticed. "Well. Mostly I don't remember. So what happened was, before my first Pokémon League I ran into the middle of a fight between Mew and Mewtwo."

That did not seem to clarify the situation.

"You mean the Mew from Rota?" May said.

Max snapped his fingers. "Is that where Doctor Yung got the idea from?"

"What are you talking about?" Matt said, his voice vague and unclear, and Bagon shrugged.

"It wasn't the Rota Mew," Ash replied. "I… think. But anyway, I got turned to stone, which I guess might or might not have killed me, I don't actually know and we've not met Yveltal yet who's the one who'd have an expert opinion…"

He was silent for several seconds.

"Maybe Xerneas?" he asked.

"Not the point," Max sighed.

"You died?" May asked.

"I don't know if I died, I said," Ash replied. "I mean, I don't have a great memory of what happened so some of this is what Mewtwo told me. Anyway, a lot of Pokémon cried, and now I'm alive again, if I stopped being alive that is, but it didn't turn me back from being made of stone."

He shrugged. "Because, uh… if it turned me back from being made of stone but didn't make it so I was alive, then I guess I'd be dead of being made of stone? Is that a syndrome? It feels like it should be. And if it made me alive again, it didn't need to bother with making it so that I'm not made of stone, because… well, Brock alone has at least two Pokémon who are alive even though they're made of rock, so it's the same kind of thing, right?"

"I still can't get over the bit about how you died," May admitted. "Or… didn't die. Whichever it is, it's still weird, right? You get that it's weird… right?"

"It probably is weird or something," Ash shrugged. "I actually didn't realize this until we met Mewtwo again, because Mewtwo wiped our memories, and I guess whatever was going on meant I could still eat and stuff. I'm even still the Chosen One!"

Then he frowned. "Wait, am I Lugia's Chosen One or the Chosen One in general, or is it kind of a mix?"

"I thought I was Jirachi's Chosen One," Max said, thinking. "And I bet May is Manaphy's Chosen One. But there was the thing with Lucario…"

Brock chuckled. "I can think of one Pokémon from Altomare who probably wants you to be her Chosen One," he said.

Ash frowned. "Huh?"

"I'm sorry, what is up with you people?" Matt demanded. "You're – he just said that he's a rock that died and came back to life and you're treating it as normal?"

"No, not normal," Ash replied. "Ghost Rock, if anything. Hey, Brock, are there any Ghost Rocks or would that be a new type combination? I can't remember. Maybe we should contact Professor Oak about it?"

"Chuu," Pikachu said, sniggering.

Notes:

Being alive isn't the same as being how you started, but because it's Ash there's not really any actual angst or anything.

Chapter 51: Key, Ring

"Thank you all, for your help," Baraz said, after a very hectic evening. "It's… I don't know what would have happened without your help. All of your help."

He looked from Ash, to Serena, then Clemont and Bonnie, and then to all the Pokémon. "Right, Hoopa?"

"It couldn't have happened without Hoopa, too," Ash pointed out. "And the others who helped!"

He frowned. "Though, uh… actually, Hoopa, can you send them home? They've come a long way and I guess it'd take a while for them to get home."

"I hadn't thought of that!" Bonnie admitted.

"Though we probably should have," Serena said, embarrassed.

"Hoopa can do that!" Hoopa nodded, twirling a ring on his finger. "Allez-"

There was a sudden outbreak of squeaking from the direction of the patiently waiting dragons, and the shiny Rayquaza chuckled.

Latias and Latios were squeaking at one another, having a high-pitched Eon Pokémon conversation, then it escalated to hand-waving and casual zooming around one another.

"Chuu?" Pikachu asked, interested, and his ears twitched.

"What is it?" Ash asked.

"Pika-kachuu, Pikapi," Pikachu said, then indicated Ash, frowned, tilted his head, and started again. "Pika-kachuu, Pi-pika, kachuu, pi?"

"Cousins?" Hoopa repeated. "Hoopa did not know that these Pokémon were cousins!"

"...how did you get them, anyway?" Clemont asked, curious. "How does your targeting work?"

"Hoopa simply sent out a Hoopa-ring asking for a Pokémon who would help Ashkan!" Hoopa said. "And Hoopa, of course. Actually maybe Hoopa was asking for a Pokémon who would help Hoopa and Ashkan just happened to be nearby."

Hoopa scratched his head. "Hoopa's rings do not come with an instruction manual. Perhaps they should. It would make Hoopa a lot less confused about a lot of things."

"That's fascinating!" Clemont said. "They must work on some kind of intent reading, or maybe it's subconscious. I should build a Clemontic Gear to try and re-run the same kind of calculations and find out exactly what Pokémon it would summon for whatever you needed!"

"But why would Hoopa need to do that?" Hoopa asked. "Hoopa's rings just work. Hoopa does not need to worry about how, Hoopa is quite pleased with the results. Except when Hoopa accidentally summons far too many Pikachu and has to spend half an hour putting them back where they should go."

He folded his arms. "The hard bit was picking them all up."

Bonnie giggled.

"We helped!" she said, because the example Hoopa was talking about had happened just the previous afternoon.

Baraz chuckled. "Your heart's in the right place, Hoopa," he said. "...sometimes."

Hoopa sniffed.

The high-pitched dragon argument seemed to have reached a conclusion while they were talking, and the two Latis swooped back down.

"T-ios," Latios said, by way of explanation. "La-ti-ooss. Tios."

"Ah!" Hoopa nodded. "Hoopa can do you a ring back there! That will be easy for Hoopa! Are you both going?"

Latias shook her head, and sidled over to float next to Ash.

"Ti-aas!" she said, nudging Ash, then dropped a pair of objects into his hand.

"Huh?" Ash frowned, then looked down, and saw there was a glittering marble and a kind of little hairclip.

The marble had a little serpentine fleck in it, a red stripe with purple flanking it in a clear medium, and the hairclip had a familiar kind of gemstone set in it with the same sigil.

"...is this a Mega Stone and Key Stone?" he asked Latias, who nodded enthusiastically. "Huh. I thought you and Latios were just Mega Evolving because… you were Mega Evolving. Does Rayquaza have one too?"

The shiny Rayquaza shook their head, shrugging.

"Ti-as," Latias provided, pointing at her cousin. "La-ti!"

"Ka-chuu, Pikapi," Pikachu provided, briefly posing like a Latias, then like a Latios, then pointing at the Key Stone.

"...how did he make those poses different?" Serena asked, plaintively. "They're… he didn't change colour, how do I know which one was which?"

"I get it!" Ash declared. "So you had your own Mega Stone and the Key Stone that was used to Mega Evolve Latios, and Latios had his Mega Stone and the Key Stone that Mega Evolved you! That's clever, I didn't know Pokémon could Mega Evolve Pokémon!"

"I don't think Professor Sycamore knows," Clemont said. "Which means we need to tell him! The future is now!"

"Bye, Latikan!" Hoopa waved, as Latios went through the Hoopa Ring, and Ash watched as it closed.

"...huh," he said, turning to Latias. "So you want to stick around?"

"Ti-as!" Latias confirmed, nodding enthusiastically. "Lati-la, la!"

Ash scratched his head.

"I guess that's great, but how come?" he asked. "I'm not complaining, I'm just confused."

"Ka-chuu," Pikachu giggled.

"It's not how I am all the time!" Ash protested. "Just a lot of the time!"

Latias giggled, then activated an illusion.

Ash blinked.

"...oh, so you're from Altomare!" he said, as Latias dispelled her illusion of Bianca. "So we do know each other!"

Latias gave him a thumbs-up.

"Chuu, ka-pikapi chu," Pikachu provided.

"That is easier to understand than a kiss, yeah," Ash mused.

Serena blinked.

"...wait, what?" she asked. "She kissed you?"

"Maybe," Ash replied. "I don't actually know, because if it was her she was in disguise as Bianca and if it wasn't her then Bianca was pretending to be her, because whoever it was didn't say anything and gave me a sketch. So I guess whoever it was wanted me to not actually know which one it was, which is what makes it so hard to understand how to take it!And it's a really weird thing to ask about over the phone, especially when you don't know someone's phone number."

Serena opened her mouth, then imagined having that conversation.

"...fair," she said, conceding the point. "But still! Are you telling me you remembered her all this time?"

She shook her head. "When dealing with Ash, being a Pokémon is an unfair advantage."

"About what?" Ash replied.

Latias giggled.

"Should I understand this?" Baraz checked.

Hoopa shrugged. "Hoopa cannot help you here! This is not a problem that can be solved by adding Pokémon and so Hoopa is out of ideas."

Then Hoopa put a hand to his chin.

"...actually, could this problem be solved by adding Pokémon?" he asked, as behind him Rayquaza got bored and left. "Can Hoopa borrow Ashkan's Pokédex?"

Notes:

I don't know, I think if you get the right Pokémon they might actually help.

Chapter 52: Two Many Mews

"Whoa," Cilan said.

"It just changed!" Iris muttered, staring up at the floating purple Pokémon.

"Oh, hi Mewtwo!" Ash said, waving.

Everyone except Pikachu, but including Mewtwo, looked at him.

"...what?" Ash asked.

"You know this Pokémon?" Cilan asked.

"No?" Ash replied.

Pikachu sniggered.

"Then how do you… Ash, explain what you said!" Iris demanded. "How does it make any kind of sense?"

"I don't know Mewtwo, but I know Mewtwo," Ash said, shrugging.

I am with the female human, the Mewtwo said, her mental voice feminine. What are you talking about?

"I've met a Mewtwo before, Mewtwo," Ash said. "Not this Mewtwo, another Mewtwo, but it means I know what Mewtwo looks like so I know that Mewtwo is a Mewtwo even if Mewtwo isn't Mewtwo. So I know you're a Mewtwo, Mewtwo, I just mean you're not Mewtwo."

Even Pikachu looked confused at that.

"...okay, I don't want to ask you to explain again," Iris said, in a small voice.

You've met one of me before? Mewtwo asked.

"Yeah, he was made by… I guess Team Rocket?" Ash said, frowning and scratching his head. "I actually don't know that bit. Anyway, he broke out and went evil and tried to destroy the world with a storm and I died but got better when I showed Mewtwo and Mew that those two were more alike than they were different, and Pikachutwo and the others went off with Mewtwo to form a new life somewhere I'm not supposed to talk about and I forgot all about it, until I met Mewtwo again later and I remembered most of it. But not all of it. So you're not Mewtwo, but you're a Mewtwo."

Cilan nodded.

"So, Ash, how has your vacation been in Unova?" he asked. "A palate cleanser?"

"Yeah, it's actually been really relaxing!" Ash agreed.

"That was relaxing?" Iris said, sounding slightly awed. "Okay, uh. That explains a few things."

"So, Ash, what can you tell us about Mewtwo?" Cilan said.

Ash shrugged. "I don't know, I didn't meet her yet."

"I think he means Mewtwo," Iris said.

I think I've heard my species name too much and it's losing meaning to me, Mewtwo mused. And I'm a Pokémon.

"So Mewtwo was a lot nicer once he'd calmed down," Ash said. "He was really strong, really really strong, but he didn't want to hurt anyone, he just wanted to be safe. I actually think that's kind of how it is with almost all Pokémon, right? So whatever is going on with those Genesect Pokémon is just them wanting to be safe… unless they actually are nasty, but they mostly don't seem like that."

I have little idea of how to… Mewtwo began, then paused, and frowned. If you are an expert in such things, could you help me understand what is going on?

"Sure!" Ash agreed. "So, uh… I guess we'll have to find that out together, because I don't know enough to just tell you things that I don't yet know myself! But I can probably get in touch with Mewtwo and ask him for help on how to be a Mewtwo."

"You can?" Cilan said. "How can you do that?"

"Well, first I need a phone," Ash answered. "Then I need to call Queen Ilene, to ask Mew to contact Mewtwo, and I can tell Mew where Mewtwo is because of course you can trust Mew!"

"Pika kachuu, pikapi?" Pikachu asked, gesturing.

"...yeah, so long as they're not bored," Ash admitted. "Fair point."

 

Notes:

Ash does have experience at this sort of thing.

Pretty much whatever the "sort of thing" actually is...

Chapter 53: Call Back

"So… we're going out to sea to find something invisible," Ash summarized. "Right?"

"I wouldn't put it quite that way, but yes," Shep agreed, nodding. "We're off to find the Temple of the Sea, lad, it's not just something invisible. It's the thing the People of the Water call home, the place that calls to them in their dreams!"

"Yeah, that kind of thing!" Ash said. "Like Shamouti, or the Lake of Life, or the Tree of Beginning or a place like that! A really important mystical place that you can't see because it's invisible, and that's connected to a legendary Pokémon."

Brock shook his head.

"Sometimes I forget how much this is just standard for us," he admitted.

"Wait, you were the one involved in the Lake of Life incident?" Jackie asked. "That's been a mystery for over a year, when the Rangers showed up to investigate they didn't find any clue who was involved!"

"That's because the main witnesses didn't want to break a stable time loop, I think," Brock volunteered. "You can probably get the official story from Professor Oak, though."

"You have such an amazing life, Ash," May said. "Even after so long travelling together I keep hearing about new stuff."

Manaphy giggled, and May patted him on the head.

"We should set sail," Shep said. "The tide won't wait for long, and we need to make sure the Phantom won't find us. If he can follow us to the Temple of the Sea, it would be a disaster."

"Got it!" Ash agreed. "Though, uh. How long do we have? I want to make a phone call."

Max handed Ash the Pokénav.

"It has a phone setting, Ash," he said. "Just make the call from on the ship."

"Right!" Ash replied, then frowned at the tiny device. "Uh. Pikachu, your paws are smaller than my hands… can you give me some help with the keys?"

---

"...who is Ash calling, anyway?" Kyle said, as Shep's ship stood out to sea. "He's been on the phone for ages now."

"I think most of that was calling his Mom," Brock replied. "But he's moved on from there, now."

"Ash, don't call your Mom on the Pokénav!" May complained.

"I wanted to get a phone number I couldn't remember!" Ash replied, holding the Pokénav away from his ear. "But Mom wanted to give me a lecture about underwear and stuff…"

He moved the Pokénav back to his ear. "Yeah, uh… yeah! Right, uh, can you pass me to the curator, please? It's kind of… not exactly urgent but it'd be nice to get it in a hurry… yeah… Ash Ketchum, just tell him, I hope he remembers me…"

Ash went silent for a long moment.

"Yeah, I am," he agreed. "But that's not really important right now – oh, right… yeah, I can wait, I guess…"

"I'm as lost as you guys," Max said. "I can't think how Captain Stern could help us with this, I guess he is a sailor, but Shep's a sailor too and if Captain Stern had found the Temple of the Sea it wouldn't be lost any more."

"Hi!" Ash said, smiling. "Yeah, sorry for bothering you, is your granddaughter available? I need to speak to her or, you know, her friend. It's kind of important."

"Granddaughter," May mused, frowning. "Any ideas, Brock?"

Brock shook his head.

"Too many options, I guess," he replied. "We've done so much that I can't narrow it down all that easily. It's weird, you know? It just feels like going on an adventure at the time, but you look back and there was loads of stuff that happened."

"Oh, really?" Ash asked. "Great, that's really helpful!"

Another pause.

"Yeah, sorry to bother you," Ash said. "I know it's awkward, but can you come and help out? We're just leaving, uh…"

Ash looked up helplessly, and Jackie stifled a laugh.

"Port Ochre," he supplied.

"Port Ochre!" Ash told the person on the other end of the phone line. "And we're looking for an invisible floating city, so I thought of you because you could really help out!"

He frowned, listening for several seconds.

"Pika kachuu, Pikapi," Pikachu said.

"Yeah, true!" Ash agreed. "That would be great, thanks!"

Then he looked awkward. "Uh… Max, how do I end the call?"

"The red button," Max replied. "Ash, who were you calling up?"

"Well, I originally called my Mom," Ash said, ending the call. "Like I said."

"We know that bit," May replied, then something shimmered next to them and a white-and-red Latias decloaked without any fuss right next to the ship.

"...whoa," Lizabeth breathed. "Where did that Pokémon come from?"

"Altomare," Ash answered. "Thanks for showing up so quickly, Latias! How did you do it?"

Latias frowned, then concentrated, then made an illusion of Bianca painting a picture of Bianca and a Kadabra next to her.

"Oh, cool!" Ash said. "I didn't know Bianca had a Pokémon now. So Kadabra teleported you right here?"

Latias ended the illusion, and nodded. "La-ti!"

"You… um," Jackie said. "What? Do you know someone with a Latias you can borrow?"

"Latias is wild, I think," Ash said. "I… yeah, I don't think she has a Pokéball, unless that's changed."

Brock leaned back, smiling.

"Ti-tias," Latias said, glancing at Pikachu. "La-lati?"

"Ka-chuu, Pika," Pikachu provided.

Latias nodded.

"Ti-Latias?" she said, curious.

"Pika kachuu, Pikapi," Pikachu relayed.

"I think it's something about the full moon or the new moon or something like that," Ash replied. "So it might take days."

Latias looked thoughtful, then floated over to Ash's bag and began rummaging through it. Four seconds into doing that she vanished in a flash of white light.

"...huh," Brock said, as Ash reached into the bag and took out a Pokéball – which rocked one last time, then dematerialized. "Okay, that bit I didn't expect, but in hindsight I get it."

He shrugged. "Well, Pallet Town isn't that far from here, so she'll be back in half an hour or so. Congratulations on your new team member, I guess, Ash."

"I don't think Pokémon Ranger academy prepares us for this kind of situation," Jackie admitted.

Manaphy giggled.

Notes:

It's who you know, really.

And how you can get in touch with them.

Chapter 54: Incentive Structure

Arceus contemplated the World of Pokémon, and considered it carefully.

It was, in his opinion… Good.

They had done good work.

The world was a world full of humans and Pokémon alike, who teamed up regularly – whether as human and Pokémon, or as Pokémon and Pokémon. They trained together, honing their skills and competing against others… it was a mark of how well he had done, and how well they had done in adapting to what was there, that so much of the culture revolved around that.

Not because of a need to, but because they wanted to.

It was simply expected that any human would have at least one Pokémon companion, often many, and that they would meet at a young age… go on a journey… work out their compatibilities, and, if they had sufficient skill, they would go on to seek out a career in competitive battling.

Or competitive showing-off.

And if neither of those things happened, then the human and their Pokémon companions still had one another as companions and friends and allies. Protection, and help, and… entertainment, including in Pokémon battles.

Because it was not just those who were professional Pokémon battlers who battled their Pokémon. Practically everyone did, sometimes just for enrichment, sometimes as a way of letting off steam… it was fun for trainer and Pokémon alike.

Arceus was astonished at just how well it had worked, but… fortunately, they were also Normal, and so that astonishment didn't make them flinch.

They looked up at a flash of light and energy, and Ultra Necrozma materialized in front of them.

"Considering your work, again?" the dragon of sunlight asked.

"Indeed," Arceus stated, with a careful nod. "I am quite pleased with it, if I do say so myself."

The Legendary laughed.

"And you do say so yourself," Alola's God said. "You do say so yourself, indeed."

The creature of crystal and plasma inclined their head. "I can say it again, though. You were right."

"I was," Arceus said, with perhaps a touch of smugness.

"Still…" the Dragon added, sounding slightly curious. "What did lead to the idea?"

"I am not even sure, any more," Arceus admitted. "It was simply… the thought that perhaps the rest of us were going about this all wrong. That the search algorithm would avoid so many possibilities. And once I realized that there was, potentially, a better way… I tried. And I quickly came to consider this to be superior, even if it had produced worse results."

Necrozma folded their wings.

"I did," Arceus reiterated, tapping their hoof on thin air with a little flash of gold that stilled before it travelled more than a few yards. "But fortunately that didn't come up. If nothing else, we've cracked the problem about eight different times that I can think of without trying very hard."

The Blinding One chuckled, a sound which echoed like the music of the spheres.

"There is that," the Psychic-type agreed. "So… is there anything left to actually aim for?"

"Not really," Arceus answered, shaking their head. "Apart from bettering the lives of everyone on the planet, that is. Nothing says we actually have to stop at any point, and I quite enjoy how things are now."

They frowned, slightly. "And, of course, there is making sure that the defence mechanisms against others are in good shape. We wouldn't want it to come to an end, now that I've decided I like it."

"You mean both Rayquaza, I assume," the crystal Pokémon inquired.

"Yes," Arceus agreed. "Installing Sting into a noodle the size of a skyscraper was one of my better ideas, and I have had a lot of good ideas this cycle."

"And some less good ideas," the Star of Light noted.

"Yes, yes, I know," Arceus admitted. "I'm working on the virtue of humility. It's a work in progress."

"That's probably the best way to put it," their fellow eldritch entity said. "Have you considered that idea of incarnating the conflict engines?"

"I already did four of them," Arceus answered, pointing. "Look. There's one."

The Sun of Alola followed the pointing hoof.

"That's a cat."

"That's Chien-Pao," Arceus corrected, as the Ruinous Pokémon played catch with his trainer. "He is a kitty. A snep. And also adorable."

"Well, yes, I wasn't disputing that bit…"

Notes:

So I had this idea...

Chapter 55: Nobody Expects

"Ash, uhm… what is up with your team, exactly?" Arven asked, sounding… halfway between curious and exasperated.

"Oh, right," Ash said. "I guess it might be confusing because my Pokémon are mostly not native to Paldea, huh?"

He patted Pikachu. "So this is Pikachu, who's my starter Pokémon! Because I grew up in Pallet Town and my mom knows Professor Oak, I actually could have picked one of the special starters he gives out – Charmander, Squirtle or Bulbasaur! But I got up late, so I got Pikachu instead, and that's the best that I could ever have had!"

He shrugged, and Pikachu sniggered. "Though, uh… I guess there was this time loop thing, because Professor Oak had actually met me in a couple of years when he was forty years younger, and he'd seen me with a Pikachu so I guess he knew that it had to be that Pikachu which means this Pikachu, so I was always going to get Pikachu. I think."

Ash frowned for a moment, trying to puzzle that out, then shrugged. "But, anyway, so I've got Pikachu! And I go everywhere with him."

"Chu-ka-chuu!" Pikachu nodded, firmly.

"Skwo?" Arven's sciuridine starter asked, sounding disbelieving.

"Chu," Pikachu said.

"I'm guessing that's about going into other realities or the past?" Ash asked. "Or maybe the future, I think that might have happened once but I'm not sure… anyway, yeah! Everywhere! But I have this whole big team of other Pokémon, and I don't want them to get entirely upset with being back home where they can't meet me, so I pick at random!"

He paused. "Oh, though – Quaxly is new. Quaxly I got in Paldea, about half an hour before I ran into you actually! And I've got some ideas on how to train him – I was actually going to bring in one of my other Water-types to help out, but for now I'm just going to work on Flying-type things…"

"That's not the Pokémon I'm actually confused by," Arven said. "In fact, I'm shocked that you don't get which Pokémon I'm concerned by."

"Chuu, Pikapi – pika-ka!" Pikachu provided, with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah!" Ash agreed. "Must be, yeah… so this is Pidgeot! She's a Pokémon who I really didn't connect with for a long time, a lot longer than I should, but she's great!"

Pidgeot preened, opening out a wing and inspecting it in a show-Pokemon-like sort of way, and Ash grinned. "She was the second Pokémon I ever caught," he explained. "She-"

"She's lovely," Arven said, firmly, but also in a way that made it abundantly clear that Pidgeot's loveliness – while self-evident – was not actually his main motive or concern at that time. "But – Ash – that's not the Pokémon I'm confused by earlier."

He waved his hand at the other half of Ash's team, who were exchanging giggles. "Why do you have three Latias?"

"Well, I met Latias when I rescued her from some Team Rocket agents!" Ash said, then frowned. "Were they Team Rocket? I guess I just assumed. They might not have been Team Rocket, they might have just been… criminals. But I assume they were Team Rocket and I definitely rescued her – but I wish I'd managed to rescue her brother."

Latias squeaked, and Ash nodded.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Anyway, she wasn't a member of my team for a while, but when she heard that I had Nebby technically on my team and then saw me at the World Monarch tournament, she recruited herself."

"Vet-Skwo?" Skwovet asked.

"Chuu, Pika-chuu, pikapi pika ka," Pikachu explained.

"Nebby?" Arven said, because Ash's answer had raised more questions.

"A Solgaleo, like Pikachu said," Ash replied. "And then Latias I met because Hoopa called her and her brother to help me out against this big army of mind controlled Pokémon summoned by Hoopa's super powered evil side! Hoopa summoned a Lugia too and a Rayquaza, but… anyway, uh, she wasn't a member of my team for a while, but I guess she met Greninja and Squishy when they were out clearing away roots and recruited herself."

"...Squishy?" Arven repeated. "What's Squishy?"

"A Zygarde," Ash clarified. "They're Kalosian, I think… did you have evil world roots here in Paldea? I think it's pretty close to Kalos but I'm not sure how close."

"I don't remember hearing about that," Arven said.

"Chuu, pika kachuu, Pikapi," Pikachu prompted.

"Oh, yeah!" Ash recalled. "And Latias is because I rescued her from some poachers, and then rescued her brother as well, and they flew off but Latias came back the next day because she hadn't realized that being a Legendary Pokémon that a trainer has is a thing that can happen."

He shrugged. "And I guess the way it worked out is just random chance, right? Luck is like that!"

"Ash, I… think your idea of luck might be a bit different to what most people think luck is like," Arven suggested, tentatively.

"Huh?" Ash asked. "Why?"

Notes:

So it occurred to me that in anime-with-film canon Ash appears to meet three distinct Latiases, all of whom like him.

Chapter 56: Infinite Diversity In Infinite Combinashions

"...uh," Ash said, confused, and looked at Pikachu. "What… any idea what just happened?"

"You're the god, Ash," Pikachu replied.

"Yeah, that doesn't mean I actually know what I just did," Ash replied, frowning.

"Then what were you trying to do?" Pikachu suggested, reasonably enough.

"I was thinking about that thing Dad said, about… how if there's more than one of him, then they're just all him," Ash explained. "And I wondered if I could use that to make it so that there's more than one of me… if I can do all of the things at the same time, I mean! Because then I actually could spend time back at the ranch with all my Pokémon, and still go on adventures… the adventures are great, but I feel bad about all the Pokémon that I leave behind most of the time."

"That's a nice thought, Ash," Latias said. "Only…"

She looked around at the strange space they'd ended up in. A kind of mirrored, crystalline space, where they were standing just in front of a shimmering crystalline slab eight feet tall and edged with gold.

"...I don't think this is that," she finished.

Ash nodded, then shook himself, and turned to look back at the slab, which shimmered but showed nothing of importance in it.

It made a faint, musical noise, and Ash lifted a hoof to touch it… then lowered it again.

"I don't know," he said. "Maybe that will help out, or maybe it won't…"

"Maybe we should look around," Pikachu suggested. "You know what Cynthia would say if we came back from having found an entirely new plane of reality and all we could tell her was that it was shiny."

Ash sniggered.

"Yeah, true," he admitted, turning and trotting a little way away from the slab. As he did, the opalescent surroundings shifted, and he made an interested noise.

"Oh, huh," he noted. "More of them… hey, is it me or do they look kind of different?"

Latias zipped closer, looking at the nearest one.

"There's no gold edging," she agreed. "You're right… it's kind of like a mirror."

"It is?" Ash said, trotting up to join her, and they all stared in surprise.

Because Latias looked like Latias, in the reflection from the crystal… but Ash looked human, wearing a set of vaguely familiar clothes, and there was something about him that didn't quite seem right otherwise. And Pikachu was on his shoulder, right where he'd have gone back before Ash's true form was revealed.

"Now that's weird," Pikachu declared.

"So that's how you looked," Latias said, curious.

Ash raised a hoof, and touched the mirror, then there was a moment of blurred something and suddenly Ash was stumbling forwards, grabbing onto Ash's ring for a moment to stabilize himself, then moving back with a kind of tense fluidity.

"What just happened?" the human Ash asked. "Arceus?"

"No, that's dad," Asheus replied. "Uh… you're… me, right?"

The other Ash looked confused, and glanced at his Pikachu, who was squinting at Asheus.

"Hey, there's something weird about your cheeks," Asheus's Pikachu said. "What's up with that?"

"Long story," human Ash's Pikachu replied. "It involves a Thunder Stone and a Light Ball, and… if you don't know, you just kind of need to take my word for it."

"Did this happen last time?" the other Latias said. "Because I don't think I heard about this before."

"Wait, last time?" Asheus's Latias checked. "What do you mean?"

"...Dad?" the human Ash blinked, then closed his eyes, then opened them again with a wince. "Ow. Your Aura looks really bright…"

"Yeah, I've had… complaints," Asheus admitted. "Look, you're… Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, right? Because so am I, but I'm… a bit different."

"A bit?" the human Ash's Pikachu mumbled.

"Wait, I just realized it," Asheus's Pikachu said. "Ash, that Ash is older than you were when the glamour broke… hey, listen, have you ever drunk a potion that turned you into a Pokémon?"

"Yeah, actually!" the older Ash agreed. "I turned into a Pikachu. Or a Riolu. It depends which time you mean… okay, actually, now I think about it, you're one of me so you might actually understand how weird my life is…"

A couple of minutes of summary later, they'd agreed that – as the human Ash was a time traveller and from the future, and so were both his Latias and his Pikachu – he was therefore Future Ash, and his Pokémon were Future Pikachu and Future Latias. While Asheus was Asheus, and his own two close partners were Lord Pikachu and Lady Latias.

"...I guess that thing you were talking about must have done this," Future Ash said, looking around. "It's weird to think that there's versions of me on other worlds… I'm mostly used to there being versions of me on the same world. Like Ritchie."

He frowned. "Wait, is your Ritchie an Arceus too?"

"I don't think so," Asheus answered.

"What I want to know is, are you the only other one?" Lord Pikachu asked. "Because I've just noticed that there's all these other crystal slabs lying around… and if we're ever going to activate them, Ash, you should do it soon."

"Why?" Lady Latias said. "You think it might be a problem?"

"I think otherwise we're going to give the same explanations a lot of times," Lord Pikachu replied.

"Checks out," Future Pikachu agreed.

"Yeah, that is a good point…" Asheus admitted, looking around. "Uh… I've got no idea how this works… maybe we should experiment? Cynthia likes experiments."

"I'll handle taking notes," Lord Pikachu volunteered.

Another collection of several distinctive minutes later, Asheus sat on his haunches.

"Uh," he said. "So… has everyone got their name tags? I think we worked out what to call everyone, but… I was pretty close to losing track there. Can we go down the list again?"

"Aren't you a god?" Shuffle Ash said, curiously. "How can you be confused?"

"I'm an Arceus, but I haven't been one for long," Asheus defended himself. "Anyway – so we're all Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. I'm Asheus, I'm an Arceus, my mom is human and my dad is Arceus, the creator of the universe… and I didn't know I was a Pokémon until I took a potion in Johto that was meant to turn me into a Pokémon. And instead it broke this… kind of spell, that was keeping me looking like a human. This is Lord Pikachu, my starter Pokémon, and Lady Latias, who's… she's been a lot of help to me. She's a really close friend."

"It's neat that we all have Pikachu and Latias," ZoroAsh volunteered. "Though… is she a close friend, or a… close friend?"

The Latias hovering over him giggled, and he glanced up at her with a wink.

"Huh?" Shuffle Ash asked.

"We'll tell you when you're older," ZoroAsh said.

"Hey!" Shuffle Ash protested. "I know I'm the youngest one here, but still!"

"Yeah, uh, that's actually kind of a complicated issue actually," Shuffle Pikachu noted, which most of those present understood.

"Your Latias is your girlfriend, right?" Future Ash said. "We… talked about that, Latias and I, when I reminded her, but… I just don't feel that way."

He shook his head. "Anyway! I'm Future Ash, and I was sent back in time by Arceus to save the world from Team Galactic."

"Oh, those guys," Old Ash said.

ZoroAsh growled.

"I don't like them much," Asheus muttered.

"Who?" Ashbsol asked, tilting his head.

"I – wait," Future Ash said. "You… haven't heard of them? But didn't we work out that you'd got far enough that you were almost as old as Old Ash?"

Ashbsol shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you," he said.

"They captured Dialga and Palkia and tried to remake the world, and that was just the first time around!" Future Ash pointed out, or possibly hinted. "You… seriously haven't heard of them? At all?"

"Not really, no," Bond Pikachu provided, leaning on Ashbsol's back.

"What region were they from?" his Latias added.

"...Sinnoh," Future Ash said. "Oh, never mind… anyway, I'm a human trainer whose dad was human and so was my mom. I did a normal journey for a while, though, I guess I did meet a lot of Legendary Pokémon… then I went back in time to the start of my journey and I was able to kind of… bring along my Pokémon and companions, and their teams, as well as some Pokémon I knew well but who weren't mine. It's been a long road to get here, but… yeah, I'm proud of my work."

He pointed. "My Pikachu's got a long history with me, and he's got those cheeks because of a weird accident with a Thunder Stone, which collided with a weirder thing when time was rewritten to add the Fairy type."

"Time got rewritten to add the Fairy type?" ZoroAsh said.

"It's kind of fundamental, right?" Old Ash frowned. "How could that work?"

"Probably Celebi," Ashbsol suggested. "It's usually Celebi or Dialga. Or both. Actually it might be both at once."

Asheus was frowning.

"So… you're kind of like… one of us who was experienced right from the start," he suggested. "Maybe?"

"That actually sounds like it makes sense, yeah," Lord Pikachu declared. "Maybe we should think about that in more detail."

"Maybe," Asheus agreed. "I'm guessing you're from Altomare, Latias? It's weird how that works."

Most of them nodded or muttered agreement, though Shuffle Latias mostly looked confused instead.

"And I'm ZoroAsh," the next Ash provided, dispelling his illusion for a moment to make it clear that, yes, he was a Zoroark. "My mom is also a Zoroark, Tamamo, and my dad's a Lucario, Gaheris! He's from Sinnoh and he works with Cynthia."

"Seriously?" Shuffle Ash asked. "That's so cool!"

"Ash, Asheus's dad is literally the creator god," Shuffle Latias said, giggling.

"Huh?" Shuffle Ash asked, looking up at her, then she pointed at Asheus. "...oh, yeah, I get it… sorry? I guess? It just seems sort of… it's small enough to make sense."

"I'm in hiding," ZoroAsh went on. "My disguise got broken when I battled Mewtwo and from then on my friends have known I'm a Zorua, though."

"...wait, you're a Dark type!" Future Ash said. "Yeah, dealing with Mewtwo must have been easier for you. Did you even die once?"

"Die?" Shuffle Ash repeated. "Did you die?"

"...a lot, actually," Future Ash admitted.

"Way too much," Future Pikachu provided.

"I don't think I have," ZoroAsh said, frowning.

"I think I died from Mewtwo, but that was before I found out who I really was," Asheus provided.

"Yeah, I died to Mewtwo as well," Old Ash provided.

"Is it a big deal?" Ashbsol said. "When that happened to me the first time, with Mewtwo, I got loads of help through it! I went to Conga with Giratina until Xerneas could help me out."

"He means Limbo," Bond Pikachu provided, in case any of the others couldn't work that one out. "It's… a headache."

"Pikachu is my starter," ZoroAsh went on. "And Latias is my girlfriend."

"And how long did it take you to realize it?" his Pikachu asked.

"...about two years?" ZoroAsh said. "Hey, in my defence, it took us both that long."

"He's right, it did," Lauratias conceded.

"Huh, actually, can you guys use Aura?" Future Ash said.

ZoroAsh nodded. "Dad's a Lucario, remember," he said.

"It's a lot of help to be able to do Pokémon moves without having to take the potion and be a Pokémon," Ashbsol volunteered.

"I've done it a bit," Old Ash said. "Not much, though."

"That sounds so cool," Shuffle Ash mused. "I wonder if I can do that?"

Then he shook himself. "Oh, wait, it's my turn now – okay! So I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and… uh… yeah, that's all of us…"

He looked embarrassed, then continued. "I'm still on my Pokémon Journey, but you guys are all really cool and I want to be like you! I mean, uh. More like you. Latias is my starter and I met Pikachu not long ago, but he's a great friend already!"

"Beware of drunk-driving Celebis," Shuffle Pikachu provided.

"Huh," Asheus said. "Latias is your starter? Shouldn't she be in Altomare?"

"Where's Altomare?" Shuffle Latias said.

"Oh, that's actually really interesting," Lauratias said, under her breath, then raised her voice. "So, all the other Latiases here are from Altomare, right?"

She got several nods, and a thumbs-up from Ashbsol's Latias, who seemed to be trying to find which of a large collection of handheld consoles had the best camera.

"Neat," she said. "Sorry, you were saying?"

Shuffle Ash tilted his head slightly, then visibly got it.

"I… don't really have anything else to say," he said. "Sorry, I'm not really very far into my journey."

"Tell them your Pokémon," Shuffle Pikachu suggested.

"What are your Pokémon, then?" Future Ash asked. "Pikachu seems to think there's something important about them."

"So far – Latias, she's my starter, then Phanpy, Dragonair, Dracovish, Scraggy, Roggenrola, Rockruff, Pikachu, Bulbasaur and thirty Larvitar!" Shuffle Ash said, proudly.

The other Ash all exchanged glances.

"Cool!" Ashbsol said. "I've got about thirty Dragonite!"

"Yeah, you're definitely on a great journey," Old Ash said, clapping Shuffle Ash on the shoulder. "You'll be fine."

"Thanks!" Shuffle Ash said. "What about you?"

"I'm… well, I'm human, like the majority of us," Old Ash replied. "I'm the Champion of Alola! And I'm working on becoming the World Monarch, plus helping out my friends Goh and Chloe and doing research and stuff, but also some Legendary Pokémon have had a meeting and decided to say thanks by giving me stuff, I guess. Like Latias, who decided to give me, uh."

He paused.

"Latias," he finished.

Old Latias giggled

"Yeah, that checks out," Lady Latias agreed.

"I know I'd have come along the first time if I'd known it was an option," Future Latias said. "That sounds like you're having a lot of fun."

Then she shook herself. "I am way too used to humans understanding me."

"It's got to be my turn now, right?" Ashbsol asked, rising to all fours and stretching. "So! Just so you know, Shuffle Ash, I'm human too, I just took some of that magic potion that Asheus mentioned so that it was obvious which Ash I was because otherwise I'd look too similar to Old Ash. And my Pokémon journey's been a lot of fun, I've been teaching recently!"

"Teaching?" Old Ash asked. "What, like Professor Kukui?"

"Exactly like him!" Ashbsol agreed. "I've been helping teach his class!"

"For those of you who need the perspective," Bond Pikachu provided. "Because I love my Ash but he's got literally no sense of perspective, Ash met Mew when he was about six years old and I think she did as much of the job of raising him as Delia Ketchum did. So he's absol-utely bananas. I mean, he's a great friend, but he's also so desensitized to the presence of Legendary Pokémon that… I… okay I just can't think of an appropriate comparison."

"How did you meet your Latias, then?" ZoroAsh asked.

"Mew introduced me to her so we could game together!" Ash said.

"...huh," Shuffle Ash muttered. "Hey, what did his Pikachu say, someone?"

As Future Ash provided a quick translation, Asheus frowned to himself.

"I… okay, I think I get it," he said, and began pointing. "Future Ash is… an Ash who was experienced, right from the start. Old Ash is an Ash who's kind of… being recognized for how much he helps out everyone. Ashbsol is how much we're friends with Pokémon, Shuffle Ash is meeting our team in a different order I guess? Maybe?"

"Not as sure about that one," Lord Pikachu said.

"Drunk driving Celebi," Shuffle Pikachu provided.

"...right," Asheus decided. "And Zoro Ash is…"

"...a giant clue bat that you should have a serious talk with your Latias about what kind of friends to be," ZoroAsh said, winking. "Or, I don't know, how people don't realize at first how weird we are. What about you, then?"

"Didn't Asheus cause all this?" Future Latias said, curiously.

"...well, yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm the default," Asheus said, though he was clearly not putting all his thought into the question.

He was processing something else, as well.

"Maybe I'm… the one of us who's got way more power, and has to use it responsibly?" he said. "I don't know… but, anyway…"

Asheus shook himself.

"...let's talk Pokémon?" he suggested. "I bet there's a lot to talk about!"

Notes:

I noticed that I had a lot of Ashes with a Pikachu and a Latias, so… here's a crossover!

Featuring -

Accidental Apotheosis – Asheus the Arceus along with Lord Pikachu and Lady Latias

Legendarily Popular – Ashbsol who is currently an Absol for convenience along with Bond Pikachu and Gamer Latias

Master Pokémon – ZoroAsh the Zoroark along with his Pikachu and his girlfriend, Latias, who is Laura when disguised as a human

Ashes of the Past – Future Ash the human time traveller, along with Future Pikachu and Future Latias

Pokémon Shuffle, from my snippets fic – Shuffle Ash the human with randomized encounter luck, along with his starter Shuffle Latias and his recent acquisition Shuffle Pikachu

Boons and Companions, from my snippets fic – Old Ash the human who was anime canon until Journeys, along with Old Pikachu and Old Latias

For the purposes of Accidental Apotheosis, this is part of the Gospel of Wat.

Chapter 57: Wild (Drago)thing

Once Bill had taken off his Kabuto costume, he invited them into his lighthouse.

"Welcome-" he began, but Ash was looking at the door.

"There's all kinds of weird Pokémon on here," he said, pointing at the mural. "Isn't that, uh, Moltres?"

"You're a smart kid," Bill said, which resulted in a coughing fit from Misty.

"Hey-" Ash protested, then visibly worked out that it'd look like he was objecting to being called smart. "I mean, thanks! But I don't know all of these… what's that one?"

"That's a Ditto," Bill answered.

"And that one?" Ash asked, moving his finger up to point at the one on the top left.

"It looks a bit like a Mew is supposed to look," Brock volunteered, as Ash got out his Pokédex. "But I've seen pictures of how Mew is meant to look and there's something not quite right about that one."

Taking a step back, Ash fiddled with the zoom, and the Pokédex bleeped.

Mewtwo, it said, calmly.

"What?" Bill asked. "I… huh."

"That sounds like you know what's going on," Misty said, warningly. "And even if you don't know all of it, you clearly know enough. What's going on?"

Bill sighed.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find good enrichment activities for a psychic toddler?" he asked.

Ash, Brock, Misty and Pikachu all blinked at the complete non sequitur.

"...what?" Misty said, eventually.

"Come on inside," Bill said, ushering them in, and shut the door behind them. "All right… so a year or so ago, there was a project to create the world's most powerful Pokémon, through cloning. I was involved, but not closely – I only found out a lot of this afterwards, but I knew the head researcher and apparently he trusted me more than anyone who was more closely involved… which I found out when I got an email from him that was meant to be sent if he didn't log in to his account for a week."

"Then…" Brock frowned. "What happened?"

"I don't know all the details," Bill said. "I do know that I got to an island where a lot of things had gone very wrong. The place was wrecked… but most of the cloning machinery was intact, including one tube that was in use. I found enough documentation to know that they labelled the clone Mewtwo, and I managed to wake her up – and took her home."

He sighed. "But, you know, she's kind of… it's not right that she has to live in the basement, but what other choice do we have? She's young and there was way too much money tied up with that project for it to be safe for her to be seen, at least for now."

"So… that's a picture of her?" Ash asked.

"Right," Bill agreed. "She's a very powerful psychic. She etched the door with patterns as an art project, and I didn't have the heart to refuse when she put herself on."

"So she's been here all alone, except for you, for… ages," Ash said, sadly. "That sounds… awful, really."

Then he waved his hands. "I, uh, I don't mean you're awful, I mean that she should be able to get out in the world and meet people!"

"So how is it she was in the Pokédex?" Misty asked.

"I've got a file about her, I thought it was private," Bill answered. "It must have ended up as part of the general Pokédex reference network, hopefully that won't cause problems."

"Could we meet her?" Brock said. "It sounds like it would be good for her."

"Pika kachuu…" Pikachu mused, thoughtfully.

---

 

"Welcome to-" the Saffon Gym trainer began, stopped, and restarted. "...uhm. I recognize two of you."

"I'm Ash Ketchum!" Ash said, thumping his thumb into his chest. "I'm from Pallet Town! And this is Brock, he's from Pewter-"

"I know Gym Leaders Brock and Misty," the gym trainer said, with a frown. "I'm wondering why one of your number is wearing a large Dragonite costume."

"Agoraphobia," the person in the Dragonite costume replied, in a muffled sort of voice. "My name's Newt."

"...right," the gym trainer replied. "Anyway, which of you is the challenger?"

"That's me!" Ash said, proudly. "Come on, let's do this! This is going to be great!"

 

---

It wasn't especially great, and Pikachu had a rough time dealing with Kadabra. Ash wavered, tempted to run forwards and rescue his Pokémon from being repeatedly beaten against the floor and the ceiling, but he knew it would mean defeat.

Then Newt shook her head, which mostly resulted in the cheerful, smiling head of her costume shaking back and forth a bit.

"Hey!" she said. "That's not fair!"

She stamped her foot. "You're not supposed to use your psychic powers to help in a battle if you're not the Pokémon!"

"That sounds like you're accusing me of something," Sabrina said, calmly.

"I am because you're doing it!" Newt insisted. "If you're helping your Kadabra, and you are, then I'm going to help Pikachu!"

Sabrina giggled.

"I don't think-" she began, then Pikachu used a Psychic attack that knocked Kadabra through the floor.

This was a surprise to everyone, including Pikachu.

"...um, I might have overdone it?" Newt said, as small bits of wood pattered down around them. "Sorry, guys…"

Notes:

So this AU idea struck me after having it pointed out that there's a Mewtwo on Bill's door… plus of course consideration of how a creation of super science could claim agoraphobia to spend all of her time in a Dragon(ite) suit.

Hey, if Dot can do it...

Chapter 58: Cohort Size

"Hey!" Ash protested. "I made top sixteen in the Indigo League!"

"That's not even enough to compete in the Orange League!" Senta replied, the kid snorting. "You need to be a way tougher trainer to have a chance here!"

"Hmm…" Misty frowned. "Hey, kid, how come you say that?"

"I'm not a kid!" Senta replied.

"We're all kids," Misty replied. "Tracey's the oldest here and he's, what, fifteen?"

"Sixteen," Tracey replied, hurt.

"And, yeah, we're all kids," Misty resumed. "I'm a Gym Leader. Ash made top sixteen in the Indigo League. We're all still kids. So, kid, how come you say that?"

"Well, duh!" Senta replied. "He didn't even make it to the Elite Four, and the Orange Crew are the Elite Four here!"

"I thought they were Gym Leaders?" Ash replied. "Did I miss some actual Gym leaders I need to challenge?"

"Pika chuu, pikapi," Pikachu observed.

"That's not what I mean," Misty said, looking like she was doing some mental calculations. "So… how many people are there in the Orange Islands?"

"Like I know?" Senta shrugged. "What does it matter?"

"I'm just wondering," Misty answered. "Because, uh… okay, so Mandarin Island North has a big city, that's got… but that's half the population of the Orange Islands… "

Senta looked like he was waiting for the point.

So did Ash, admittedly.

"Oh, I get it," Tracey realized. "Hey, Senta, how many people are there in Kanto? Because Ash came top sixteen in the Indigo League."

Senta's expression didn't change.

"You're just saying the same thing over and over again," he protested. "Is one of you going to get to the point?"

"Kanto has fifteen times the population of the Orange Islands at least," Tracey said. "Every ten year old kid in Kanto dreams of trying for the Pokémon League, and most of them don't really get past the first or second gym. Some of them take years to train up and complete their League journey. Every year, a couple of hundred people in Kanto get their eighth badge and earn the right to take part in the Indigo League… by getting his eighth badge on the first year of his journey, Ash was already in at least the top tenth of a percent, or better."

Even Ash looked impressed by that.

"Never actually worked out the numbers, Ash?" Misty asked.

"I didn't know them!" Ash protested. "You didn't either, did you? I just know I'm kind of cool, that's as far as it goes!"

"And then two hundred and fifty six people took part in the Indigo League," Tracey went on. "Ash got to the top sixteen, which means he beat four other people who'd done all of that – and all of them were older and more experienced than him. Then he lost."

He shrugged. "Ash isn't the best trainer from Kanto – yet. There's work to do. But he's a lot better than you think – even getting into the League is a lot harder than you think if you're from the Orange Islands."

"But if he thinks battling is all you need for the Orange Crew, he's got some new things to learn about," an older girl said, from the doorway. "I'm Cissy, I'm the Gym Leader here. So, Ash – let's see if you and your Pokémon have skill to go with tactics and strength!"

"All right!" Ash said. "I'm going to use Pikachu to start with!"

"Pika ka!" Pikachu agreed, nodding.

"He'd probably not be very good, I don't think he knows Water Gun," Cissy said, amused. "I said we were testing skill – my Badge is for accuracy, not for battling."

"Huh," Ash said, as Pikachu looked disappointed.

Then he frowned.

"...wait, the Orange League doesn't even do battling?" he said, turning to Senta. "Then why would you even be saying I wasn't good at it?"

"Don't mind my brother, he's an idiot," Cissy shrugged.

"Hey!" Senta protested.

Notes:

More of a stats lesson than anything, really.

Chapter 59: Local Man Accidentally Correct

"Father!"

"We'll finish this later," Ghetsis told Zinzolin.

"As you wish," the other Sage said, stepping away, and Ghetsis turned to face his adopted son.

"What is your bidding, my k-k-that is a very big Pokémon," he said, as N dropped down from the back of a black dragon whose eyes were like stabs of lightning in the dark.

N's hand lingered on the back of the dragon, patting it, then lowered as N turned his full attention to his father.

"I came here to tell you," N explained. "I have befriended the Legendary Dragon! As you said I should!"

Ghetsis was extremely good at controlling his expression, and so he didn't show the wince that he really sort of wanted to show at that news.

Because… yes, he had told N to go and find and befriend the Legendary Dragon, Zekrom.

Those were certainly words he'd said.

But it hadn't really been the point. The point had been to further the whole… narrative, that the cult of Plasma had been built around, and to get N out of the way while Ghetsis continued his work on the messy but necessary business of arranging a popular uprising against the Gym Leaders and the Pokémon League.

It could have been the story of Lugia and the three treasures, or the one about the Swords of Justice, or that idea where there was someone who was meant to bring together all the Pokémon Types in the form of Terapagos. Any of them would have worked, but Reshiram and Zekrom had been the one that was most popular with the people of Unova and the one which most easily slotted into the idea of a popular uprising to break the bonds between people and Pokémon, where a human could be the figurehead by nature of their quest.

And it would get N out of the way, of course.

"Good," Ghetsis decided to say, because otherwise he'd just have been standing there looking like a snazzily dressed miniature castle for the entire time while he processed the situation. "Very good."

At least it wasn't Reshiram. Because he was going to have to lie a fuck of a lot in the near future.

"I knew you could do it, my son," Ghetsis added, because, well, case in point regarding lying a lot. "Tell me, were there any… complications?"

"I believe Hilbert is going to be Reshiram's chosen," N replied, and Zekrom made a thoughtful growl.

"Hilbert… the one you keep going on dates with?" Ghetsis checked.

"That's not-" N began, stopped, then continued. "They're not dates."

"Of course," Ghetsis said. "I'm thinking of the right person, though?"

"Yes," N conceded, somewhat reluctantly, and Ghetsis really wanted to rub his temples.

Because if N had Zekrom now, of course Hilbert was going to get Reshiram.

Probably soon.

And a giant legendary Pokémon battle was sort of… not… in line with the whole plan to gradually launch a deniable popular uprising.

"All right," Ghetsis said, discarding several backup plans and backups for his backup plans, and moving all the way into the double emergency backup we've-been-found-out plans. "My king – prepare yourself, and your Pokémon. We launch our attack against the Pokémon League tomorrow. I will have Zinzolin ready the drill castle."

"...drill castle?" N repeated, somewhat confused. "We have one of those?"

"Yes," Ghetsis agreed, making a mental note that Colress had been right after all – it really had been a good idea.

Not that he was, necessarily, going to admit that to the man to his face. Ghetsis had a lot of experience at not admitting things to people.

"It's the same one you grew up in," he clarified. "The drills are new… they were an excellent sale deal, and a good investment."

That was his story, and he was sticking to it.

And at this point his choices were to either take over Unova quickly, ideally under speedrun conditions, by blowing up the Pokémon League and fistfighting all the strongest trainers in the country at once… or wait for some ACAB teenager in a cap to show up with Reshiram and demolish the entire plan in one go.

On the plus side, he could probably get N to punch Alder in the face, which would be immensely satisfying.

Notes:

So a friend pointed out that this could happen.

Chapter 60: Thinking With Pokémon

"...so you're sure?" Cynthia asked.

"As far as I'm aware," Oak replied. "Which isn't the same thing, young lady!"

Cynthia chuckled.

"Fair point," she conceded. "But… I'll admit it, I'm surprised, because I'd have expected ruins like that to be better documented."

She shrugged. "I suppose someone's got to be the first."

"Indeed," Oak said. "Though you might be merely one of the first, since there's a team out there doing an investigation right now. I do wonder what they'll find!"

"I may as well go and see them," Cynthia decided. "See if they've got anything already… there's something fascinating about this area of Kanto. You've got the Pokémonopolis culture, and the Pokéatlantis culture, and it's not yet been determined for sure if they're rivals or a case of cultural replacement."

"It's a Pokémonopolis site, or so I've heard," Oak told her. "But, well, you remember what I said about being sure or not!"

"I'm hardly likely to forget, Professor," Cynthia said. "Thank you for the tip."

"Hey, Professor!" someone said, and Cynthia turned.

"Ash," Professor Oak sighed. "You should check if I'm busy, first."

"...oops," Ash said. "But I was going to ask if there's somewhere that I can go and train with Brock and Misty… hey, I recognize you."

"You do?" Cynthia asked. "Is it for one of my papers?"

"A what?" Ash said, sounding confused, then shook his head. "...whatever it is, no… but I do recognize you! I've seen you on TV as a great Pokémon trainer! You're from… Sinnoh, right?"

He lit up. "If you're a great Pokémon trainer, can you give me some advice? I'm doing the Indigo League soon!"

"I'm sorry about Ash," Professor Oak said. "He's one of my grandson's friends. Or rivals. Maybe both…"

"Hey!" Ash protested, not very hotly.

Cynthia was looking Ash over, carefully.

And looking at his Pikachu, as well.

It wasn't that uncommon to have a Pokémon out of their Pokéball, especially a familiar one – a close friend, for example. But Ash was young, maybe ten or eleven.

And there were two possible interpretations of doing the Indigo League soon… and he had six Pokéballs on his belt.

"How did you find the gyms?" she asked, on a guess.

"...it was kind of hard, sometimes," Ash admitted. "The one for Cinnabar was hidden and that doesn't really seem fair!"

"Pika kachuu, Pikapi," Pikachu giggled.

"...oh, right, that's what you meant," Ash muttered. "So, yeah, I had trouble with some of them, but I'm ready for the Pokémon League! Mostly. I just want to get more tips so I know how to win!"

Cynthia nodded, thinking about that.

Her guess was confirmed, anyway, which was that Ash was indeed planning to compete in the Indigo League Conference, not challenge the gyms.

"It's actually tricky to give you advice, except in a general sense," she said. "Because if I taught you how to use Garchomp or Lucario or Togekiss, then you wouldn't be able to use that advice if you don't have a Garchomp or Lucario or Togekiss."

Ash frowned, clearly processing that.

"And even if you did, they wouldn't be the same Pokémon," Cynthia went on. "Because your Pikachu is different to other Pikachu, isn't he?"

"Ka chuu!" Pikachu agreed, nodding.

"Yeah," Ash said, his voice going soft. "He really is. We've been through a lot together!"

Pikachu jumped up onto Ash's shoulder, and Ash scratched him. Then he frowned.

"So… I guess you couldn't give me any advice that would work for that," he said. "But… couldn't you give me some of that general advice, then?"

Cynthia nodded, slightly.

She could tell old Oak was listening to what she was going to say, and hid a smile.

"The more you know about the situation, the better," she began. "So much of being a Pokémon trainer is about opportunities – you order your Pokémon around to create and exploit opportunities, and you train them beforehand so that they can do what you ask them to do… and you train yourself, as well, by putting yourself in situations where you need to think about what you're doing."

Ash looked like he was thinking about that.

"I guess that might mean that Team Rocket have really been helping us out, in a weird way, huh, Pikachu?" he asked, and Pikachu's ears flicked in interest. "Because they've been doing all kinds of weird things that mean we have to work out how to deal with, uh, rescuing Blastoise or dealing with a giant vacuum cleaner… or any of that weird stuff they do. We always have to think of a way to deal with it!"

"Pika kachuu, ka chu, Pikapi!" Pikachu said, sounding somewhat cross, and Ash laughed.

"Yeah, maybe I am being too optimistic," he admitted.

Cynthia was actually somewhat impressed. Ash and his Pikachu, at least, were very close to have such good understanding that young.

"Though, uh," Ash added. "I do have another problem, which is… one of my Pokémon doesn't really listen to me, he's… I don't know what it is, really, he's really competitive but it started when he evolved to Charmeleon. And now that he's a Charizard it's worse!"

"I don't know how to help you out, there, because – every Pokémon is different," Cynthia told him, repeating her point from earlier. "It might be that you're just not compatible."

"But we should be," Ash said. "I… feel like I must have screwed up, somehow, because he used to be well behaved… it's like he doesn't like me any more."

He looked downcast, then rallied a little.

"So I guess… he's a really strong Pokémon, but if what I need to do is to create opportunities and stuff, I shouldn't rely on him," he said. "I should still train him, in case that helps, but right now he's so unpredictable that even if I did spot something I couldn't rely on him doing it…"

It sounded like he was thinking about her advice, and Cynthia nodded.

"It sounds like you're moving in the right direction," she said. "And that's good – thinking is like a muscle, the more you do it the more you get used to doing it. And the more you know about your Pokémon, and about the Pokémon you might end up battling, the more you can spot those opportunities… and even create them, which is the really hard bit. But it's also very effective if you can do it right."

"Yeah," Ash said. "Yeah! Because… because even if I could use Charizard to flatten everyone, that wouldn't prove I was a better trainer, it would prove I had a strong Pokémon! It's all about, uh, it's about being partners."

"That's how I do it, anyway," Cynthia agreed. "And don't forget – the other Pokémon has their trainer in the fight, too. You're trying to outwit them… and you can succeed."

Ash grinned.

"Right!" he agreed. "Come on, Pikachu, let's go and do some training!"

"Pika kachuu!" Pikachu agreed, and Ash hurried out the door.

"...I wonder where he's going to pick to train?" Oak said, thoughtfully. "I think Ash will remember that for a while, Cynthia, my dear. Thank you."

"It's a pleasure," Cynthia replied. "I wonder if I'll battle him, some day."

---

That evening, it was proved quite dramatically that the archaeological site was a major site of Pokémonopolis research into the Dynamax Phenomenon.

It was also, separately, proved to Cynthia's satisfaction that it was enough of a Power Spot for her to Dynamax her Togekiss, and that neither the Dynamax Alakazam nor the Dynamax Gengar could stand up to a sufficiently convincing Max Phantasm.

All in all, a productive day.

Notes:

So this idea of Cynthia talking to Ash came to mind, and I thought I'd see what they ended up talking about.

Chapter 61: Trip Circuit

"Tackle!" Trip called, and his Snivy rushed forwards.

"Left!" Ash called, and Pikachu jumped out of the way – evading easily, then sliding to a halt as Snivy turned around.

"Another Tackle!" Trip instructed.

Pikachu sprang into the air to evade the attack, that time, not even needing instruction, and Ash pointed.

"Thunderbolt!" he said.

Pikachu's cheeks sparked. "Piiika-!" he began, then something flickered and the electricity building up around his cheeks fizzled instead.

"Tackle!" Trip said, and his Snivy bashed into Pikachu. The blow knocked Pikachu rolling, then he controlled his momentum and came to a halt.

Shaking his head, he tried to charge a Thunderbolt again – and, once more, it didn't work, letting Snivy knock him backwards and sprawling to the ground.

"What's going on?" Ash asked. "Pikachu, are you okay?"

"Pika chuu, Pikapi!" Pikachu said, shaking himself, and patted his cheek with a paw. "Pika kachuuu!"

"What's up?" Trip said, smirking. "You don't seem like a seasoned trainer to me!"

"Something's wrong with Pikachu!" Ash replied. "This isn't right – time out!"

Snivy snorted. "Vy!" the Grass-type sniffed.

"If you want to quit now you've realized what you're up against, feel free, but that does mean I win," Trip informed Ash.

"So what?" Ash replied, hotly. "If you care more about who won a Pokémon battle than the fact that Pikachu's sick, then – yeah, you can take the win! But if you cared about a proper battle, then you'd know that something like this shouldn't count because Pikachu's sick! I said time out, not that we gave in!"

Trip snorted.

"Tell yourself what you want," he said, and Ash clenched a fist.

"Ka-chuu, Pikapi," Pikachu said, and Ash shook himself – then came over to crouch beside his Pokémon.

"What was it like, Pikachu?" he asked, thinking. "It was… when you tried to use Thunderbolt, right?"

"Pika-kachuu, Pika," Pikachu confirmed.

Ash frowned.

"Quick Attack is still fine, right?" he said, thinking. "And Iron Tail is probably okay, too… did it hurt?"

Pikachu looked away, sighed, then turned to Ash and nodded.

"Ka-chuu, chuu, Pikapi," he admitted. "Pika…"

"Yeah, I… don't really know," Ash confessed. "Because Volt Tackle is more powerful, but if you can't use Thunderbolt properly… Volt Tackle is way more risky, it's more risky already."

"Ka-chuu!" Pikachu insisted.

He pointed at Snivy. "Ka! Pika-kachuu, Pikapi. Pika ka!"

Snivy snorted. "Vy, Sni-vy," the Grass-type declared, arms folded. "Vysni!"

"Chuuu!" Pikachu said, cheeks sparking, then winced as there was another loud pop and the electricity suddenly discharged.

Ash scowled, then groaned.

"Pikachu, I… think we need to give up," he said.

"Pika!" Pikachu objected, shaking his head. "Pikachu-pika! Chuu-Pi-Ka!"

"I know you can use Quick Attack and Iron Tail," Ash agreed. "But – you weren't even trying to use a move then, and you hurt yourself! I don't care enough about what Trip said to hurt you trying to win a battle."

"Kachu?" Pikachu asked.

"You could!" Ash insisted. "It doesn't matter. Not that much."

He looked up at Trip.

"I don't know what's wrong with Pikachu, but – yeah, I'm forfeiting this match!" he said. "But if you want your first battle to be a proper one, then I can bring one of my other Pokémon in for a match instead!"

Trip snorted.

"Sure, if you want to tell yourself that," he said. "Is this one going to be 'sick' as well?"

Ash could probably have used Glare by himself with how he felt after that.

---

Ten minutes later, back in Professor Juniper's lab, Pikachu was hooked up to sensors and the Professor was frowning at a screen.

"Is Pikachu okay?" Ash asked.

"...yes," Juniper said, after a long and worrying pause. "But he's going to need to be careful."

"How careful?" Ash said. "What do you mean?"

"What I believe has happened is that your Pikachu has become overloaded with electricity," Juniper told him. "That's after absorbing a very large amount, all at once… as a result of this, whenever he tries to gather electricity for an attack, he gathers too much, and it's enough to damage him. I've got some exercises that you can do, to slowly discharge that excess energy, but it's going to take Pikachu a while to be able to use Electric-type moves again."

She looked relieved. "It's a good thing you stopped when you did – if you'd kept battling, it's possible Pikachu could have done himself permanent damage."

Ash looked torn between dismay and relief – both over the idea of Pikachu being permanently damaged, and that it hadn't happened yet – and walked over to pat Pikachu on the head.

"This sucks," he said, quietly, and Pikachu nodded.

"Chuu…"

"So, what, his Pikachu's too weak to handle it?" Trip asked.

Professor Juniper gave him a sharp look.

"It's nothing to do with that, Trip," she said. "The fact Pikachu isn't already permanently injured is actually the bigger surprise, I've run across overvolting in Electric-types before but never a case this bad. Anyway… there was something else you were going to ask about, I believe?"

"Oh – yeah," Ash said. "Because my battle with Trip never got finished, I wanted to bring in one of my Pokémon… can you get Professor Oak to send Gible?"

"I can do that," Juniper agreed.

"Gible?" Trip repeated. "Isn't that a really rare Pokémon? How does he have one?"

Professor Juniper frowned, then laughed.

"Oh, I see," she said. "Trip, I think you're labouring under a misapprehension."

Trip looked confused.

"A what?" he asked.

"Yeah, I don't get it either," Ash admitted.

"You seem to think that Ash isn't an experienced trainer," Juniper explained. "Hold on a minute, I'll get that request in…"

---

Five minutes later, they were watching Pikachu's battle against Latios from the semi-final of the Lily of the Valley Conference.

"I've heard that everyone calls this the actual final, did you know that?" Juniper asked, amused. "After this the other semi-final and the final were considered to be let-downs!"

Pikachu grinned. "Chuu!"

"...right," Trip muttered, eyes glued to the screen.

Then there was a flash as the Pokéball Transfer System delivered Gible, and Ash went over to pick the Dragon-type's Pokéball up.

"Great!" he said. "Hey, Pikachu, want to watch the rematch?"

Trip glanced at Ash, looking hesitant, then snorted.

"Yeah, count me out," he said. "I don't need to prove myself."

He left, and Juniper turned the TV screen off.

"Well!" she said. "I'm not very impressed with Trip… I'm sorry the first trainer you met from Unova has given you a negative view of what Unovans are like."

She exhaled. "I'll get you those exercises for Pikachu."

"Thanks!" Ash said. "Sorry, Gible, I guess we'll have to see what other trainers we can meet and battle later!"

 

Notes:

And a bit of thought about the Trip battle.

Trip is… kind of an astonishing jerk in context.