"Man, but the last couple of days have been hectic," Ash said, as they walked eastwards out of Mahogany.

"Well, yeah," Brock agreed. "There was the Mega Evolution stuff and the thing with that Gyarados, then there was one of your gym battles..."

He glanced back. "Wonder how long it'll take the grass to finish growing back... good thing Sheila's Sunflora knew Grassy Terrain."

Ash shrugged. "This kind of thing just... happens..."

"How are you doing with that egg, by the way?" Misty asked. "Weren't you keeping it in your backpack?"

"Yeah," Ash nodded. "But for now... well, I guess I should get to know whoever it is in here."

He adjusted his grip slightly, and patted the case. "I'm still wondering what Pokémon this is, too..."

Scanning.

"No, don't," Ash said quickly. "I don't want to find out by... well, cheating, I guess. Guessing seems... better?"

If you insist. Dexter paused. I did identify the Pokémon though. Just letting you know.

Ash shrugged. "Like I say, no thanks. Anyway – where next?"

Mostly along the path, actually.

"Like that'll last..." Brock quipped.

Ash chuckled. He picked a Pokéball from his belt with his free hand, and sent out Keldeo. "Hey, Keldeo?"

"Yes?"Keldeo asked, catching back up to trot alongside them.

"I know you've got your Sacred Sword trick, now, but..." Ash shrugged. "I was wondering if there were any problems you were having with training it, I guess."

"Right!" Keldeo nodded. "I see. Yeah, I am having a bit of a problem... mainly with Ice attacks."

Ash thought back. "Right, yeah, I can't think of an Ice attack you've used."

"That's right!" Keldeo smiled. "I don't know any, and I'm not sure how to learn. And since you said the next gym is Dragon-type... well, I want to help."

"Okay." Ash frowned. "Suicune knows some, but... well, I guess I've been working on ice – not much luck yet making it into an attack, though."

He held out his free hand, and exhaled. A blue glow built on the palm of the hand – then, excruciatingly slowly, it turned pale and wan. Almost white, more than blue.

"That's some Ice-typed Aura," Ash explained, as Keldeo examined it. "It's kind of like... you put the heat somewhere else, but you leave the Aura."

"Interesting," Keldeo said, frowning. "How long can you keep that up?"

"A while," Ash told him. "But it falls apart if I try to do anything with it – it's too fragile."

"Perhaps... hmmm..." Keldeo thought hard. "Is it falling apart because you're disturbing it, or because it breaks your concentration?"

"I think a little bit of both," Ash replied.

"Right. Can you just hold that for a moment? Concentrating just on keeping it cold?"

After a moment, Keldeo blew a very thin stream of water from his mouth at it. It hit the icy spark of Aura, and blew it to pieces.

"Oops... right, I'll try something else."

"Oh, I see," Ash nodded. "You're trying to blow something through the ice, so that what comes out the other side is an Ice attack itself?"

"Yes!" Keldeo nodded, pleased. "Do you think it'll work?"

"Can't hurt to try!"


Misty looked down with some surprise, as Pikachu tugged on her trouser leg. "What is it?"

"Can I ride with you for a bit?" he asked. "I think those two are going to be talking shop about how to make Ice-type Aura for hours."

Misty sniggered, and picked him up. "Is the poor little Electric-type upset?"

"No, I just feel the cold..."

"You should think about it, you know," she said more seriously. "Just about all the Types which resist Electricity are weak to Ice."

Pikachu's ears perked. "Now you mention it... good point..."


"Sorry, Meganium?" Ash asked. "Can you explain that again?"

Meganium sighed. "I know, it doesn't make all that much sense to me either. So, here goes."

She indicated the field. "A lot of Gloom live there. Some of them have evolved into Vileplume, some into Bellossom, and they're not sure why."

"It'll be something to do with Leaf Stones and Sun Stones," Brock frowned. "Not sure where they could be, though..."

"They said they evolved when it was windy." Meganium shook her flower. "Anyway. Now they're having constant arguments over who gets to be in the sun."

Ash blinked. "What?"

"I don't know either!" Meganium reminded him. "They seem to live near the tree, but they get really annoyed when they're in the shade – and I suggested moving away from the tree. No luck. Their parents lived there, so they're going to live there."

She sighed again. "It's just... why do they take sides based on who evolves into what? What does shape matter?"

Ash frowned, and put down the egg case. "Right! I'm going over there myself. I've got a few questions to ask..."


"...so it's got nothing to do with the tree itself?" Ash checked. "Just the location?"

"That's right!" a Bellossom said. "They're taking the south side, where all the sun is-"

"We're not!" one of the Vileplume replied. "You're on the east, and that's the bit where there's dawn-"

"Why not just chop down the tree?" Ash asked, exasperated. "If it's that important..."

Every Pokémon, including all the Gloom, looked at him.

"That would mean using Cut," one Gloom said. "Who learns Cut? It's useless..."

"Unless you need to chop down a tree," Ash replied. "Okay, I know who does..."

He rummaged for a bit. "Aha! Hey, Heracross?"

"Yeah, I know Cut," Heracross nodded. "Any problems with me using it?"

Ash glanced over the Grass-types. No objections were raised.

Taking a run up, Heracross jumped and rammed his horn into the tree.

There was an ominous creeeeeak, and then the tree fell over. Not actually cut, though – just knocked hard enough to rip it out of the ground, roots and all.

"That wasn't Cut!" one of the Bellossom protested.

"Of course it was," Heracross replied. "Tree's down, isn't it?"

Muttering imprecations, Meganium got Lucario to help her picking the tree up. With some considerable effort – helped by Ash and Heracross – they moved it to a less obstructive position, and then Meganium used her plant-healing powers to make sure it would survive the transfer.

"Done," she said with a smile. "Now, how to sort out those-"

Crobat flew over. "Found the evolutionary stones causing this!" he announced, dropping five of each to bounce to a stop next to the new tree. "If anyone wants me to get more, I can do that too!"

"Right." Meganium cleared her throat. "Anyone who wants to evolve should come over here now, so we can make sure you evolve into what you want to be. Please form two orderly queues, Bellossom on the left and Vileplume on the right – my right," she clarified, seeing an argument about to develop. "Can you pick up a few more of those stones, please, Crobat? This could be a while."


Norman knocked on the door to his son's room.

"Come in," Max greeted him.

Entering, the Gym Leader saw his son sitting at the desk, with a pad of paper in front of him and several lines of notes.

"What's this?" Norman asked, walking over. "Oh, I see..."

"Yeah," Max agreed. "I'm trying to work out who'd be a good starter for me, and..."

"Interesting list," Norman commented. "Ralts, Shroomish, Poochyena... any reason for those in particular?"

"They're the ones I met, and... well, got on with, really," Max told him. "But... I don't know, Dad. It's kind of hard to tell what's the right choice."

He sighed. "It just feels like... I mean, I met them all, sure, but... Ash isn't sure if he can do the whole memory thing with them."

"Right," Norman nodded. He moved a couple of books, and sat on Max's bed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He smiled. "Or would you rather your old father gave you some completely unwanted advice?"

Max turned his chair, frowning. "How could you ask to... oh, right." He chuckled. "Sorry, Dad, missed that one at first."

Norman nodded. "Right. Now... we talked about this before, but I see you've still not reached a decision. My offer's still open, I could get you one, or... you know what your choices are already, I take it."

Nod. "Either I get one as a gift, basically – or I get one of the Littleroot starters... or I go with Ash, and he's supposed to catch one for me."

"That's about the size of it, yeah," Norman concurred. "Now, I could see if Bill's got an Eevee who needs fostering out-"

"You know Bill?" Max asked. "I didn't – I mean, I assumed-"

"We've talked a few times." The steady Gym Leader smiled. "I mean, he's quite eccentric, but he knows his stuff."

"Thanks for the offer, Dad," Max said, frowning. "I'll – I guess I'll give it more thought."

"Sure," Norman told him. "Just – if you have any questions, ask me. Even stupid ones, you wouldn't believe the mistakes I made my first few months."

Max looked at him quizzically.

"I tried to catch a Ninjask with my Slakoth," Noman told his son. "Thinking back, that's just painful..."

He raised a hand, palm up. "So everyone makes stupid mistakes. We either learn these things by asking, or by making the mistake ourselves."

"Or by looking it up," Max added, indicating the piles of books. "I've been looking at a lot of the old League records..."

I keep telling him to look at televised gym challenges, too, Kris contributed, flashing into form from her projector on the desk.

"Yeah, and whenever we look we hardly find anything," Max replied. "And a lot of it's just first-time kids who forgot everything about type advantage and went after Wattson with a Wingull..."

Norman chuckled. "Well, you're certainly better prepared than most, I see. Just – like I say, ask any questions you need answered."


"Explain to me again the purpose of this?" Lucario asked, stepping back quickly from a deluge of Sleep Powder.

"It's for a magic spell," Ash said for the fourth time.

"I heard you, I just don't really follow." Lucario feinted in again, then brushed piles of Poisonpowder off his arms. "Nope, that one wasn't Stun Spore either..."

"It's simple," said the young witch, Lily. "These are the ingredients for a magical spell that will help a human understand their Pokémon better."

"But I already understand Ash, and Ash already understands me," Lucario said, puzzled. "Aha!"

Lily lunged forwards, and sucked up the cloud of Stun Spore with a vacuum cleaner. "Got it!"

"Trust me, Lucario," Pikachu told him, "You're going to love this one. Really!"

"What does it entail?" Lucario asked, stepping thankfully back now they had the ingredient.

"I don't want to spoil the surprise..."


"Lily?" Misty asked, as she put the decanted powder on the table and began rifling through her book of spells again. "I know how Aura – like Ash uses, and like I use a bit – is basically Fighting-type..."

"That's right," Lily agreed. "And I see where you're going. This kind of thing is actually a bit Ghost-type – it's about sacrifice."

"That sounds ominous..." Brock said, wincing.

"Oh, don't worry," she assured him. "In this case, the sacrifice is a lot of time and effort. Most spells are like that – you should be worried about the spells which require simple ingredients, they're probably going to require a sacrifice of you – or someone else."

"I am glad to hear no knives will be coming out today," Lucario said solemnly. "What's next?"

"Get back here!" Ash called.

An Aipom ran past, laughing and brandishing Ash's big blue hat.

"Well, it looks like your trainer has already found it," Lily told him. "We need tears from an Aipom. But not tears from violence."

"One for sorrow, two for joy!" Murkrow cawed.

"That's about the shape of it," Lily agreed, then winced as Ash fell off the tree he was climbing with a thud.

Aipom fell about laughing.

"And it looks like he's going for joy..."


Bashing his fists against the branch he was on, laughing fit to burst, Aipom watched Ash trying to climb the tree again.

He slipped, losing his grip, and somehow landed squarely on his own thumb. He sat there for a fraction of a second, then jumped up howling with pain.

Aipom laughed so hard he cried.

"Aha!"

The Long Tail Pokémon startled, as Ash was suddenly just there. One arm on the branch overhead, the other holding out a jar and collecting a few of Aipom's tears of laughter.

"Thanks!" Ash added, plucking his hat from the branch, and let go.

Knees bent, he absorbed the impact of the fall with barely a wince, and carried the tears over.


"Here you go!" he said, putting the jar down for Lily.

"And you only had to sacrifice your dignity..." Misty muttered.

"Right..." Lily frowned, checking down the list in her book. "...and I think that's everything! Okay, who was it who wanted to try it?"

"Not me," Brock said.

"Nope!" Misty agreed promptly.

"Then it's me!" Ash grinned. "Okay, here goes!"


The magic erupted up from Lily's cauldron, accompanied by a big puff of smoke. It swirled for a moment, seeking its target, then came rushing towards Ash.

Unlike last time, Ash was fully ready for this. In fact, he was concentrating almost entirely on the energies of the magic spell – the feelings, the way it worked, everything about it.

It didn't actually enter his body, at first. It surrounded him a little above the level of his clothes, in a continuous layer of fizzing energy which did feel a lot like Ghost-type energy did.

That process took a little under a second. Once it was there, it came towards him from all sides – all in a rush, and while the smoke cloud from the spell still lingered.

What happened next felt... bizarre.

Ash had once banged his funny-bone, and felt a flash of branching, tree-shaped pain – his entire arm downwards from that nerve feeling as though it had been injured at once, tracing the shape of his nerves. This was a lot like that.

The actual sensations themselves weren't very abnormal – it was a bit like the slight tingling from washing hands in hot water, mixed with the chill from mint toothpaste.

It's just that it was coming from every single part of his body at once. The sudden sensory overload made him flinch involuntarily, and then there was a moment of discontinuity-

And he was flat on the ground.

"Ash?" Lucario asked, slowly. "Did you expect this?"

"Well, I-" Ash began, and stopped. "Man, that feels strange..."

Something black was just at the bottom of his line of sight, too. It was distracting him.

Wait. Black? Shouldn't it be yellow?

He looked down, towards his feet, and blinked at the sight.

There was a black-blue muzzle, more visible now he was looking down in that direction. His body was roughly the same shape, but smaller – thinner and more compact, and he had blue haunches and arms with long black paws – twitching slightly as he experimentally flexed them.

His arms each had a wrist-nub on them, too – of a very familiar type.

Just to confirm his guess, he reached down to the feeling of pressure at the base of his spine, feeling a muscular tail, and then the pair of floppy ears at the sides of his head.

He was a Riolu.

Pikachu started to laugh as the smoke cleared. "I can't believe it!"

"Somehow," Ash muttered, "I was expecting to be a Pikachu."

"Oh, was he your starter?" Lily asked. "Yeah, the spell wasn't sure what to make you, I think – it was less stable than usual."

"Right." Ash sprang to his feet, promptly overbalanced, and fell over again.

"Lucario?" he asked, sounding a bit embarrassed. "How did you stand up on these?"

"They're digitigrade feet," Lucario commented, reaching down and taking Ash's forepaw. "You have to stand on the balls of your feet... I'm surprised you're not finding this easier, though, your combat stance is a bit like that."

"Thanks," Ash said, as Lucario hauled him upright. He spread his other arm to steady himself, and started to get the hang of it. "Yeah, thanks..."

"I think that went quite well!" Lily smiled. "Nothing broke, and only the person who asked to be transformed got transformed!"

The others turned to her, somewhat startled.

"That might have happened?" Misty asked, speaking for both her and Brock.

"Well... you were safe," Lily told them. "Almost certainly... but this kind of power is self-directed. It has to be to work. And it... kind of has a sense of humour..."

Her Murkrow landed on the side of the now-inert cauldron. "Braixen! Braixen!"

Lily nodded. "You would not believe how many times I've been accidentally turned into a Braixen. It's kind of an operational hazard."

"I would not have fancied ending up a Psyduck," Misty muttered.

She glanced down at her side as Psyduck emerged from his Pokéball and gave her a look. "No offence."

"Some taken."

"So... how long does this last?" Ash asked, now not using Lucario as support any more. "I think I'm getting the hang of this..." He wobbled a bit, then corrected. "Okay, a bit."

"It should last anything from a few hours to a day or so," Lily told him. "It's really variable, which can be kind of inconvenient."

"Right," Ash nodded. He took a deep breath. "Okay, let's see if this works."

Blue aura built over his palms, then spread to the rest of his body.

"That was quick!" the witch blinked. "It took me much longer to get used to using Pokémon attacks..."

"This is normal for Ash," Lucario said. "I spar with him nightly. He's quite good."

Ash was only half-listening. He focused, reaching through his body, and reaching for the same things that the spell had changed.

He made to change them back-


-Ash blinked, finding himself on the floor again.

"What-" he began, and stopped, because it hurt to keep talking.

"What did you just do?" Lily demanded.

Lucario arrived with a glass of water. "Ash, here."

Reaching for it with clumsy paws – he was still a Riolu – Ash took the glass, and had a sip. "I... I tried to reverse..."

"How could you even-" Lily bit her words off, and sighed. "Right. I have heard of you, now I think – you're an Aura adept, right?"

Ash nodded, taking another sip of water.

"Right. Should have guessed." Another sigh. "Some of my books mention Aura users – never positively."

"How so?" Lucario asked, keeping an eye on his transformed trainer.

"Magic... magic's not like Aura," Lily said, rubbing her temples. "It directs itself – well, another way to say that is the spirits do it, that's part of why it's Ghost. It handles all the fiddly little bits of something like completely transforming a living person into a Pokémon, or... or making someone look younger!"

She pointed. "But you, just like all the Aura adepts in my books, tried to replicate it yourself using Aura! Not only is that life energy – and you could kill yourself if you overdid it – but it's basically impossible to catch every single change, so you could kill yourself that way!"

Pikachu's jaw hung open slightly. "You let my trainer get into something this dangerous?"

"It's safe when it's done magically," Lily replied, taking a calming breath. "But... you weren't doing it magically. All the safeguards just... go away, like that. And that means he could have seriously hurt himself."

She reached into a pocket of her robe. "Murkrow? Seven feathers, please."

"Seven for a secret, never to be told!" Murkrow cawed, and flapped his wings. Precisely seven feathers drifted down – two flight primaries, one secondary, two down and two tail feathers.

Taking a small vial of powder – it looked like chalk – she picked the feathers up, one at a time, and made white marks on the lustrous plumage. "Let's see... there!"

Each feather flashed once, then vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Good," she said, relaxing. "Nothing dangerous. You should just be fatigued. And you might be a bit low on fluids."

"I can feel that," Ash said, finishing the glass. "Well... I guess I should have asked if it was safe first."

"You got lucky," she nodded. "But... well, next time just wait for the spell to wear off!"


Professor Birch looked up, at the now-familiar sound of a bicycle bell ringing.

"Just a minute!" he called, making a few notes to avoid forgetting where he'd got to. He put the clipboard down, and walked over to the door.

"Hello again, May!" he said, opening it. "No school today?"

"Professor, it's Saturday," May sighed, smiling. "Did you lose track again?"

"It's always work for me!" Birch replied. "Good timing, by the way, you can check on the new arrivals."

May glanced up quickly at the mention. "I'd hoped there were some," she admitted.

"Well, that's perfect!" Birch waved her through into the main room. "Six of each – more than I need, for now, but they had some extra hatchlings volunteered by their parents in the Shikoku reserve and I can always use a bit of a buffer."

"Right." May nodded, picking up the second scanner, and started to go over the newly-arrived starters – giving them a health check, mainly, routine stuff.

She started with the Mudkips. They weren't her favourite Pokémon – memories of being blasted in the face while trying to save Professor Birch came to mind – but Brock's one had warmed her up to them, a little.

Warmed up or not, though, May always made sure to have Ethan's projector ready to block any unexpected streams of water.

As it happened, though, this set of Mudkips were relatively docile. Two girls, which was a little below average but nothing notable, and one of the boys showed off with a cute Yawn which nearly had her falling asleep herself before she noticed.

"Okay, the Mudkip are fine," she reported, moving on to the next.

"Excellent!" Birch smiled. "I've almost finished the Treecko, so you should just handle the Torchic."

May nodded absently, already back in her routine – learned over the last few months, once Birch decided to turn her visits into lessons.

Release the Pokémon from the standard Pokéball. Give them a quick physical inspection, scan them with the portable medical scanner and note any irregularities, give them some food, move on to the next.

She reached the fifth one-

-and nearly dropped the Pokéball.

It was him!

She'd know her lovely little Torchic anywhere.

It had been years, subjectively, since she'd seen him as a Torchic – indeed, it had been over a year of subjective time since she'd seen him at all. But there was no mistaking him – everything, from his stance to his slightly airy attitude to the precise distribution of his crest feathers, was just the same as the Pokémon who'd first wormed his way into her heart.

"Are you okay, May?" Birch asked, looking concerned.

May became aware she was staring.

"Sorry, Professor," she said, blushing. "I just-"

Birch smiled knowingly. "I know exactly the feeling," he said with a nod. "The first time I saw Rono, I knew we'd be friends."

Torchic tilted his head curiously.

"I – that's it exactly, Professor!" May nodded. "I – sorry, can you give me a moment? I'd like to make a phone call..."

"Of course!" Birch told her. "You've done more than half my job, you deserve a break!"


The moment she was out of the lab, May held up Ethan's main body. "Ethan? I need to speak to Ash – right now!"

I had guessed, Ethan replied. Placing call now.

He emitted a ringing sound.

There we go-

Ethan abruptly stopped vocalizing.

"Ethan?" May asked. "Is there a problem?"

Sorry, I just got the call picked up at the other end. And... well, see for yourself.

His main screen booted up, and displayed a hat-wearing Riolu.

"May!" it said, with Ash's voice. "What is it?"

From off camera, a Lucario said something.

"Oh! Right... sorry, May." The Riolu rubbed the back of it's neck. "Ash here, it's complicated."

"It always is," May said, shaking her head. "Seriously... you're a Pokémon?"

"Magic," Ash told her. "Anyway, why'd you call?"

Thus reminded, May went from bewildered to excited. "Ash, he's here!"

"Who's where?" Ash blinked.

"Blaziken! Only, he's a Torchic, and... anyway, he's here and you said you could remind him and-"

"He is?" Ash interrupted. "Great! I'll be right over!"

The connection closed.

May smiled for a moment, then blinked. "Wait. He's still a Riolu..."


"Why are you a Riolu?" Pidgeot asked, blinking down at her trainer.

"That would take too long to explain," Ash said. "Really, it would."

"It seemed fairly simple to me." Pikachu shrugged.

"...okay, maybe it was. But we've got an appointment in Hoenn! Let's get to Littleroot town!"

Pidgeot flared her wings, and crouched to let Ash climb on – trickier than usual, in his abnormal body shape.

Once he and Pikachu were both on, Ash returned Lucario. "Okay, let's go!"

Pidgeot's wings spread, reaching up and cupping the air, then she slammed them down in a powerful downbeat and kicked off from the ground.

Two more steady, measured wingbeats, and she was speeding off to the south.


About half an hour later, May saw a dot in the northeastern horizon.

It grew with startling rapidity, going from a moving speck to a tiny bird-shape to a Pidgeot approaching at impressive speed – though clearly shedding speed – and then there was a very faint bang as the sound of Pidgeot's earlier supersonic flight arrived, a little ahead of her.

The big Flying-type skimmed low over the forests between Littleroot and Oldale, wings flapping gently, and then flared and landed barely six yards from May's feet.

"Thanks, Pidgeot!" came a familiar voice, and then a blue Riolu hopped down from her back. "Hi, May!"

"That is the weirdest thing I have ever seen," May admitted, looking down at the two-foot blue Pokémon her friend had become.

Ash shrugged. "I've had a whole half hour to get used to the idea. Okay, where is he?"

"Inside the lab," May said. "I'll let you in. Oh, hi Pikachu!"

Pikachu waved, and said something.

He says he can't wait until Ash has given you the basic Aura lessons so you can understand him directly, Ethan supplied helpfully.

"That would be cool," May admitted, fiddling with the door. "There we go."


Ash strode briskly through the main room of the lab, his destination already firmly fixed.

May was exactly right – there was the dancing, sparkling beauty in Aura sight that was a remindable Fire-type.

Ash smiled – he liked Blaziken.

"Well, here goes," May said, walking up behind him. "Ready?"

"Of course," Ash replied.

Torchic gave him a quizzical look.

"Hi," Ash said. "I'm Ash. We're going to know one another better some time."

That said, he reached out a hand and took Torchic's wing, and shook it.


"Ah, there you are!" Birch said, spotting May as he came in through the door. "I-"

He stopped.

"Why is there a Blaziken in the lab?"

Blaziken stepped a little closer to May.

"Why is there a Riolu wearing a hat in my lab?"

Ash waved.

"Why is there a Pidgeot outside my lab, looking in through the door?"

Pidgeot chirped.

May winced. "This could take a while..."


"So, you're my daughter's time-displaced starter," Norman mused, looking Blaziken up and down.

The Fire/Fighting type nodded, folding one arm across his chest and bowing slightly.

"Hm. Interesting. May?"

May nodded. "Yes, Dad?"

"I'd like you and Blaziken to show what you're capable of working together at the gym some time soon. Let me know a good time next week."

"Okay, Dad!" May agreed readily.

She glanced over, and saw her brother looking a bit downcast.

"Don't worry, Max," she assured him. "Blaziken and I will make sure you get a starter."

Max looked up, and smiled a bit. "Thanks, sis."

Norman then turned his attention to Ash. "What happened?"

"Magic," Ash replied, standing on a chair to be at about the same level as everyone else. "Literally magic."

Norman blinked. "Your life is bizarre."

"I know."


bink

Mewtwo looked up. Oh, hello Sabrina. Hello Mew.

"Hello yourself," Sabrina said, as her friend Mew began playing with Mewtwo's friend.

She put down a sheaf of paper on Mewtwo's trestle-table desk, along with a small memory stick. "I finished the foreword, by the way."

Thank you, Mewtwo smiled. What did you think of the book?

"Pretty good," she said. "I've got a few changes to suggest, mostly minor, but we can discuss that after you've read the foreword."

Mewtwo nodded his acceptance, and picked up the paper – using his hands, rather than raw psionic might.

It relaxed him.


Foreword – Sabrina, Saffron gym leader


In many ways, Mewtwo and I are much alike. He, like I, is a powerful psychic individual. Like myself, his upbringing was profoundly unusual and focused more on his gifts than on him as a person. Like me, he has struggled with the question of whether he is important as a person – or, instead, just important as a set of psionic skills.

There is one difference, however, which most people would notice first. He is a Pokémon, and I am a human. That is a major difference – even a legal difference, despite how many advances in Pokémon rights have been made over the past century. It is the kind of difference which at first glance seems to divide us, and the rest of the world.

This book is about the other ways we are all alike – and why a Pokémon is not apart, just different.

One of the benefits of being a psychic – human or Pokémon – is that the task of interacting with those on the other side of the Pokéball is easier. A Psychic Pokémon can use telepathy, the ability to communicate with projected thoughts rather than spoken words, to make themselves understood to humans – and a psionic human can pick up the thoughts of their Pokémon and thus gain an insight into what is meant above and beyond what is normal.

But, until now, those insights and advantages have been largely ad hoc and individual. For example, I talk with my Kadabra, or with my dear friend Mew, but insights thus gained are rarely shared with others. I know that my Kadabra likes orange juice, but I do not even know if that is a racial trait or one peculiar to him.

It is my hope that this book, which I have helped to edit in places, results in a better understanding and dialogue between human and Pokémon. As a Gym Leader, I am used to battle – but I am also used to not battling, and I would consider forcing a Pokémon to battle when they do not want to a good reason to not present my badge – irrespective of the victor in a battle.

I hope that I never have to do so. And this book is a good example of why I feel that hope may be justified.


Mewtwo came to the end of the section. I see, he said, softly. Thank you for the vote of confidence.

"You deserve it, you really do," Sabrina assured him. "I heard of your life – to overcome that, and become so committed to peace, is a great achievement indeed. And I really think this book is going to be an important one."

May that be the case, Mewtwo smiled.


AN:

So. Hocus Pokémon. Best known as "That episode Ash turns into a Pikachu".

I decided to go with Asholu instead of Ashachu, on the grounds his greater Aura affinity outweighs his connection to Pikachu. It was close, though.

And here's magic, the third kind of "broad variety of things humans can manage" along with psychic powers and aura manipulation. They're not the same, and trying to do one with another can lead to... bad results...

Also the Blaziken thing. Seemed neat, for the mental images as much as anything.

I currently have a preference for Max's starter, but it's not set in stone. (It's none of the ones he befriends in canon – the Ralts in particular is over a hundred episodes into AG.)

Finally, Mewtwo's book. I'm actually writing some of it – short bits per chapter, as and when I can and I have a good idea of what to do for the bit.