"Okay," Litten said, setting herself on fire and sending the damp streaming away from her fur. "What was all that in aid of?"

"I got Arc to make a video while you were underwater," Ash explained, wrapping a towel around himself. "Specifically, of the bit just after you went into the water."

"Right," Litten replied, sounding like she was willing to at least give this idea a hearing.

For the second day on Akala, Olivia had taken them all fishing, and while Ash could have tried doing that himself it instead seemed like a good time to sort out Litten's problem with the water.

"Actually, isn't there meant to be a problem with phones going in the water?" Popplio asked, interested. "Arc is your phone, right?"

"That is correct," Arc stated. "Rotom for example would not want to go in the water while possessing a Pokédex or phone, unless specially prepared for it. I, however, have the benefit of a small soup dish."

"A what?"

"A Water Plate," they clarified. "Please wait, using High Definition movie playback."

Litten and Popplio both flinched back as Arc suddenly grew to three feet across.

"What just happened?" Popplio asked.

"Arc used Growth," Ibid said helpfully. "Arc's resolution rose."

"Observe closely," Arc requested, and played the film of Litten plunging into the water.

"I was going a lot faster than I was expecting," Litten complained. "I was really not expecting Starly to drop me from that high up."

Starly chirped helpfully.

"Did you see what I wanted you to?" Ash asked.

"Let's assume I didn't see the important bit," Litten decided.

"Right – well, it's to do with the bit just after you hit the water," Ash said. "Again, Arc?"

Arc played the impact in slow motion, with Litten plunging into the water in a cloud of bubbles, and Ash pointed. "There, see? There's bubbles coming off your fur, after the general air splash."

"I see it," Litten allowed. "Not the same as saying I understand it, though."

"Well, it's a proof of concept!" Ash said. "See, it means your fur had air in it, until it left. And all we need to do is stop that happening, or make it so you can replace the air, and then you can move around underwater with an air cloud over your fur stopping you from getting wet."

"That… might work?" Litten said. "I think? It's getting beyond what I understand, but it might work."

"Well, how is she going to do it?" Popplio asked. "I know how to blow bubbles! Really big ones, too. But Litten's not a Water type."

"It could be a Water move, but it could also be a Flying one, because that's the type that deals with things like tailwind," Ash said, mostly to himself. "Or it could be Grass, because of photosynthesis… let's start with Flying because that's the one that's probably going to be easiest for Litten to learn. Talonflame, can you help?"

Litten looked around. "Is Talonflame here?"

"No, he's in Kanto," Ash said, holding out his hand.

Talonflame appeared perched on Ash's arm. "I'm here," he said.

"And now Talonflame's here," Ash added. "That's Tailwind for you! Okay, so I was hoping you could work with Litten so she can carry a cloud of air on her fur when she goes into the water, it seems a bit like Tailwind."

"Hmm," Talonflame said. "It could be, or it could be something to do with surface tension. You know, like Greninja and Suicune use."

"Good point," Ash agreed. "Greninja, can you help?"

"Is Greninja here?" Litten asked, now not sure where to look.

"No, he's in Kanto too, but unlike Talonflame he can't come here in less than a second once Arc sends him a text," Ash explained.

Ibid appeared with Greninja's Pokéball.

"Thanks!" Ash told Ibid, then sent out Greninja.

"Well," Greninja began.

Then there was a brief interruption as Lana hooked a Wash Rotom.

"I think that move is going to work best," Talonflame decided, eventually. "It was working for me when I went into the water, and that's probably a good sign."

"Now that I think about it, I should probably say this," Litten realized. "Thank you for your willingness to repeatedly crash into the sea to help me solve a problem."

"That's the way of the ninja, I think," Greninja assured her. "It might be the way of the ninja. Possibly it's only Torkoal's way of the ninja, or Zoroark's, or something like that."

"I always thought the way of the ninja was to not be noticed, but more fool me, I suppose," Litten shrugged. "Okay, how do I actually do Aerial Ace?"

"Like this," Talonflame said, then did it.

"...um," Litten began.

"Talonflame, it usually helps if you do the move slow enough that the other Pokémon can physically see it," Greninja cautioned.

"Nobody mentioned that," Talonflame protested.

"Hold on, I think I have an idea," Pikachu said, scampered off, then came back with Arc.

"Let's see," he said, paging down quickly. "I think… I think you might want to start by basing it off a… corkscrew shooting star press."

"Oh!" Litten brightened. "So you use speed to hit your target no matter where they are, and any excess momentum goes into the flair of the move itself!"

"If she needs more translation, ask Hawlucha," Pikachu advised.

The next day, Olivia took them up from the shore and towards the volcano that dominated much of central Akala.

"This is Wela Volcano Park," Kukui said. "This is where the Wela Fire Festival happens, which is focused specifically on Fire-type Pokémon and on making them stronger."

"That's why I brought along so many of my Fire-type Pokémon!" Ash agreed. "Plus some others who were interested in watching."

"So, how does it work?" Aaaaaabsol asked, from next to her wife. "I have no idea how much Ash told everyone else what he'd researched, but I know I know next to nothing except that it's supposed to be a nice day out."

She tilted her head. "Which… seems accurate at the moment."

"Of course it is, we're here together," Lokoko smiled.

"Flatterer," Absol replied, with a fond look.

"So it's a festival which is a bit of a ritual, too," Ash explained. "There's a crown which is made out of cooled lava, which I guess is different to how the whole island's made out of cooled lava one way or another because it's a volcanic island, and it's symbolically associated with both the power of a volcano which springs into extra life from what you might think is just a mountain and how the volcano's ash and rock turns into rich volcanic soil, so in both cases it's about making Pokémon stronger. Possibly by the principles of sympathy and contagion, or that's what Serena would say if she was here."

"That's a different way of thinking about it than I remember, but I guess that's about right," Kiawe judged. "And, well, it celebrates the power and generosity of Wela Volcano and how it made Akala what it is today. Turtonator got crowned last year, and… I think it helped him out!"

"Hmm," Entei said, looking up at the volcano. "Would they like me to help make it stronger?"

"I doubt it," Suicune replied. "Brother mine, if you were to make that volcano erupt, it would perhaps be beneficial for the island in the long run, but in the short run then it would spoil the festival a bit."

"Oh, of course!" Entei nodded. "Thank you, that is a good point. But perhaps I could instead make the crown stronger? It is volcanic."

"I think if you did want to do that then you should ask first!" Ash pointed out. "I know Absol hasn't said anything but that could just be because you weren't going to actually do it, because I was going to point that out. But, actually… what about Pokémon who are sometimes Fire-type but not always? That's why I brought Rayquaza along."

"I've seen some Oricorio do it in Baile Style," Kiawe contributed. "So it's probably all right if they're Fire-type at the time. It shows dedication for them because Oricorio here are Pa'u Style so they have to come from Ula'ula and plan ahead."

He took a step back, actually looking at the collection of Pokémon Ash had sent out. "There's… kind of a lot of them, now I think about it."

"Yeah, we're going at the end of the festival," Ash confirmed.

"Except me, I already did it," Salandit said, waving his paw. "Yeah, speaking of which, if I suddenly return myself it's because of an awkward situation."

"Got it!" Ash said, nodding. "Huh, now I wonder if there's a Heatran down there as part of the volcano."

He looked vaguely downwards. "Well, I don't think so… anyway, anyone else who's here to take part or just watch?"

"I sort of want to join the queue," Moltres admitted. "I'm not a Fire-type, but I look it and I can sort of fake it. So could Zoroark but more convincingly, at least if they tried to set him on fire."

He looked pensive. "So could Meganium, now I think about it, though less convincingly, as long as it was sunny."

"I think they've thought of that," Ash shrugged. "But yeah, it wouldn't be good manners to rely on trickery like that in a festival like this, right?"

"I suppose," Moltres nodded.

"Well, I'm interested!" Typhlosion announced. "I don't know if there's something above going Mega Typhlosion, but if there is then we'll find out."

"Maybe there's Hyper Typhlosion?" Tepig asked. "Wait, no, that's the next upgrade after Super, for potions and things. Where does Mega fit in with that?"

Typhlosion shrugged.

"How many Pokémon of yours actually are taking part in this, Ash?" Lillie asked. "Typhlosion, Entei, Torkoal-"

"I will run up the volcano and personally demonstrate my dedication!" Torkoal announced. "And if I do not, I will run up the volcano as penance!"

"I can see certain logical issues there," Lokoko said.

"Lokoko," Lillie went on, counting off. "Chimchar, Rayquaza, Tepig, Talonflame, Litten… do you have a Charizard?"

"He's busy at the moment, but he might make it before the end of the festival," Tepig provided helpfully.

"So why is Snorlax here?" Lillie went on. "I know why a lot of the spectators are here, to watch, but… he's just asleep."

"I think he assumed food was involved in some way," Salandit said.

"Where?" Snorlax asked, looking around.

"Not yet, but Dragonite did say he'd make something," Salandit informed the Normal-type.

"Okay," Snorlax said, lying back down again.

"Kiawe," Olivia said, as the ritual neared its ends. "I assume it's your Charizard this time?"

"That's right, Kahuna," Kiawe agreed, sending out his Ride Pokémon. "Ready for this, Charizard?"

Charizard nodded.

"I'm not sure if I can make myself faster with it, but it's important anyway," he said, bowing his head.

Then an Alolan Marowak jumped in and snatched the crown from the Kahuna's hands.

"Hey!" Kiawe called, as Marowak ran off.

Then Snorlax used Extremespeed.

Since Marowak was a Ghost, Snorlax went straight through, but he did pick up the crown on the way past before doing an impressively tight turn and skidding to a halt next to Kahuna Olivia.

"Losing it would be a delay to the food," he said.

"Hey!" Kiawe called, pointing at the confused-looking Pokémon. "Marowak! Were you looking for a fight? A battle? Did you want a chance to wear the crown yourself, or were you just causing trouble?"

"How did that just happen?" Marowak asked. "How can such a big Pokémon move so fast?"

"Honestly, not sure myself," Kiawe admitted. "Still, same question!"

"This is very confusing," Marowak said. "I wanted to see if a trainer could handle me, that's what!"

"Then I'll-" Kiawe began, then looked at Charizard.

Looked at Turtonator's Pokéball.

"Give me a bit of time to get advice from my teacher, and I'll challenge you!" Kiawe said. "Just, uh… I think my Pokémon are going to need a speed boost."

AN:

Talonflame is convenient.

Bit of a speed theme in this one, actually.