"This all seems..."
Venusaur groped for the words.
"Unbelievable?" Meganium suggested. "That usually does me pretty well."
"Yes, that," the slightly larger Grass-type agreed. "Astonishing could fit, as well..."
She waved a vine. "I mean – quite apart from the time travel, look at what's happened to everyone... Max has Pokémon, which I admit I was expecting to see some time soon but..."
"Really, it's something you get used to quite quickly," Sceptile said.
"I doubt you're a good example for that," Venusaur replied. "Weren't you the one who reacted to your trainer being possessed by just shrugging and going along with it?"
Sceptile's cheeks heated slightly. "In fairness-"
"Hey, leave him alone!" Meganium scowled. "I know it's a bit confusing, but don't take it out on him..."
Venusaur blinked. "Sorry... I wasn't really..."
She shook her head. "You're right, I should have been-"
The Grass/Poison type stopped, and stared.
"What the heck?"
"Oh, that's Jirachi," Ivysaur said, speaking up for the first time. "He decided to come with Max after Mewtwo fixed his problem."
Venusaur let out a long sigh. "It's going to be nothing but this for days, isn't it?"
"You're getting it all in one go," Meganium said, with a smile. "Honestly, after things like Altomare and Forina and... everything I've heard about from the others... I was somewhat prepared for it even before Ash asked for our help catching Suicune."
Venusaur had been nodding along, but froze at that last. "What?"
Ivysaur and Sceptile exchanged glances.
"Okay, Venusaur," Ivysaur said, with a chuckle. "Tell you what. I'll let you know all the Pokémon Ash has at the moment, so you won't be surprised any more."
"After seeing you'd evolved – you, mister 'I don't want to evolve, I'm happy as a Bulbasaur' – then I thought I was ready for anything..."
"Yeah, trust me, we've barely started," Ivysaur replied. "Okay, May now has a Porygon – he's called Ethan – and a Swablu. Max has Arc, who's a Manectric – that's his starter, by the way-"
"Really? Huh," Venusaur said, shrugging. "Always thought he'd get a Treecko."
She looked up for a moment, and her vines manipulated a knife to cut another small slice of Brock's checkerboard-cake.
Putting the knife and plate back on her upper back, just in front of her tree, she moved the cake to her mouth and ate it in one bite. "That is so lovely... sorry, where were we?"
"Max's Pokémon," Meganium said. "We can do the names later, but he's got a Mantine – and a Breloom, a Mightyena, another Porygon... and you saw Jirachi, of course."
"Of course," Venusaur echoed. "How could I forget..."
They began to climb a hill, heading out of the Grass-type reserve, and Venusaur smiled. "I think I remember when I'd just joined May, climbing this hill," she said. "The whole Pokéball thing was so new to me, I wanted to be outside all the time... I grew out of it, though."
"Pretty quickly, if I remember," Ivysaur agreed. "And some Pokémon never grow out of it."
"Better hope Pikachu didn't hear that," Meganium giggled.
They climbed in silence for a bit, until the party reached a ridge-line and began to descend – heading for their next adventure.
"So," Venusaur said, when they were on the downslope. "What about Brock?"
"Oh, Brock's got a few new ones," Ivysaur replied. "You never met Vulpix – she's a Ninetales now – and he's also got Stantler, and Flygon's new too."
"A Flygon? Like Drew?" Venusaur asked, interested.
She paused. "He's not the same one, right?"
"No, not as far as we know," Ivysaur replied. "It'd be quite a coincidence, but then..." he looked over at Glaceon, padding alongside her trainer. "Coincidences do seem to follow us around."
That earned a smile. "And... okay, I've put it off long enough. What about Ash?"
Venusaur sighed. "I'm expecting the worst..."
"Right," Sceptile said, adjusting his twig. "He's got a Porygon too. He's got a Lucario, and I don't think you ever met Pidgeot or Butterfree – or Primeape – but they were from last time."
"You didn't meet them last time either," Meganium pointed out, and he shot her a glance.
"As I was saying," he went on. "Lapras is another we never met last time. He's got Houndoom, Mawile, Tyranitar-"
"Aren't you missing a few?" Ivysaur asked.
"No, I'm not," Sceptile replied firmly. "When-"
"Sorry, a Tyranitar?" Venusaur asked, sounding overwhelmed. "A fully-grown... Tyranitar?"
"Yeah, but he's still kind of young," Ivysaur clarified. "He's nice – you'll like him."
When no reply came, he looked over. "Are you okay?"
"I probably will be, once I've had time to assimilate all this," Venusaur said. "I need to stop thinking in terms of contest circuits for a bit and think more... Cameran Castle, or LaRousse City..."
"Yeah, that's a good start," Ivysaur agreed.
"Where'd we got to?" Meganium asked, ducking under an overhanging branch. "Someone needs to trim this path..."
Sceptile spun on his heel, arm-blades lighting up a bright, blazing blue, and cut the branch in two places with long-range Sacred Swords.
"Overdoing it much?" Meganium blinked, as the ex-branch hit the ground.
"Did... what was that?" Venusaur gaped. "I know you're good, but... what?"
"I'll explain later," Sceptile said, with the faintest hint of a smirk. "Anyway – Absol and Sliggoo make up the rest of the list, apart from..."
Venusaur blinked. "Are you trying to get most of Drew's Pokémon before he can?"
After a moment, she sighed. "And I know you're trying to make me ask, so... what's the apart from?"
Meganium giggled.
Sceptile took a deep breath. "Ash has caught, or holds Pokéballs for... Ho-Oh, Mewtwo, Lugia, Latios, Latias, Suicune, Entei, Raikou and Keldeo."
Venusaur tripped.
"What!?" she asked, heaving herself back to her feet. "That was... what, nine Legendaries?"
"Yep!" Latias agreed, shimmering into view.
"You really like doing that, don't you..." Ivysaur mused, as Venusaur stared.
A giggle was his answer, and Latias performed a roll before flashing blue and vanishing again.
"You get used to her," Ivysaur said with a smile.
"I suppose I'll have to," Venusaur agreed. "Well... thank you, then. Anything else I should know?"
The three other Grass-types frowned.
"I don't think..." Ivysaur began, then paused. "Wait – did we tell her about Fairy-types and Mega-evolution?"
"No," Venusaur said. "You didn't."
Both Sceptile and Meganium started to laugh – it was obvious they were trying not to, but also obvious they were failing.
"Okay, so the Fairy-type... I was taught about it by my mother, but only in this timeline – oh, this is so hard to follow!" Venusaur said, slamming a vine down on the ground.
Ivysaur caught the plate of cake before it fell on the floor. "Whoops!"
"Thanks," Venusaur said, taking it. "But I've never even heard of Mega-evolution."
"Well, there's about five Pokémon between Ash, Brock and Max who can do it, and several more who probably could if they had a Mega Stone," Ivysaur clarified for her.
"But what is it?" the Grass-type asked. "It sounds like-"
She rounded on Sceptile and Meganium. "Stop laughing! Get a room if you have to!"
Both pure-Grass types exchanged a startled look, then turned back to her.
"We're not-"
"What makes you-"
"How would you even-"
"What's the-"
"Why-"
"Nice one," Ivysaur said, very quietly.
"See anything?" Brock asked, holding out his arm.
Crobat landed on it, all four wings cupping the air to slow down. "Well, there's a lake ahead... and someone wearing a pretty silly outfit."
"Given what Ash wears I'm not sure we can comment on things like that," Brock muttered. "Okay, I guess we should find out what's going on. Which way was it?"
"This path, about another ten minutes."
"Hear that?" Brock asked, looking back.
"Hear what?" Max replied, turning his attention away from Arc earnestly instructing Cinder on the difference between Thunder Fang and Thundershock.
"...never mind," Brock decided. "Crobat says there's someone up ahead, so don't do anything too ridiculous."
He paused. "You know. More so than normal..."
"Greetings!" called a grey-haired man in a big purple cloak. "I am Sullivan – the fishing god!"
He swept his cloak around. "I can capture any Pokémon that you catch with a fishing rod!"
"You can?" Max asked. "But... what would happen if you brought up Kyogre or something?"
"I don't think there's a Kyogre in the lake!" Sullivan chuckled. "No, the biggest thing in here is Nero – my nemesis, my age-old foe!"
There was a moment of silence.
"Is no-one going to ask what Nero is?" he asked, lowering his arms with a sigh.
"I would have," May said. "Eventually."
"Well, Nero is a mighty Whiscash, over three times the size of a normal one!" Sullivan told them. "I have tried countless times to capture that cunning Whiscash, but always failed!"
"Why?" Max asked.
"...what do you mean, why?" Sullivan replied, frowning. "I didn't catch him. That's what that usually means."
"No, I mean – why didn't you catch him?" Max pressed. "I mean, if you're a fishing god, then I guess you must have managed to fish him up?"
"Several times," Sullivan agreed. "Once I managed to haul him out of the water entirely – though it took all my strength – but he simply escaped again."
"And didn't you attack him with a Pokémon?" Max pressed. "I mean, just using a Grass-type would have done wonders."
"I... don't have a Grass-type," Sullivan admitted.
"What do you have, then?" Max frowned. "What Grass attacks do they know?"
Sullivan replied by taking a Pokéball from his belt and releasing a Flaffy.
"Hi," she waved.
"...please tell me she knows Energy Ball or something," Max begged.
"No – but she knows Iron Tail and Dynamic Punch," Sullivan said.
Max glanced at his sister. "Why's this guy a god again?"
Sullivan slumped.
"I'm sure he's... quite good?" May suggested weakly.
"We'll help!" Ash volunteered. "How many fishing rods do you have?"
"Aha!" Sullivan brightened immediately. "I've got several fishing rods – I'll show you how to fish!"
"Actually, I already know," Max said. "I caught Delta that way."
"Why don't you show me?" Brock asked. "I'm glad to learn."
"But you know-" Max began to protest.
"Of course!" Sullivan said loudly, enthusiastic again. "Now, let's get going!"
"The most important thing for a fisher is patience," Sullivan said. "Also a very strong back, an ideal cast, and a good boat. And luck. And a good Pokémon. And a durable rod."
"I guess you're speaking from experience?" Brock asked.
"I've been trying to catch Nero for decades!" Sullivan told him. "I think it's called trial and error."
"Emphasis on the error..." Max muttered. "How's it looking, Delta?"
"The water's great!" Delta replied, wheeling and diving in again with a splash.
Emerging in a wash of spray, fins beating to get him airborne, he rolled over the boat and splashed everyone.
"Hey!" Brock laughed. "Watch it!"
"I'm glad he's having fun," May smiled. "Hey, Ash, can you use your crazy Aura vision to spot that Whiscash?"
"Sort of," Ash replied. "I can see a few big Water-types, and I guess there's a couple which must be Whiscash – wait, there!"
He grabbed the rod resting by his side and cast it, sending the float flying out into the water.
"Great cast!" Sullivan said, as it came to rest. "Now, it's going to be a long wait before-"
The float bobbed, then went hard down into the lake.
"Or maybe not," he added.
There was a flash, and Sullivan blinked as Lucario dug his paws into the water of the lake to use as leverage. Together, he and Ash hauled back, pulling Nero up hard enough to make him broach.
"Now!" Max called, and Delta plipped into the water.
A moment later, he came up underneath the big Whiscash and knocked him further out of the water – and a big Surf propelled him towards the shore, with Ash and Lucario running along the water to help tow their catch.
Sullivan pointed. "That's a new one on me."
"Yeah, they do that," May admitted. "Come on, let's get to shore!"
"Right – Hannah, use Dynamic Punch!" Sullivan ordered.
"Okay!" Hannah nodded, and punched Nero.
The Ground-type barely seemed to notice. He frowned down at the Flaafy, and hit her with a blast of muddy water which propelled her backwards across the beach.
"Are you okay, Hannah?" Sullivan called, concern on his face.
"I'm fine!" Hannah waved back, slicking mud off her wool.
"This isn't working," the legendary fisherman said. "I'll need to use a super-effective move!"
"Wait," Max said, frowning. "I thought he said Hannah didn't know any-"
"Thundershock!" Sullivan ordered.
Hannah tilted her head. "Are... you sure?"
"What are you waiting for?" Sullivan asked.
Nodding, Hannah used Thundershock.
The electrical attack sizzled onto Nero's skin, and did nothing.
"How long did you say you'd been trying to catch him again?" Brock asked.
"Fifty years!" Sullivan replied.
"And..."
Brock shook his head, a little lost for words.
"Okay, that's-" Sullivan began, reaching into a pocket.
"That's it!" Pikachu said, launching himself off Ash's shoulder and hopping forwards. "Hey, Nero?"
The Whiscash frowned, looking up at Pikachu. Then he yawned.
Sullivan stopped, hand still in his pocket, and watched with some confusion. "What's going on?"
"I think Pikachu's negotiating," Brock said.
"Look, I've got to ask you something," Pikachu said. "Do you mind?"
"Who wants to know?" Nero asked, yawning again. "Is this going to take long?"
"Nero – or, if you'd rather, Whiscash – that trainer's been after you for fifty years," Pikachu pointed out. "I'm pretty sure that, if you didn't want this, then you could have either scared him off or moved to another lake."
The Whiscash shrugged. "Not like moving's easy."
"But it's less trouble than fifty years of capture attempts, that's my point," said Pikachu, getting a bit exasperated now. "Is it possible for you to give me a straight answer? If you don't mind, then that's fine – but if you do then my trainer can get him to stop."
"I don't see why I should tell you," Nero said, sticking his tongue out.
Pikachu's cheeks sparked, but he controlled himself with a sigh. "Okay, put it this way. Either you don't want to be caught, and I'll get Sullivan to leave. Or you do, and I'll sort this out – but this fifty years of constant messing about is kind of annoying."
"It's no business of yours," Nero said, and sprayed him with muddy water.
Sullivan looked around. "Why are you all running away?"
"Okay, that is it," Pikachu said, rubbing mud out of his eyes. "That. Is. It."
His cheeks crackled, an electrical nimbus spreading to the tips of his ears and tail.
Nero yawned.
Then Pikachu unleashed a full-bore Electroball amplified by a follow-through Thunderbolt all the way to target, and Nero rather abruptly discovered that an immunity wasn't everything.
Pikachu jumped, grabbed an empty Pokéball from Sullivan's belt, and threw it at the stunned catfish.
There was a flash of white light, then a series of slow rocks, and the Pokéball clicked.
"There!" Pikachu said, dusting his paws off. "Problem. Solved."
After a moment he nudged Sullivan in the ankle. "Well?"
Slowly, walking with small steps – and with his Flaafy by his side – Sullivan stepped forwards and picked up the Pokéball.
"This... is it," he said, looking at the 'ball. "After fifty years, I've caught you, Nero."
He chuckled, patting a pocket. "And I didn't even need my Master Ball..."
"He had a Master Ball?" Max asked. "Why didn't he just..."
"Actually, I can kind of relate," Ash said, scooping Pikachu up. "You know... using Pokéballs instead of Ultra Balls, that kind of thing."
While they spoke, Sullivan had been looking out at the lake.
"I guess it's kind of the end of an era," he said, patting Hannah on the head. "No more coming down here, every day, and trying my hardest to coax you to the surface. No more battles of wits, no more close shaves..."
He sighed.
"I almost wish..."
After another few seconds, he opened the Pokéball, sending Nero out.
Nero gave Pikachu the evil eye, then looked up at his new trainer.
And Sullivan broke the Pokéball at the hinge.
Dropping the bits on the floor, he waved at Nero. "Go on, off you go. I'll be back tomorrow, and we can do this all again – I think I enjoy the trying more than actually having caught you!"
"He didn't..." May said, blinking.
"He did," Max confirmed.
Pikachu's eye twitched. "Oh, come on!"
Polite applause filled the Contest hall.
"And that's a wonderful Appeal from miss Nonaka and her Braixen," the announcer said, as both Coordinator and Pokémon bowed.
Braixen's twig flashed, and she twirled it to make a little flash of flame – the circle spreading out and consuming itself, before dissipating and leaving a faint scent of wood-smoke in the air.
"Up next!" the announcer went on. "It's Jesselina and her Meowth!"
Fully dressed up, 'Jesselina' walked out on stage.
"Dat's right!" Meowth agreed, jumping out after her. "It's Meowth and his Jesselina!"
There were a few gasps.
"That Meowth can talk!" someone said.
"Yeah, we know," said the person sitting next to her. "We saw Jesselina two weeks ago – he's normally in the audience..."
"Oh," the girl said, frowning. "Okay. I must have missed hearing about that..."
While they talked, Jesselina rounded on Meowth and put her hands on her hips. "That's Jesselina and her Meowth!" she insisted. "We know how this works – I'm the Coordinator, you're the Pokémon."
"If you're the coordinator, how comes I can speak?" Meowth asked. "Sure you ain't the Pokémon?"
"It doesn't work like that!" Jesselina insisted.
She cleared her throat. "Ahem. My Meowth is a talented acrobat – he's going to perform for you all!"
"How comes I have to do the work?" Meowth asked, crossing his arms. "I always do all da work..."
"This isn't a topic for discussion, Meowth!" Jesselina insisted. "Now get out there and do your thing!"
"Nope," Meowth said.
"Nope?" Jesselina repeated. "Nope?"
She grabbed for him, and he jumped into the air with a supple backflip and bounced off her shoulders to gain more height.
Executing a perfect two-and-a-half forward roll, he landed on his feet and picked at his teeth. "Nope."
"You're embarassing me in front of all these people!" Jesselina protested.
Meowth looked her up and down. "Wait, you're worried about bein' embarrassed?"
He frowned. "Then why are you wearin' a dress so like a Tamato?"
A few giggles chased through the crowd, who were starting to realize that this wasn't just a radically disobedient Pokémon.
"Why, you-" Jesselina began, biting off the sentence before she finished. "I'll show you what..."
She made another grab for the Normal-type, who evaded her this time by taking two quick steps to the side and kicking off – performing a cartwheel over her head, and landing neatly in the middle of the floor.
"Okay, that's it!" Jesselina snarled, and rounded on her misbehaving Pokémon. "Come here!"
Meowth snapped his claws together, and Substitutes formed in a series of smoky poofs.
They quickly formed a Meowth pyramid, and the original clambered up it to reach the lowest of the stage ropes – dismissing the whole pile as Jesselina was about to grab one of the scratch cats.
"Get down here!" Jesselina raged, and picked up a broom.
She thrust it up at Meowth, and got back a pole.
Meowth did his nails with the broom-head, to laughter, and threw it aside. "I ain't seein' why I should be comin' down, here..."
He ran lightly along the ropes to a light, and turned it directly on Jesselina.
"Agh!" the Coordinator yelped, throwing up a hand in front of her eyes.
Not at all coincidentally, the broom handle was in the hand she threw up. It turned a lazy mid-air circle and went thwack as it landed on her forehead.
Giving an overexaggerated stagger, she took the handle again as it started to fall and waved it. "If you don't get down here right now-"
Meowth landed on the far end of the handle. "Done!"
The weight pulled Jesselina forwards unexpectedly, nearly making her fall, and as she recovered Meowth ran up the broom handle and stood on her head.
"My hair!" the coordinator wailed, grabbing at the evasive Meowth to no avail. "It's got Meowth fur in it now!"
"Hey, you're the one who spent five hours in da hair salon," Meowth retorted. "I coulda cut it in two minutes!"
He jumped off her hairdo again, and held up a hairclip. "By da way, is dis important?"
Jesselina's whole hairdo collapsed down in front of her eyes.
"I'll turn you into a rug for this!" she shouted, and brushed the hair out of her eyes.
When she had, Meowth was gone entirely.
"Huh?" she asked, looking around. "Where'd you go?"
With every turn, the laughter swelled – as Meowth put one claw to his lips, using the other three limbs to cling to the back of Jesselina's dress.
"That was... exhausting," Jessie sighed, some time later. She rubbed the bruise on her forehead. "The things we do for a good Appeal..."
"Yeah," Meowth agreed, inspecting his claws. "I hope I don't got a hangnail..."
"That was very impressive."
Both human and Pokémon looked up to see who'd spoken – and Jessie gasped.
"Are you... Wallace?"
"Sssh," said the Water-type trainer – clad in a long, white cloak, with his turquoise hair showing through under his distinctive round hat. "I'm incognito."
"Nice ta meet you, mister Cognito," Meowth said.
Wallace chuckled. "I must say, I was impressed with your performance – very innovative."
"I'm glad you think so," Jessie said, a little startled. "What was it?"
"Well, mainly that you decided to poke a little fun at yourself," Wallace explained. "It's easy to become egotistical as a Coordinator – and it's healthy to avoid it."
Reaching into his cloak, he placed something in Jessie's hand and turned. "I'll keep an eye out for you, Jesselina."
Jessie blinked. "Uh... okay..."
"What happened?" James asked, coming over with three ice creams. "Who was that?"
"It was Wallace – you know, da former Champion," Meowth said.
He frowned. "Wait, did he just give you a Pokéball?"
"I... guess he did," Jessie agreed, looking at it. "And it's... full?"
There was a flash, and a Pokémon emerged.
"Hi!" the Pokémon in question said, adjusting her outfit. "It's nice to meet you!"
There was silence for a few seconds, during which her ears drooped slightly.
"Huh," Meowth managed. "So dat's how ya get a Pikachu..."
"It seems easier than we thought," James agreed.
"It's the costume, isn't it?" the Pikachu sighed. "I've got others?"
"Others?" Meowth asked. "What kind of other costumes?"
"Well, I've got a Luchador one – Wallace said it was Luchadorable, but I think that's a joke – and I put together a neat Samurai one a couple of weeks ago..."
"It's a long way to Fortree, isn't it?" Ash asked, as they climbed slowly up the side of a mountain.
"Yeah," Brock agreed, looking at the map. "It's... yeah, the trip across the water to Mossdeep or Sootopolis is longer, but that's by sea..."
"Well, I guess it's just good training time!"
"And walking time," Pikachu noted.
"Yeah, but you're sitting on my shoulder," Ash pointed out. "You're not getting any exercise from it."
"I'm just getting you into shape," Pikachu replied promptly. "Now, mush!"
Ash laughed. "Okay, okay..."
"Hey," Max said, looking ahead a bit. "It looks like it's getting foggy ahead. Who knows Defog?"
"Crobat does, but he can't do that much space," Brock volunteered. "What about you, Ash?"
"Pidgeot knows it, but she's busy," Ash shrugged. "Something about endurance training."
"So... what are our options?" May asked. "Can Crobat do the path, or...?"
"Maybe we could clear it some other way," Ash said. "Wait – I know!"
He sent out Sliggoo.
"Ash, you better not be about to-" May began.
"Rain Dance!" Ash said.
"Um... are you sure?" Sliggoo asked. "I heard May saying it wasn't a good idea..."
Ash stopped and thought about it. "...oh, right. Yeah, I can see it wouldn't be much of an improvement..."
"Ash..." May sighed. "You don't think that maybe Sunny Day might be better?"
"...oh, right," Ash agreed. "Sorry, Sliggoo..."
As he reached for Ivysaur's Pokéball, Sliggoo frowned. "Which way's the fog?"
"It's up the mountain," Ash said.
Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and tapped Sliggoo on the paw. "That way," he said, lifting the paw to indicate a direction.
"Okay, thanks," Sliggoo said. "Let's see if this works..."
His horns glowed, faintly, and rain began to fall.
But not on the group. Ahead of them.
"Oh, right," May said, realizing, as the fog rose and rained itself out. "So you're making it so just the bit that's already foggy is raining. Clever!"
"Thanks," Sliggoo said, pleased that he'd managed to solve the problem.
"Let's just sit down to wait until it runs out," Ash suggested. "It will run out quickly, right?"
Sliggoo nodded. "Right – at least, I'm almost sure it will."
"Good enough for me," Brock agreed.
After about ten or fifteen minutes, Sliggoo's rainstorm ended, and they proceeded up the path.
"It's a nice smell, this," Max said, sniffing the air. "The smell you get after rain... it's different in different places, but there's always something nice about it."
"Yeah," Brock agreed. "Like everything's been washed clean."
"It means it's kind of muddy, though," May said, wincing. "It's going to be a pain to clean these..."
"Delta can help!" Max offered.
"I'd rather wait for the mud to dry and brush it off," May decided. "You know, rather than have my shoes blasted off a cliff by a torrent of water."
"...yeah, I guess," Max agreed. "But you don't know we'll be stopping by a cliff for the night, do you?"
May pointedly looked out at the mountainous landscape. "I think it's kind of likely."
"Okay, okay, I get it," Max sighed.
"Hey! Hello up there?"
"Is that who I think it is?" Ash asked, looking down the cliff. "Cool – I'll be right down!"
To the surprise of his friends, Ash jumped off the cliff.
"Did he just-" Brock asked, then watched as Ash used both feet and one hand to skid down the steep cliff-side – flickers of blue Aura showing as he braked his fall to a sensible speed.
Sensible for sliding directly down a mountainside, anyway.
"Oh, hey, it's Ritchie," Brock realized, spotting who Ash was headed for. "Couldn't he have just come up to us?"
"How should we get down?" May asked, glancing at her older friend. "I don't think we can do what Ash just did..."
"Flygon?" Brock asked, sending him out. "Mind helping with that?"
"Not at all," Flygon agreed, as Lucario skidded down after Ash. "I should be able to take all three of you at once, if you just want a soft landing."
"What brings you to Hoenn?" Ash asked, shaking Ritchie's hand.
"Oh, you know, the usual," Ritchie shrugged. "Gym stuff."
"Oh, yeah, you said you'd be doing the Hoenn gym challenge," Ash agreed. "How's Sparky finding it?"
"Great fun!" the Electric-type said, tail waving. "Winona's got a great team – lots of surprises!"
"We're fighting her next, so I'll look out for them," Ash decided. "Any Mega evolutions?"
"Well, we only saw one," Ritchie replied. "A Mega Pinsir – really, really powerful Flying-type attacks, and they've got big orange-blue wings."
"I'll keep an eye out," Ash decided.
"Are you going to use me?" Pikachu asked.
"You're not my first choice," his trainer replied, diplomatically.
Lucario reached the base of the cliff in a shower of gravel, and a moment later Flygon's wings flared as he brought the others down as well.
"Oh, yeah, I should mention," Ritchie went on. "Watch your step around here – there's some kind of time machine."
"That's right, now I remember," Ash said. "The Baltoy, right?"
Ritchie gave him an odd look. "Yeah... but how'd you know that?"
Ash winced. "Oh... sorry, I wasn't really..."
He sighed. "Well, I guess I really should have told you a while ago – you're a good friend, and you're kind of mixed up in stuff like this too."
"What kind of stuff?" Ritchie asked.
Ash glanced up, just in case Celebi was about to materialize and tell him off, then got started. "Okay, so... first off, not only have I time travelled before but I'm actually in the middle of one right now..."
By the time Ash finished the short version, Ritchie was nodding along.
"Okay," he said. "Not surprised, somehow – better you than me."
"You're perhaps the first person who hasn't either panicked or had to have a long sit down," Brock said. "Or at least spent a long time coming to terms with it."
Ritchie shrugged. "Yeah, but I've gone back in time twice since coming to Hoenn, so I'm kind of ready for this by now."
"I guess that makes sense," Ash agreed.
He looked over at where Lucario and Cid were enjoying themselves – which, to the untrained observer, would look like they were trying to see which could hit the other hard enough to cause concussion. "At least they're having fun."
Ritchie shrugged. "Yeah, that's a good sign – oh, yeah, almost forgot. Have you done any of Mauville, Petalburg or Rustboro yet? They're my next choices."
"All of them – twice," Ash said, glad for the change of subject. "Norman's actually the toughest, I think – he's really good at using some of the cool things Normal types can do."
Ritchie nodded. "I guess that makes sense... I mean, Arceus is a Normal-type."
"I'm really glad he didn't use Arceus in my gym match," Ash agreed. "Not that he could, but... still."
Pikachu looked contemplative.
"No, you can't challenge him to a fight," Ash said.
"What?" Pikachu asked, as his evolved counterpart chuckled. "I wasn't even thinking about it. Much..."
He shook his head. "More seriously, I'm pretty sure he'd just meteorite me."
"Thank goodness, some realism," Ash sighed.
Ritchie held up his hand to hide a snigger.
"Are you sure this won't mess up your schedule?" Brock asked. "I mean, you've still got more gyms to go than us..."
"It'll be fine," Ritchie replied, with a wave of his hand. "I've got Zippo to make sure I can finish the region on time."
"I guess that works," May admitted. "How does he feel about the whole thing?"
"Mostly okay," Ritchie said. "I mean, he grumbles, but I think that's what Charizard just do."
"No argument here," Ash agreed. "Mine is kind of snippy sometimes... hey, let him fight Flannery by himself or something, that might calm him down."
"I'll remember that," Ritchie agreed. "So, what have you caught recently?"
Ash counted under his breath. "...it might take a while. When was the last time you heard what I had?"
"I saw your League challenge," Ritchie told him.
"Okay, so just the Hoenn Pokémon... well, there's Sceptile, for a start. And I also got a Goomy traded across from Kalos – he's a Sliggoo now."
"Oh, I've heard of them," Ritchie agreed. "Don't they evolve in rain?"
"I don't know," Ash admitted.
"Well, maybe you should have had him training about an hour ago, there was a sudden rainstorm..."
Ash laughed, a bit nervously. "Uh, yeah... about that..."
"Oh, right," Ritchie realized, smiling. "Don't worry, I didn't get that wet. And it did get rid of the fog, I nearly fell off the path earlier!"
"Why do so few people teach their Pokémon Defog?" Brock asked.
"Brock?" May asked sweetly. "Does Flygon have it?"
"...ask me again next week," Brock said hurriedly.
"Does this town have a gym?" Ritchie asked, glancing up as they entered. "I mean, if it does, maybe I'll give it a go..."
"I don't think it does," Max replied. "It looks kind of small. It does have a contest, though."
"How'd you know?" Ritchie asked.
Max pointed out the giant poster. "I worked it out."
Ritchie blinked. "Huh, I had completely missed that..."
"It says you need a ribbon to take part," May told them, indicating the 'R1' on the poster. "I guess they don't want anyone who's just not experienced."
"Seems a bit unfair," Ritchie said. "I mean, gyms don't do that."
"Dad did," Max shrugged. "Well, kind of."
"You mean he scheduled his renovation to be when you could challenge him first-time," May corrected. "That was mostly to keep Ash out of the building."
"Hey, I didn't break it," Ash protested.
"Yeah, you didn't – but you did kind of destroy that poor playground."
"Lucario helped fix it," Ash said weakly.
Any further retaliation from May was drowned out by a gasp of surprise.
"Look!" someone said. "It's them!"
"Uh-" Ritchie began, and then half-a-dozen women swarmed the group.
"It's so nice to meet you!" said one, shaking the hand of a startled May.
"And you as well, Max Maple!" another told Max.
"Uh... who are you?" Ritchie asked, blinking.
"We're the Mothers For Pokémon!" said the apparent leader. "We absolutely love talented, promising, handsome young trainers!"
Ash blinked. "Uh..."
"So, tell us about your father," said the one who'd accosted May.
As both Max and May were bombarded with questions about Norman, Ritchie glanced over at his friend. "How come they're not going after you, Ash?"
"Ash isn't promising, he's insane," the group leader told them tartly. "We're staying out of the blast radius."
"A wise choice," Absol noted.
Ash glanced down. "Not you as well..."
"I consider it important to remind you not to break anything," she said. "There are so many breakable things around. Rocks, trees... Mauville..."
Before her trainer could reply, she went on. "How many times have you encountered an enormous flying machine that wasn't shot down or wrecked by the time you left?"
Ash drew a blank.
"...so I was thinking perhaps something with a nautical theme," came a voice from behind them.
May looked up. "Wait, did Pikachu run off somewhere?"
"Nope!" Pikachu said, waving from Ash's shoulder. "But – actually, who is that?"
He glanced at Sparky, who shrugged.
"But you gotta ask," said a much more familiar voice. "How's dat gonna work ta be recognizable? Are ya gonna dress as a sailor?"
"I was thinking more pirate... pirates are fun."
"Is that Meowth?" Brock asked.
A few seconds later, both Meowth and the Pokémon he was talking to walked around the corner – followed by James, who was carrying an armful of costumes.
"Meowth?" Ash asked. "Who's... wait, you've not gone back to going after Pikachu again, have you?"
"That's what I'll do!" the Pikachu said, waving her heart-tipped tail. "A thief! Complete with big swag-bag!"
She blinked, shaking her head. "Wait, do you know these people?"
"Yeah, ya could say dat," Meowth agreed. "Dis is Ash, an' his friends. Guys, dis is our new friend Pikachu."
"I can see this getting confusing," Pikachu opined.
Sparky chuckled.
"It's nice to meet you both," the female Pikachu said, nodding to Ash's Pikachu and to Sparky. "It's been a while since I've met another 'chu."
"Pleased to meet you, then," Pikachu said. "How'd you meet Team Rocket?"
"Oh, that's simple!" the cosplaying Pikachu told them. "You see, Wallace trained me for a bit, and then he decided that an up-and-coming Contest goer should take over training me! And he picked Jessie, after her performance a couple of days ago – and it's been great so far! James has so many costumes!"
"Yeah, we've seen some of them," Pikachu agreed. "You know he once disguised himself as my trainer? Successfully..."
Sparky blinked. "But... your trainer's much shorter. And doesn't have long blue hair."
"They're kind of good at disguises," Pikachu summarized.
"I know!" the female one said. "Oh – have you heard about when he disguised himself as Moltres? She said it saved her from being captured – it was really impressive, I've seen the costume..."
She shook her head. "Anyway! Well, I was trying to decide what I should wear for tomorrow's contest, and I've got a few ideas. Do you think I should go with the pirate outfit, the thief one – or perhaps..."
Pikachu frowned. "What is it?"
She leaned closer, putting her paw to her mouth for a moment, and rubbed at his cheeks.
"Hey!" Ash's Pikachu complained, pushing her away with his tail. "That's not-"
"They're not makeup!" she said, unfazed. "Wow... okay, I know what I'm going to do tomorrow!"
Turning on her heel, she called out. "Hey, Meowth! We need to get some blue fabric – and paint – and a paste jewel, about the size of my paw – oh, yeah, and a wooden rod as well, about two thirds of my height!"
Pikachu and Sparky exchanged glances as she hurried off.
"Well, at least she's enthusiastic," Pikachu said with a sigh.
AN:
I'm all about the surprises lately.
