On their way north, the friends met a girl called Ellie who worked at her grandfather's ranch, Floccesy Ranch.

"We raise Mareep here," she said. "And this is my Ampharos. Say hello, Ampharos."

"Hello?" Ampharos tried.

"Wow!" Ellie gasped. "I didn't mean it that literally! I didn't know you could talk now!"

"I didn't know I could talk now," Ampharos admitted. "How did I do that?"

Emolga waved her paw. "Maybe I should start carrying a streamer I can fly behind my tail?" she asked.

"Oh, so it's your doing," Ellie realized. "Well, uh… I guess I should have expected something like that around a trainer like Ash Ketchum… actually, do you have any idea if you could help us out?"

She waved at a small flock of Mareep, who were scattered all around. "You see, the Mareep here are a bit… independent minded. They don't listen to Ampharos, which is a problem because they're supposed to listen to Ampharos."

"Huh," Ash frowned, thinking. "I guess it's that specific Ampharos, so it couldn't be solved by a different one of the Mareep evolving?"

"I don't know how you'd solve a problem like this by just evolving a Pokémon on command," Ellie confessed. "Though, um, thinking about it, you probably could. But no, it's this Ampharos specifically…"

"It's because I'm supposed to be a guard," Ampharos supplied. "I'm meant to protect the Mareep, and bring them in when it's time for shearing. But I'm no good at it, they don't respect me and they go everywhere and I get flustered… and I don't know if I'd be able to protect them if someone actually came along to steal them, either."

"Right," Ash said, frowning. "So, uh… maybe you could teach Ampharos a move that would stop any Pokémon thief, and that would help them do better at guarding?"

"I've been trying to learn Thunder Punch?" Ampharos tried. "But it doesn't work. I can get the thunder bit okay so long as I'm not punching, and the punch bit okay as long as I'm not thundering, but mixing the two together is just so hard…"

"I think Dragonite knows-" Iris began, then frowned. "Sorry, Dragonite, that's the right pronunciation. Dragonite knows Thunderpunch, but that's not the best move for this kind of thing."

"Right!" Ash agreed. "Because it would only stop Pokémon who have trouble with electricity, and that's something that Ampharos are usually pretty good at anyway. If you can do the thunder thing then you're a long way to being able to thunderpunch. So it'd be better to teach Ampharos something else…"

He frowned. "...hmm, what about Signal Beam? Oh, or… yeah, I know how to get started! Ibid, can you get Phanpy for me please?"

"Fetching," Ibid said, and teleported away.

"I have this strange sense of foreboding," Ellie admitted.

"It goes away eventually," N replied. "Like how if you're in hot weather for long enough you stop feeling it."

Ibid returned along with Phanpy and her Pokéball, and the Ground-type looked around before waving her trunk at Ampharos. "Hi!"

"Hello?" Ampharos replied. "Oh, is the idea that I can practice Thunderpunch on a moving target? It sounds like it'd work if my problem was aiming."

"No, but that's a good idea for later," Ash replied. "See, I'm pretty sure Ampharos can Mega Evolve, so Phanpy, can you-"

"Found one!" Phanpy interrupted, waving an Ampharosite around.

"Great!" Ash said. "Thanks, Phanpy!"

"This kind of thing is why I don't even bother evaluating Ash's connection with his Pokémon," Cilan pointed out. "Phanpy hasn't been around for weeks, but the two of them are just so in sync it's amazing! Like sourdough!"

"Sourdough?" N repeated. "What's that?"

"It's like a cross between bread and a different sort of bread," Cilan said. "You keep the dough and feed it every so often…"

"Okay, so, here's how this works!" Ash said. "You wear this, you hold this, and then you think about how much you like one another! Ellie's the only one who needs to do it but Ampharos doing it is just a nice thing to do!"

There was a whoosh as Ampharos Mega-Evolved.

"There you go, well done!" Ash congratulated. "You're now Dragon-type! Let's see how well you do with Dragon Pulse!"

By the end of the day, Ampharos had learned Dragon Pulse, Power Gem, Fire Punch and Zap Cannon.

He'd also learned Magnetic Flux, which was useful for picking up a Mareep at a distance, and Fling, which was useful for sending them to where Ellie wanted them to go even if they were being argumentative.

Even if keeping track of the Mareep flying overhead had made Zygarde fall asleep at one point.

They passed through Virbank for a second time, running into a Pokémon Harbour Rescue Team, and stopped off for long enough to help a Watchog who was upset that she couldn't help the rest of the team out in saving people or Pokémon from fires.

Ash thought about that for a few minutes, then got Mew out of his current hiding place (which turned out to be on Ash's belt, as a Voltorb), and Silver because he was interested, and they solved the problem by teaching Watchog how to do the thing Silver's father did to burst out of the waves in a massive swirling plume of seawater.

Watchog couldn't make one that big, but by jumping into the harbour and then using Twister she could still dump a lot of water on a fire in a few seconds, which gave everyone else involved a good start.

"I'm not sure this is the usual way that the Swords of Justice would approach this kind of problem," N admitted. "I wonder if there's some kind of rule about that, because it seems like there should be, somehow."

"It's fine, probably," Pidove chirped. "It's just the way different people approach problems in different ways. You're right, though, Keldeo would approach the problem by spraying water on it, and the other Swords of Justice would use Sacred Sword somehow."

"But when we got here the problem wasn't actually a problem that needed immediate fixing, it was one that needed a long term solution," N replied, then ducked as Watchog did another swirling water-infused Twister-jump which doused them all in salt water. "And I feel like either the Swords of Justice have a way to cope with those, or… well, or they should have a way to cope with those. Does that make any kind of sense?"

Pidove flicked her wings. "Honestly, that sounds more like your department. But I think if you did try to make a set of rules, you'd have a pretty good idea what was important."

"Maybe I should try," N pondered. "Though… not for the Swords of Justice. More of a rulebook for beginning trainers. Things like, reminding them that their Pokémon are intelligent individuals whose rights you need to respect, and…"

He tapped his hoof. "And don't ride bikes indoors, or something. If that's not a rule, it should be."

"What about bike shops?" Pidove asked.

"This is harder than I was expecting…"

"Wow!" Ash said, as they came over the brow of a hill and caught sight of a colourful festival down below. "That looks pretty neat! What is it?"

"Receiving answer from myself in the future," Arc told them. "It is the Kanto Festival, a festival of Kantonian culture and Pokemon. Searching social media sites. Determining answer."

"Ah, a multi-cultural mixing of flavours," Cilan beamed. "Wonderful! We should go and see what it's like."

"And maybe I should help out," Ash suggested. "What do you think, Pikachu?"

"Well, I am certainly from Kanto," Pikachu agreed. "And so are several of your other Pokémon… though, come to think of it, where's Marshadow from? And does the answer change for Zygarde depending on how recently they've changed Forme?"

"My identity is my core, which is from Kalos," Zygarde explained. "Je dis le 'woof'."

Marshadow stuck his head out of Ash's shadow. "I think I technically qualify as Alolan."

"Right, so, not you two," Ash decided. "But, uh… I don't know where Mew got Ibid… and I think Mew's from Sinnoh, if you count him as being from anywhere… Ibid, can you pick up some of my Pokémon from Kanto?"

"We're flattered to see you, Mr. Ketchum," the festival organizer admitted. "I knew you were from Kanto, but I didn't expect to see you here!"

He coughed. "Actually, based on what we know about you we'd expected you to have already left the region."

"Huh?" Ash asked. "Really?"

He thought about it. "I guess that makes sense… but, anyway, I'm amazed at the rare Kanto Pokémon you've got here! I've seen at least three Ratatta!"

Iris started trying valiantly not to giggle.

"So, uh, I guess I can start with Raikou," Ash said, holding up a Safari Ball and sending out Entei, who landed upside down. "Or, Entei then? Sorry, Entei."

Entei snored.

"I don't think Entei is a Kanto Pokémon?" the festival organizer admitted. "Or Raikou, which is the one you wanted to send out."

"Well, I caught Raikou in the Kanto Safari Zone, but I guess you're right," Ash admitted. "So, that means… well, there's Zapdos!"

Zapdos came out of her Pokéball with a flash, and bowed. "Good afternoon. It is afternoon, right? The time zones always confuse me a bit."

The organizer gaped.

"And there's… let's see, there's Charizard!" Ash went on. "He's sort of moved to Johto a lot of the time but he's from Kanto, and most of my other Pokémon have moved to Kanto so it has to be where they're from I think. Then, uh… well, Pikachu counts, and so do all the Dragonite…"

One of the Dragonite handed an ornate scroll to the stunned festival organizer.

"Our credentials," he explained. "We can make this festival by Royal Appointment, if you'd like to make an appointment with King Dragonite."

"Clefairy… no," Ash corrected himself. "She's from the moon, but Pidgey's definitely from Kanto! And Shaymintwo's from Kanto as well, I met his template in my garden and the cloning incident happened in Kanto so no matter what way you slice it he's Kantonian."

"I thought-" the organizer began, but Ash kept going.

"Is Ho-Oh originally Kantonian or Johtonian?" he asked, before continuing almost without a pause. "I don't think I ever asked… and Zorua's a weird one because he hatched in Kanto-"

That was enough to startle the organizer. "Zorua are Unovan Pokémon!"

"Sure, you have Zorua here, but you can have Zorua in other places too," Ash said. "Anyway, the last one on the list is Aten, and he's definitely Kantonian. He'll tell you about it himself."

Aten emerged from his ornate Pokéball.

"I most certainly will," he said, loftily. "In fact, given certain geopolitical realities from my day, it might be better to say that Kanto is mine rather than say I am not Kantonian."

"I think this is much more complicated than I was expecting," the organizer said, in a brittle sort of voice, and Charizard patted him gently on the shoulder.

"Don't worry," he reassured the man. "We'll be here for a few hours, I'll do my party piece anywhere you need a neat new subway tunnel dug in a hurry, and then we'll be gone."

"Oh, I just remembered, I should contact my Nephmew," Ash realized. "They might be interested in visiting!"

"Team Rocket!" Ash gasped, an hour or so later. "What are you doing here?"

"Tourism," Arbok answered, adjusting a large Kanto-flag parasol. "Several of us are from Kanto, you know."

"That's right!" Meowth agreed.

"Observation: my kernel was initiated in Kanto," Porygon stated. "Conclusion: I qualify as well as anyone does."

The digital Pokémon looked at Zacian. "Clarification. I qualify better than some biologicals I could mention."

"I'm here to attend the festival, not to be part of it," Zacian said. "Though, speaking of which… a comment I remember in the past has made me curious. Meowth, didn't you say once that you can't evolve?"

"Hey, what of it?" Meowth demanded, defensively.

"He's a bit touchy about that," Weezing supplied.

"An' I don't want anyone talkin' about it!" Meowth snapped. "And I don't can't evolve… I, uh… it ain't proven!"

"I'm just wondering if you've ever been to Galar," Zacian said, flicking her tail. "An idle thought, 'tis all."

"Shouldn't one of you two be saying something?" Iris checked.

Jessie gestured to the large box of pocky she was munching her way through. "Mrfle murf."

"Do you have any idea how long it is since we tasted some of these delights of home?" James demanded, halfway through a wasabi chocolate bar. "It's true what they say, you don't know what you're missing until you suddenly see it again!"

A door opened in thin air, and Ambipom leaned out.

"Hey, just checking," she said, adjusting her goggles. "I know you said for me to come down to join in the festival, because I'm from Kanto, but if I leave the Hikokyu where it is then the Dragonite flypast in five minutes is going to crash into it… is it okay if I take it up a few more miles?"

"Can you ever imagine us sayin' no?" Meowth asked.

"Sure!" Ambipom replied. "Like, if I'd asked you after doing it."

She swung back into what was probably the Mecha Giratina, and vanished again.

"How much further are we expecting to go?" Iris checked. "I'm just saying, it's getting a bit late, and I want to know if we should be looking for somewhere to stay or if we should keep going to the excavation site."

"Checking," Arc said. "Analysis indicates you should probably be looking for a campsite."

"Thanks, Arc," Ash told the not-very-incognito Junior Creator. "So I guess we should be looking for a place that's going to stay out of the rain, unless I ask Rayquaza to help and then we can sleep wherever we want."

N was looking around. "Something about this place seems familiar," he said. "I feel like I've been here before, but it was a long time ago…"

"I know that feeling," Cilan nodded. "It's like the smell of an old favourite food on the air, where you can remember enjoying it but you can't quite put a name to it!"

"Does everything have to be a food metaphor with you?" Iris asked.

"Nope!" Cilan replied. "Some things are food already."

"I think you walked into that one, Iris," Pikachu said.

"Query," Zygarde said. "Would it help you remember if I informed you that there appears to be a focus of healing energy nearby?"

"Healing energy?" N repeated, then brightened. "Yes, I do remember now. It's the secret forest."

"Isn't this only a day's walk from Driftveil City?" Cilan checked. "It's practically within takeout range. It is within takeout range if the takeout Pokémon is a Tranquill."

"That doesn't stop it being secret," N said. "Secret doesn't have to mean remote."

"Question," Emolga began. "Does the secret in the secret forest refer to the fact it's a forest?"

"No, it's because-" N replied, but was interrupted.

"N, is that you?"

A young woman was peering at them from behind a tree, then another joined her a moment later.

"It could be him," the second newcomer said, clearly thinking hard. "But that's Ash Ketchum, and you know how many shiny Legendary Pokémon there are around him."

"Anthea!" N said, sounding pleased. "Concordia! It's been too long!"

"And whose fault is that?" asked the first girl. "You didn't contact us for months, that's a violation of Team Plasma Cellular Organization Rule 4!"

"Rule 4, Anthea?" asked presumably Concordia. "Isn't that the one about how the cellular organization doesn't mean everyone gets a cellular phone?"

"No, that's rule 6," Anthea replied. "You're thinking of rule 7."

"But rule 7 is that liberated Pokémon have to be turned over to the cell leader," Concordia protested. "Which was the rule that got me suspicious in the first place, which is why I remember it."

"I thought-" N said, then coughed. "Sorry, force of habit. I thought that there was no set of Team Plasma Cellular Organization Rules."

"That's because Rule 11 is 'don't show this rulebook to King N,'" Anthea said. "Or possibly that's Rule 8."

"Friends of yours?" Iris asked, as the two girls began rummaging around in pockets in case one of them had a spare rulebook somewhere.

"They're my sisters," N said.

"I can see the resemblance," Pidove said, trying not to giggle.

"Adopted sisters," N clarified.

"I'm not changing my reply."

AN:

Classification of Pokémon by region is a fun topic once you have to deal with a real ecosystem.