"Oh, hold on, how on schedule are we?" Clemont asked. "If we've got the time, I'd like to stop off for a bit… is that okay?"

"Uh… Arc?" Ash said.

"We will probably have enough time to stop off for a bit, depending on how long a bit is," Arc responded. "The Master Class is not for several days."

"It shouldn't take that long," Clemont replied. "I just realized, we're going right by Joule Town, and I've heard of Joule Town… it's a place which has a lot of respect for Electric type Pokémon, and they have a festival for it… did I remember it right, Arc? It's supposed to be around this time."

"Correct," Arc confirmed. "Joule Town's Zapdos Festival is beginning this evening. It is four miles away."

"That's great!" Ash said. "Since it's about Electric types, I should bring all of mine, and you've got all of yours… maybe I should contact Dawn, too!"

"I don't really think the Zapdos Festival is going to be expecting this," Serena said, out loud, then shook her head. "Well, they probably won't mind."

"I don't think I've been somewhere with a festival specific to me, before," Zapdos said, circling around the big, bifurcated tree in the middle of Joule Town before touching down. "It's nice."

"Eh, I don't see the appeal," Swellow replied, landing next to her with sparks fizzing over her feathers. "I mean, I look a lot like a Zapdos like this, and I don't really feel any kind of special consideration is being given to me."

"That's because any special consideration you get would be because you're a Flying-type who's completely ignoring the fact they're absolutely bathed in lightning bolts," Zapdos said, fluffing her wings. "And for you that's normal. Incidentally, what move are you using to do that?"

"Oh, you know, the normal," Swellow shrugged. "I think. It's Steel Wing, only, Electrified, so it's more like Electric Wing. Mostly not very useful but cosmetically neat, and that's part of the point."

Zapdos considered that.

"Just, don't go over near where they're preparing the fireworks?" she asked. "I don't know if you could set them off, but it's probably not worth checking. Now, what I want to know is, what is this festival actually focused on?"

She looked around.

So did Swellow, who put her wing up to her beak after a moment.

"Zapdos," she said. "They're all looking at you, after all."

"I'll take it," Zapdos decided. "In fact, since we're here early enough that I can't have Ash translate and ask any questions yet, I'm going to go and do some air show type stuff… do you think they'll appreciate that?"

"Probably," Swellow judged. "Hey, why not do a Twister? I'll Electrify it and we can call it a Roll of Thunder."

"Oh, the Zapdos is yours?" one of the festival marshals asked. "That actually explains a lot, thank you… we were worried something was wrong, or maybe right, and we couldn't tell if it was a good omen or a bad one when one turned up. Especially since he kept alternating between-"

"She," Ash corrected.

"Right, of course," the marshal said. "Since she kept alternating between doing ridiculous things with thunderclouds and rainbows and then looking at the posters for what was going to happen later on in the day."

"I should probably get her something to eat," Ash decided. "Especially if she's been working hard like that! But first, I've got some other Pokémon who could take part too, what should they do?"

"Which Pokémon are they?" the marshal asked, apprehensively. "I can see your Pikachu, but now I know who you are that's actually a bit worrying."

"Well, Pikachu's one of them, but mostly just doing lightning displays with Zapdos," Ash said. "There's also Raikou, though!"

He held out a Safari Ball, and sent out Entei.

"Um," he began, then shook his fur out and held up a paw. "Blep?"

"That's not a bad impression, but she uses the other paw most of the time," Ash corrected.

Entei switched paws.

"I think you got the rota mixed up," Pikachu advised. "And yes, I'm not clarifying which of the two of you I'm talking to, but someone mixed it up and all I know is that it wasn't me."

"You're right, I'll go get her," Entei decided, and went loping off into the distance.

"There's also Zekrom!" Ash said, unfazed, and the Electric-type came out with a peal of thunder.

"This is an ideal kind of festival!" he announced. "It would be slightly better if it was named after another Electric-type whose name began with Z, but this is quite reasonable."

"Oh, Zebstrika?" Lokoko asked.

"You think you're funny," Zekrom grumbled. "Though that was a joke with ideal timing, so I'll allow it."

"I don't think I've met that Pokémon before," Litleo said, pointing. "Not Noibat, I've met him. The other one."

"You have, I think," Serena corrected her. "You just don't recognize them, because that's Mew."

"That would explain it," Litleo decided.

"Hello, Joule Town!" Dracozolt called. "I'm Dracozolt, this is Noibat, and we both know Overdrive and Metal Sound!"

The pseudofossil played a chord on an air guitar, sending a pulse of amped-up Rock-type music out into the air, and Noibat started calling down crackling flashes of thunder in accompaniment as Dracozolt got on with the serious business of rocking out.

"Is this really the kind of thing you're meant to have at a contemplative festival?" Braixen asked, lighting her wand to use as a signal anyway.

"I think there was some kind of negotiation about how long they could perform for," Serena replied. "I can't remember the details but there was definitely something like that… anyway, they'll be going for a bit and then stopping."

More Metal Sound pulsed out, and Litleo raised a paw, then lowered it again.

Then she huffed.

"This is going to sound awkward, and I know it's a weird time, but – would you mind having someone else on your team?" she asked. "For a bit? Or more than a bit? I don't know, I'm still working it out, but-"

"If you mean you, then I think we'd all be glad to have you for as long as you want," Serena told her.

Litleo nodded, relieved.

Then there was a whoom up on the sound stage, and when they looked up Noibat had evolved into Noivern.

"Whoops, feedback loop," he said. "Who knew that could happen with electric types around amplifiers?"

"Hi, Ash!" Dawn waved, as a salvo of fireworks hissed into the air. "Hey, can you send me a text letting me know about this festival, and saying that you'd forgotten to earlier? I want to make sure we close the loop."

"Done," Arc stated.

"Great, thanks," Dawn said. "I tried to persuade Volkner to come, but he's busy dealing with some challenger or other and he's a bit nervous about time travel, you know how some people are."

"I know how I am about it," Clemont's Luxray said. "And frankly that is about as much as I want anyone to be about it. How do you keep any of this any kind of straight in your head?"

"Experience, mostly," Dawn replied. "Plus Pichu helps… any idea where Serena is? Riolu wanted to have a talk with her."

"I think she's over that way," Ash waved. "Somewhere."

"Thanks," Dawn's Riolu said, and hurried off in that direction.

"Anyway, it sounded good so I thought we'd come and take part," Dawn resumed. "And Quilava and Pachirisu might do a bit of a display, depending on if there's time."

"Aha!" Hawlucha announced, flying out of the darkness and landing on a nearby bollard. "I have arrived to the festival! I am Hawlucha, the Thunder!"

He posed.

"That's just a mask with lightning bolts on it, isn't it?" Clemont checked.

"Ahem," Hawlucha coughed. "I am Hawlucha, the Thunder!"

"I think thunder is the loud bang," Dawn said. "Thunder with a capital-T is the name of an Electric move, but really if you're calling yourself a name based around lightning then you'd want to be Hawlucha, the Bolt, or Hawlucha, the Lightning, or something like that. Using the Thunder for that means you're using names that could also be used for something based on sound."

"It's always a bit disconcerting when we meet one of Ash's old friends," Luxray sighed. "They mesh with him so well…"

"But what about if I wanted to use storms as the theme?" Halwucha asked. "That's got loud bangs and lightning, so it works for both interpretations of the word Thunder!"

"That would work, I think," Dawn said. "Right?"

"Seems reasonable to me," Quilava agreed, nodding.

"Yeah, you just need a cape with thunderclouds on it, that would complete the look," Ash agreed.

"Then Hawlucha will ride again!" Hawlucha said. "Once I've got myself a cape sorted out."

After the Festival, which was a lot of fun – especially when a Zapdos came over to see what the noise was about, only to find out to his surprise that actually there'd been a festival in his honour here since the town's founding and it was only now that he was in the right place to hear about it – they moved on towards Gloire City.

Serena was working hard with Litleo to shape and enhance her multi-coloured flames, especially trying to get new and more complex colour combinations and patterns, and so the Fire-type was riding on Ponyta's back rather than walking. Not that either of them minded.

Mostly.

"So, how does this work with independence?" Litleo asked. "I don't want to rely on others too much."

"Well, how would it help me be independent if you refused to let me make the independent decision to give you a lift?" Ponyta asked.

"Er, hrm," Litleo pondered. "Don't know."

She shook her head, then blew out a jet of flame with a red-yellow-red pattern. The red parts peeled away, forming a fleur-de-leys, and Serena clapped.

"That's great!" she said. "Very Kalosian!"

She looked ahead, shading her eyes. "Maybe we can try having that linger for longer, how does that sound?"

"It sounds like it's worth a try," Litleo said. "Is something up?"

"Oh, I just saw a poster for an exhibit," Serena explained, looking closer. "It's at a hotel, and it's a gemstone on display… maybe we should stay there for the night?"

"It is getting late," Clemont agreed. "And I could do with a room for the night to see if I can make the Translation Gear work properly."

"Translating," the Translation Gear announced. "Translation complete: I will hit this thing with a hammer if it does not start making sense."

"Huh, that was actually pretty much right," Clemont said. "Maybe it's fixed now?"

"Translation complete: I should be so lucky," the Translation Gear supplied.

The gem was, indeed, very pretty.

That evening, though, they were woken up when an alarm was raised. Half-asleep and hurrying down to see what was going on, they found out that a master thief called Keyes had come, picked the lock and not stolen the gem.

"Hmm," Pikachu said, then yawned. "There must be a way to solve this somehow… why would someone pick a lock without stealing the gemstone behind it? Just to show off?"

"Excuse me a moment," Marshadow requested, emerging from Ash's shadow.

"Hey, excuse me, what's that Pokémon doing?" the Jenny asked.

"Please do not worry," Marshadow said. "I am an amateur at this."

"Wouldn't it normally be a professional?" Jenny said, thrown off by that.

"Professionals do it for money," Marshadow explained. "Hmm…"

He examined Keyes' calling card, picked it up, then touched it with his other hand.

"Keyes wants to show the master locksmith Ed that he's a capable locksmith himself, and not merely worthy of being an apprentice," Marshadow told them, plucking at the card again. "His name is Locke. He has half a Binacle while his master has the other half. He does not steal anything. And he's right here."

With the final statement, a man in a cape tumbled out of the card.

"What just-" he began, then Jenny caught his wrist and began arresting him.

"I stole your motives, identity, list of crimes, and relieved you of your location, in quick succession," Marshadow explained. "That is what a master thief does."

Locke ultimately got off with a warning because he had, indeed, not actually stolen anything, and it turned out his master Ed had known who he was all along.

It was honestly a bit hard to follow, maybe because they were all still mostly asleep, but at least their Binacle was reunited.

AN:

I wonder if "master thief" is a legally protected term, or if just anyone can call themselves one.

This is the second attempt to post this. Just to be clear, I also post this on AO3 and that's where to look if suffers some kind of catastrophic failure.