Rockruff glanced around, floppy ears doing their best to twitch, and glanced towards Professor Kukui's room.
Nothing beyond the sound of a sleeping human.
From Ash's room there was no sound at all.
Getting out of their bed, Rockruff slowly padded across the floor, then slipped outside.
It was a bright night, with the moon three-quarters full and only a little bit of wispy cloud, and Rockruff sniffed the air before nodding.
It was time to go to the Clawmark Hill again, and-
"Hi!" Ash said.
Rockruff jumped a foot in the air.
"Don't do that!" they complained, after landing and managing to avoid falling over. "What are you doing up? It's nearly midnight!"
"Yeah, but Rowlet's an owl, remember?" Ash said. "And I'm trying to help him get better at battling when it's not sunny to charge him up. I know he spends a lot of time sleeping, that's not really a thing I can change, but if he can sleep most of the time and be full of energy the rest of the time, even if it's not sunny, then he's in a really good position."
He waved overhead, and Rockruff squinted to see a sort of misty blur overhead which Rowlet went swooping through.
"Noctowl's helping," Ash explained. "He's making illusion targets for Rowlet to practice against, we're going to keep going until Rowlet is completely exhausted, then see how much sunlight charging it takes to get him ready to go again. That way we'll be able to tell how much of Rowlet needing rest is psychosomatic and how much is just how much charging he needs… then we can set him up so he can charge himself, maybe, but that's a longer term project. For now that's what we're working on."
Rowlet went through another misty shape, this one close enough to see as a faux smoke ring, and Noctowl passed soundlessly overhead.
"So, what wakes you up?" Ash asked. "Are you going off to meet other wild Pokémon?"
"Sort of," Rockruff replied, a bit evasively.
"Well, I'd like to meet them!" Ash said. "If you think they'd be okay with it."
"I…" Rockruff began, then thought about it again. "Actually, I honestly don't know what they'd think – look, when are you planning on sleeping?"
"Eventually," Ash replied. "I don't have a lesson tomorrow, so I can spend all night working with my Pokémon if I want. I'm also thinking about what do to in the next lesson, so I can give anyone who's going to get involved enough warning…"
He shook his head. "But, anyway! Noctowl can train Rowlet wherever, so how about if I come along? If your friends wouldn't want a human to be around I can deal with that…"
"When you said you could deal with it, I was not expecting it to be that way," Rockruff said, glancing back. "In hindsight I'm not sure why I wasn't expecting it to be that way."
Ashbsol shrugged.
"Okay, we're nearly here," Rockruff added. "Just… stay out of the centre area if you don't want to get involved, I guess."
With that, they stepped forwards, and joined a collection of other Pokémon around a claw-shaped rock.
"Attention!" called a Midday Lycanroc. "What is the first rule of Clawmark Hill?"
"We talk about Clawmark Hill to Pokémon who might be interested," the assembled Pokémon replied.
"What's the second rule of Clawmark Hill?" a Midnight Lycanroc asked.
"This is about fighting, so don't be surprised if you get in a fight!" the Pokémon answered.
"Third rule?"
"Stop if you tell us to, stop if the other one gives up, stop if you think you might really hurt them, give up if you think you might be really hurt."
"Right!" Midday agreed. "Who's first?"
Rockruff raised their paw, and a Magmar put up her hand, so the other Pokémon backed off to let them fight.
"I don't get it," Rowlet said, landing with a flop on Ashbsol's back and making faint exhausted owl noises. "What's going on?"
"It's like Pokémon training, but doing it by having the Pokémon battle one another directly?" Ash guessed, in Mew. "It's great they've got rules like that to stop Pokémon from getting beaten up if they don't want to be."
"Are you all right?" a nearby Mankey asked. "It sounds like you've got a cold or something."
"I was taught to speak like this by Mew!" Ash replied.
"Huh," Mankey frowned.
Then Magmar fire-punched Rockruff, who went bouncing backwards with a yelp before getting back to their paws.
"That looked painful," Noctowl observed. "I wonder what they're planning to do… do they know any Rock type moves?"
"Not sure," Ash answered. "Maybe knowing a Rock-type move would help, if Rockruff doesn't know one yet… they're really determined, though."
"Bite!" Rockruff yipped, jaws opening and then slamming closed again with a tchack sound, and Magmar retaliated by hosing her opponent down with Ember. Then she used Feint Attack, and Rockruff went flying backwards to hit the nearest prong of Clawmark Hill.
"Rrrf," the Rock-type snarled, picking themselves up, but Midday Lycanroc jumped in front of them.
"No," the older Pokémon insisted. "If you keep going you'll be pushing yourself too hard."
"But-" Rockruff said, then swallowed their objection.
"Next!" Midnight called.
"I guess you want to get stronger, huh?" Ash checked, once they were on the way home. "It seemed like you were annoyed."
"I was annoyed," Rockruff agreed. "I am annoyed! I want to get stronger but this isn't working right, there's part of me that just demands that I improve but every time I go up to Clawmark Hill… I enjoy it while it's happening, but then I haven't improved enough and it feels like wasted time."
Ash hummed to himself, thinking.
"What about if you train with my team?" he asked. "The way Rowlet and Noctowl are working together now, that's still about improving, right?"
"I guess," Rockruff agreed. "It feels weird, but… I guess."
They frowned. "I… don't have to be your Pokémon or anything, do I?"
"Not at all!" Ash said. "Remember Zygarde? They've trained with my team, but they're still not my Pokémon mostly because they haven't asked."
"Then I want to be," Rockruff decided, all in a rush. "And – if I can get stronger, then – um…"
They looked at Ashbsol again.
"Is it weird that my instincts are saying that I'll get stronger really fast with you?" they asked. "Normally they just mean I have moods, but now it's like I'm getting a big flashing sign."
Ash shrugged.
"Don't know," he admitted. "Mew might, though… so, what about if we start you training alongside Rowlet? I'll go get some rocks and you can try throwing them at him while he flies overhead."
"You're not going to catch me first?" Rockruff asked. "...what about – I'm very confused."
"Well, aim helps with Rock Throw," Ash said. "And getting used to throwing rocks must help too! Plus it'll help Rowlet with situational awareness and stuff. And if you still want to be my Pokémon we can sort it out later, that way you have time to change your mind after I'm not an Absol any more."
"And… how much is that, Ibid?" Ash asked.
"Two hours of sunlight and rest, then four hours of sunlight while flying at speed," Ibid answered. "Then Rowlet was completely exhausted again."
"That's actually a good result!" Ash decided. "That means that Rowlet does use energy faster than he picks it up, even when it's sunny, but it also means that a full charge up will let him battle for almost a full night, right?"
"Correct," Ibid confirmed.
"He'd have to be more careful when it's cloudy, but… yeah, I think a lot of it really is just the difference between something being tiring and something exhausting you," Ash said.
Rockruff was watching in amazement.
"I'd never have believed Rowlet could do that," they admitted, as the Grass-type sunbathed to recharge. "How did you know he could?"
"A lot of what matters with Pokémon is how determined they are!" Ash answered. "And if Rowlet hadn't been willing to work that hard – hadn't wanted to work that hard – then that would have been fine. But doing something once is how you prove to yourself that that's a thing you can do, and after that you're just doing it again instead of trying to do something completely new."
"I think I get that," Rockruff said, frowning.
Ash pointed at Pikachu, who'd taken over from Rockruff in giving Rowlet something to dodge after breakfast – giving Rockruff time to catch a quick nap. "It's exactly how Pikachu turned Thunder That Breaks The Earth from a thing that happened one day into a consistent move he can even teach to other Pokémon… anyway, we've been working on you throwing a rock, so far, but the next step is going to be adding something more into it. Do you think you need more rest?"
"I think having a proper sleep would be nice, but… not yet," Rockruff decided. "Maybe this evening. I want to see what's coming next, first."
"This should be interesting," Pikachu said. "I'm trying to guess where this is going to go."
"Well, you know how Accelerock is a move that Rockruff and Lycanrock are known for learning?" Ash asked.
"You mean it's our exclusive move, right?" Rockruff said. "Even though I don't know it yet."
"Well, Buizel knows it, and I don't think there's any moves that aren't special Z-moves or things like that that are really exclusive," Ash replied. "But it's a move a lot of you learn, and that made me think that you could do really well from learning Stealth Rock!"
Rockruff's head tilted. "Huh?"
"Oh, I think I see," Pikachu said. "Hold on, I'll demonstrate."
He held out his paw, sparks flickering around it, and a Thunderstone came flying out of the door to Professor Kukui's house.
"Nice work, Pikachu!" Ash said. "You even made sure it wouldn't just smash right through the window."
"Tapu Koko's done enough of that to that house," Pikachu said, catching the Thunderstone. "What I think Ash is talking about, Rockruff, is like this."
He threw it away, then jumped in the air as it came back, and used it as a platform to jump off.
"Right!" Ash agreed. "That's half of it, and then the other half – use your Surf board to jump off, this time, but hit the Thunderstone with Sky Uppercut to launch it!"
Rockruff watched as Pikachu launched the Thunderstone high into the air.
"I… um…" they said, frowning. "Hold on, I think I get the idea… so if I use Stealth Rock like that, then I have platforms in the air to kick off, ride, and use as rock projectiles whenever I need them?"
"Exactly!" Ash agreed. "You can even hide behind them as shields! So, let's try and get the basics of the move working… oh, yeah, and now you can start throwing rocks at me!"
He switched back to Ashbsol. "Don't worry, I can dodge all right."
"...I'll be honest, I thought that potion had worn off," Rockruff admitted. "How did you do that?"
"Ash has the Illusion ability, as an Absol," Pikachu clarified, now juggling his Thunderstone with tail thwacks. "Actually, if you want to work on aim, you can use this one for Rock Throws and then work on trying to get Stealth Rock working while I retrieve it."
"Why are you not a Raichu?" Rockruff asked.
"Personal preference and something or other about Galar," Pikachu shrugged, then caught the 'stone and shaded his eyes. "Hey, Ash, look."
"Huh?" Ash asked, then tilted his head so his blade shaded his eyes. "Oh, yeah! Hi, Cresselia!"
Cresselia came in to land, and took a large cooler off her back with a faint glow of Extrasensory.
"Anyone want some shave ice?" she asked, opening the lid with an emblazoned Vast Poni Canape logo on it. "Technically the cooler's the souvenir, but these are nice."
AN:
Hiding behind them counts as Stealth, I think.