"Hey, Ash, look!" Brock said, pointing.
"What?" Ash asked. "That's just Oak's ranch."
"No, look!" Brock stressed. "It's always good luck for you to see Ho-Oh before your next journey!"
Ash blinked, then shot Brock a look. "Brock..."
Pikachu chuckled.
"Traitor," Ash said, laughing.
Below them, in the distance as they walked down into Pallet, they could just about see Ho-Oh – hunched over, wings folded, and occasionally pecking at something.
"I guess it's dinner time," May concluded. "Good thing too, I was getting hungry."
"Actually, it doesn't look like it is," Max said, checking the time. "No, I think Ho-Oh must just be having a mid-afternoon snack or something."
"It's dinner time if I say it is," May declared.
"I don't think it works like that," Blaziken said, one hand forming a fist under his chin as he walked.
"Shush, you'll ruin it for me!" May told him.
"It doesn't seem like a very good plan if it's that easy to ruin."
"Whatever," May shrugged, waving a hand. "Never mind."
"Yeah, we should get to the labs," Brock agreed. "I mean, there's some Pokémon waiting there."
"Yeah!" Ash smiled.
"Looks like they've seen us," Max added, pointing. "Look."
As they watched, Ho-Oh's wings spread, and he launched himself into the air – the bushes near him billowing outwards. Then he looked back at where he'd taken off, circled around and landed again.
"I think he just blew over his meal," Lucario observed. "We should probably leave him to it."
"Ah, Ash," Professor Oak said, standing back from the door. "Brock, it's good to see you – and I'm not sure if I've met May or Max face to face this time around."
"This time travel thing can get really confusing," Tracey said, from inside.
"Yeah, we've had a lot of those conversations," Ash nodded. "It's good to be back, even if it's only for a day or two."
"You could have turned up a week ago if you'd come here after the Meteorite Incident," Oak pointed out. "But then, it's your choice."
"I think we needed the time on the beach," Brock said. "It was very relaxing, and it was long enough that we're raring to go!"
"Yeah!" Max agreed. "I'm ready for the Indigo League!"
"That's the spirit!" Professor Oak agreed, as Ash headed past him into the main room.
What greeted him, when he opened the door, was a group of perhaps a dozen Pokémon – none of them Pokémon who'd been at Shamouti over the past week, but all of them familiar.
"Hi, guys!" he said, waving, and caught Molly's Eevee as she jumped for his arms. "Oof – yeah, it's great to see you all too!"
He let Eevee down as she switched to Leafeon, and shook his head. "I don't even know how some of you got here!"
"Transceivers," Butterfree explained sagely.
Not for all of us, Mewtwo added. I just teleport.
"Yeah," Keldeo agreed. "I can't be here long – I mean, it's kind of night time back home – but I wanted to say hi without it being over the phone."
"Thanks for the thought, Keldeo," Ash said, with a smile. "It's great to see you all."
"It's great to see you too!" Molly said, hurrying in behind Sylveon. "I didn't know you'd arrived yet!"
"I only just did," Ash said, giving her a quick hug. "Everything okay here?"
"Yep!" Molly nodded. "Even Squirtle's not done too much damage!"
"Maybe he's ill," Brock suggested. "Afternoon, Molly."
"Hi, Brock!" Molly waved. "Oh – sorry, but I don't think I'll be doing the Indigo League as my first League, so I won't get to use your Boulder Badge just yet."
"That's not a problem at all," Brock told her. "Some people just earn badges without ever going to a League – just for the challenge, sometimes!"
May nodded. "That's me. Oh – what League are you going to do, then?"
"I'm going to do the Sinnoh League!" Molly announced. "Gary said he'd show me around Sinnoh!"
"I'm sure you'll have a great time there," Tracey said. "Don't forget to call home regularly, too!"
"I won't forget," Molly promised. "Oh – sorry, I should introduce myself. I'm Molly Hale, nice to meet you!"
"May Maple," May said, nodding to her. "This is my brother, Max."
Max shook her hand. "Nice to meet you."
Flareon rubbed against his legs, and he petted her. "This is your Eevee, right?"
"That's her!" Molly agreed.
"I guess that's one way to answer the question of which Eevee evolution is best," Max said.
"It's Glaceon, surely?" May asked.
"I don't know about that..." Brock shrugged. "I think it depends on the attitude of the Pokémon what fits them best."
"Ah, May?" Professor Oak said. "Damos and I are fairly certain we identified the Squirtle you got last time. Are you ready for us to sort that out?"
"Right," May agreed. "Sorry, I got a bit distracted… and yeah, I think that's fine. Let's get that sorted out."
Ash lowered his arm, and Butterfree took off as he did – fluttering up to a perch on the wall.
"That's new," Pikachu said, pointing to it.
We've started installing them, Damos told him. It's easier than having Flying Pokémon rest on lamp posts or cushions, now that long conversations are easier.
"That's pretty cool," Ash said. "But how do you handle Pokémon like Pidgeot?"
With outdoors perches, or sometimes just rugs.
Brock chuckled. "I might send Crobat out, actually…"
"Just make sure no-one has to use my horn as a perch," Keldeo said, looking up at his forehead with eyes crossed. "It's a bit small."
"I don't think that would work as a perch for anything larger than a Joltik," May observed.
"You'd be surprised what's tried."
There was a yawn from Max's backpack.
Sorry, I was asleep… Jirachi said, poking his head out of the bag and shaking it with a jingle of tags. ...oh, hi Keldeo!
"Hello, Jirachi," Keldeo said, with a nod. "I'm not sure we got the chance to talk last time we were on the same island. How's your travels with Max been so far?"
Great! Jirachi enthused. I'm really looking forward to Kanto, it's going to be really good fun!
"You know, Ash, I don't think I asked," May began. "When you remind someone… how does that make sense? I mean..."
She shook her head. "Obviously you don't remember everything they do."
"Yeah, but… it's something to do with my Aura, I think," Ash replied. "I really don't understand the details – Sir Aaron was focusing on other things – but it's to do with my having a connection with people, and if I have enough of a connection… it's kind of like my Aura remembers what theirs was like."
He shook his head. "These words really don't make sense for that."
"You're right, they don't," May agreed.
"Okay, here we are," Tracey called. "Here you go, May."
He passed her a Pokéball, and she sent the Pokémon out with a flash.
"Hi?" Squirtle said, a little uncertainly. "Um – Tracey said that someone wanted to train me. Is that you?"
There was a pause.
"Why isn't Damos translating?" Squirtle asked.
Oh, wait, sorry, Damos apologized. I sometimes forget who can understand which Pokémon.
"It can get confusing," Ash volunteered.
"So what did she say?" May asked.
"Oh, she was asking if it was you that wanted to train her," Ash supplied.
"Thank you… and yes, that's right," May agreed, crouching down. "I'm not sure how much you've gathered about why Ash can speak to Pokémon, though."
"It's Aura, that is the extent of my knowledge," Squirtle told her.
"The short version is that time travel is involved," Tracey said, after glancing at the screen. "The long version is… long, and might take longer than we have before Keldeo and the others have to go home."
"That makes sense, I guess," Squirtle agreed, thinking. "So… time travel – does that mean I used to be your Pokémon?"
She shuffled her feet. "I'm not sure I feel comfortable with that idea – I mean, you knew me, but I've never met you until now."
"Actually, you're lucky there," Ash said. "May and I were just talking about how we don't really understand how it works, but I can sort of… remind you of the future, and I know that sounds stupid."
"So you mean… how I will develop? My future self?" Squirtle asked, then shook her head. "No, that's not the right word, is it? It's not possible for this conversation to have happened last time."
You're getting the gist of it better than most do, Damos stated. Including Ash.
Pikachu snorted. "That sounds about right."
Ash decided to ignore that byplay. "Yes, it's how it would have gone without time travel. Well..." he frowned. "Without that time travel, that is. There's other time travel too."
Squirtle nodded. "Okay. How do we do this?"
Ash offered his hand, which flashed blue with Aura for a moment – then subsided, leaving wisps of blue light hissing quietly off it. "I use Aura – it's pretty quick."
Squirtle reached out and took his hand – then there was a flash of white light, and she evolved. Growing taller, a pair of fins forming, and her tail developing a second curl to it.
"...okay, that feels odd," she said, reaching up to her head. "I remember meeting you twice, May?"
"I can understand you now!" May gasped. "How does that work? Ash?"
Ash shrugged. "Sorry."
Actually, it seems like it is partly a function of familiarity. If I am correct, Ash, you were able to speak to Pokémon you knew before Pokémon you could not?
"That's right," Ash said, thinking. "Yeah, I guess that could be it – Aura's affected by emotions, and here it's been changed by the amount of time May and Wartortle spent together. I'm pretty sure the result of that is better resonance, so the meaning comes across more accurately – it's a lot like how people get to know what their Pokémon's saying, sort of, only a lot faster."
"...this is Ash, right?" Wartortle checked. "I didn't know he'd heard of resonance."
"This time travel has given us all surprises," Pikachu told her.
"There's something more important to discuss," Lucario pointed out. "Every Squirtle, Wartortle and Blastoise we know has a thing. What's yours?"
Wartortle looked away. "I don't have a thing. That's just a stereotype – we're not all otaku."
"I'm sure," Lucario said, not sounding sure.
"I seem to recall Wartortle had a thing," Pikachu said. "Don't you?"
"No," Wartortle replied. "You must be mistaken."
"Oh, I should introduce you to my Pokémon," May suggested, reaching for her belt.
"I've already met them… I think?" Wartortle frowned. "I'm pretty sure I remember meeting them."
"Yeah, you met most of them," May confirmed, counting back through her team. "But – I'm pretty sure you haven't met Altaria or Grumpig, and Ethan's kind of new as well."
"...well, I'm learning a lot of new things today," Wartortle said. "What next?"
Glaceon emerged from her Pokéball, and tapped Wartortle on the nose. "Nice to see you, Wartortle."
May giggled at the sandbagged expression on Wartortle's face. "Yeah, that one's even more complicated than normal..."
"I'm fairly sure you shouldn't be on the team yet," Wartortle said hesitantly. "That's right, isn't it?"
Glaceon licked her own paw, then waved her tail. "You're right, don't worry. Basically, Drew's Leafeon is my mother."
"Drew doesn't have a Leafeon and your mother's a Flareon," Wartortle countered.
"Time travel," May said, then sat down. "Don't worry, Wartortle – I know, it can be a bit overwhelming sometimes. But you'll soon be up to speed."
"Nice to meet you!" Altaria said.
Wartortle didn't jump at the voice from behind her. "It's nice to meet you, too," she said, turning. "What's that – wait, is that a-"
She stopped, frowning. "Wait, I remember Mega Stones, but from only one version of my time here at the lab..."
"Yeah, it's an Altarianite!" Altaria said, flaring his wings. "It's pretty neat, I think – we only got it working right at the Hoenn Grand Festival."
"That's pretty cool," Wartortle admitted, poking Altaria's fuzzy wings. "Okay, so you're Altaria. May, did you mention a Grumpig as well?"
"Yeah, I'll send him out," May replied. "Just a sec..."
"I just thought," Keldeo said suddenly. "How many Pokémon had Ash caught by the time we met in Unova? And… if he keeps catching more Pokémon like he did in Kanto, Johto and Hoenn, then how many Pokémon is he going to have by then?"
"It's not a problem, is it?" Lapras asked.
He glanced over at Mewtwo. "Thanks for the water bubble, by the way."
My pleasure.
"No, it's not a problem, of course it's not!" Keldeo said, shaking his head. "I just think the reunions might get so large they'll need hall rental. Should I start researching good venues in Unova?"
Actually, that has some potential, Mewtwo said, stroking his chin. AshCon, the convention for Pokémon and humans who Ash Ketchum has befriended.
He paused. We may need to rent Crown City.
"You okay, Max?" Brock asked.
"Yeah, why?" Max replied, looking up at the older trainer. "Do I look upset?"
"Not really," Brock said, sitting down. "Just uncertain."
Max frowned, then nodded. "Yeah, I guess I am… but it's not a bad feeling, just one where I'm not sure what to think."
His hand drifted down to his belt for a moment, then came up again. "Basically, I'm wondering about the Pokémon I might be getting… I've not even still decided for sure if I do want to get one."
Cinder licked him on the back of the neck.
"Gah!" Max yelped, nearly falling over. "Warn me before you do that, Cinder!"
"Why?" Cinder asked, sniggering. "That was much funnier than if I'd warned you."
She rolled her neck. "Besides, the point I wanted to get across was that you're probably more worried about this than you need to be."
As Cinder padded around to Max's front, her trainer reached up to scratch her neck. "I guess you're right… I'm just not sure what to think."
"About what?" Cinder asked. "Are you worried you might not be a good trainer, are you not sure which Pokémon you'd prefer, or what?"
"...I'm not sure I can put it into words easily," Max said.
"Let me try," Brock suggested. "You don't know if picking a starter Pokémon like this might make it as if your previous Pokémon didn't count, somehow."
Max frowned, not immediately objecting to that description. "Well, I guess… maybe?"
"Silly," Cinder said, stepping on his foot – gently. "How many times has Ash picked up a starter in a lab?"
"Only once this time," Brock said.
"Quiet, you're not helping," Cinder scolded. "I've looked at the list of Pokémon he would get, he had one from the lab in both Sinnoh and Unova."
"I'm pretty sure Turtwig was wild," Brock said. "But Cinder's right – getting a Pokémon from a lab doesn't make your earlier Pokémon somehownot official."
"I guess," Max nodded. "Okay, you've made your point."
"I do that," Cinder said. "Besides, when you're anxious you smell worse."
"...that's a thing?" Max said, blushing. "You can smell how I feel?"
"I can smell how everyone feels," the Mightyena replied. "Also, what everyone had for breakfast, though I don't always recognize what I smell."
"That might explain why Ninetales was a bit stand-offish yesterday," Brock mused. "I knew those banana-cocoa pancakes were a bad idea."
Cinder made a face.
"Any idea when Misty's going to get here?" Ash asked. "And – should I sort Azurill out before then?"
Tracey shrugged. "Don't know, I'm afraid. She doesn't have a long distance travel Pokémon, but she said something about borrowing one – I think she was running late, too."
"Right," Ash mused. "Okay, so we don't know when she's going to turn up… Marill, what's your opinion?"
"Well… I think it couldn't hurt to remind Azurill now," Marill decided. "He's quite a mild Pokémon, so he should cope well."
"Sounds good enough for me," Ash said.
There was a clatter behind them, and the three of them looked to see what was going on – which turned out to be the decidedly odd image of Ivysaur and Venusaur working together to hoist a Tauros into the air.
"Stampedes are fine, but look where you're going!" Ivysaur admonished.
"Primeape was steering," Tauros excused himself.
"I thought you were," Primeape protested, swinging down from Tauros' back.
"I can see we're going to need to have the talk about assumptions again," Ivysaur sighed.
"I'm sure that'll sort itself out," Tracey shrugged. "Okay, Ash, I guess you've got the go-ahead."
"Right," Ash agreed, and opened the top of the incubator. He reached in, lifting the egg out, and put it carefully on the table.
"I'm half surprised it hasn't happened already," Marill said. "Is something wrong?"
"I've been able to turn it on or off for a while," Ash told her. "I'm just not doing it for now – okay, here we go."
His palms flickered, and a moment later the egg glowed white.
After a few seconds, Azurill was left standing there – just where his egg had been. He looked around, confused, then beamed. "Oh, hi mom!"
"Welcome back, Azurill," Marill smiled. "Now, this is quite a long story."
"I was up there for the past week, Mom," Azurill said, waving at the empty incubator. "It was kind of confusing, but now I can see it's just like all those stories Misty told me."
"That was relatively painless," Tracey observed, taking a few steps to reach one of the bookshelves. He drew out a sketchbook, flipped past several pages of drawings, and took a pencil from his pocket.
"Oh, another sketch?" Marill asked. "That would be nice. What's this one going to be?"
"You two, of course," Tracey answered. "Don't worry about posing, I want to draw something from life."
"Can you do two?" Azurill asked. "It'd be nice to have something to remind me of Mom when I'm back in-" he paused. "Wait, it's not Cerulean, is it? So it won't be anywhere I've been before."
A Dragonite has just landed outside, Damos informed them. I think we know where Misty borrowed her Pokémon from.
"I'll get the door," May volunteered.
She opened it, just as Misty was about to knock. "Hi, Misty – Damos let us know you'd arrived."
"That's pretty cool," Misty said, lowering her hand. "Yeah, I had to borrow a Dragonite from Lance – I was planning to ask Will for a teleport, but he's on a trip to Sinnoh."
Dragonite waved.
"I'll go and get him sorted out," Professor Oak said, passing May and Misty. "You enjoy the reunion."
"Thanks, Professor!" Tracey called. "I'm pretty sure that would have been my job otherwise."
"Misty!" Azurill announced, waving. "Hi! Oh, can you understand me?"
"I can, actually," Misty said, reaching out her hand for him to run up. "Long time, no see..."
"For you, yeah, I guess," Azurill said. "For me it wasn't very long. But I heard you're an Elite Four member now?"
That's correct, Golduck agreed. Hello.
Azurill waved. "New Pokémon?"
No, just evolved, Golduck said. The new Pokémon are Chinchou, Kabutops and Milotic – Misty brought Kabutops, but the others are back home.
"Right," Azurill said. "Okay, I'll look forward to it!"
"Well, that's Dragonite sorted out," Professor Oak said, coming back in and brushing his hands off. "Fortunately Gary doesn't need mine any more, so they're having a conversation about some Dragon type thing or other."
He looked around, and spotted Max. "Aha – Max, I heard you were interested in getting a starter Pokémon here?"
"Kind of, yeah," Max agreed.
"Well, then," the Professor nodded, stepping behind a desk to get three Pokéballs. "You know the normal choice – you can pick between Squirtle, Bulbasaur, or Charmander."
"Or Chikorita," Meganium said.
"What's that?" Oak asked, then looked at Damos' screen. "Or Chikorita, yes-"
He stopped. "Pardon?"
"Or Chikorita," Meganium repeated.
"What do you mean, Chikorita?" Max asked. "I didn't know Professor Oak had Chikorita as a starter."
"He doesn't," Sceptile said, walking over. "This isn't an offer from Professor Oak, it's one from us."
There was silence for a few seconds.
"What!?" Pikachu asked.
"What do you mean, what?" Ivysaur asked. "It's been pretty obvious they'd decided for the past month and a half."
"What's been obvious – wait, seriously?" Pikachu blinked. "Okay, let's try this again, this time remembering that I'm hardly ever here!"
"Anything interesting going on?" Arbok asked.
Marowak shrugged. "Not really. I think everything's in flux a bit after that whole near-disaster, so the Boss is waiting to see where we might be useful."
Arbok nodded, hood flaring, and scratched the inside of it with his tail. "Perhaps I should catch up on my reading..."
"Okay, so, it wasn't really a kind of 'sudden realization'," Sceptile said, tail waving back and forth a little. "It was more that we sort of… worked out that we didn't just enjoy one another's company in a platonic way, and that made us ask ourselves what it was – and, once we were thinking like that, it seemed..."
"...obvious," Meganium finished.
She tossed her head. "Of course, thinking back over all the times people had said it was obvious we were an item, when we weren't at the time – that helped, actually. It made us confident that… well, that we did have feelings for one another."
"Didn't you meet that Meganium last time, Sceptile?" Ash asked, thinking hard. "Was it kind of like that?"
"Not really, no," Sceptile said, shaking his head. "With her, I had a crush – I looked at her and decided I was in love, but I… well, maybe I was, but it didn't really last. It was all about how she looked, and how I felt at the time."
"That's quite a mature attitude," Brock said.
"Brock, it's more mature than you used to be," May pointed out – keeping up using Damos' translation.
"It's hard to describe," Meganium summarized. "But I imagine everyone else thought it was something they didn't need to let you know."
"Why would everyone think that?" Pikachu asked.
"I thought it would be something that you would just think was likely," said Houndoom.
"I forgot you're hardly ever here," Ivysaur volunteered.
"I'm with Ash all the time too," Lucario pointed out.
"I didn't notice!" Raikou said proudly.
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," Pikachu muttered. "Okay, so – fine, I guess I could have missed it."
He threw up his paws. "Just – someone tell me next time? Or am I going to find out next week that Absol's going on dates with Keldeo?"
"That would be quite hard," Lucario pointed out. "What with their being in different continents."
"Like that would stop two determined Pokémon," Pikachu said, then let it go. "Okay, sorry about that – it just shocked me, that's all."
"No, it's fine," Max replied. "It's given me time to think about it, I mean – wow."
He spread his hands. "It's kind of a big responsibility… but I feel like it'd be wrong to say no."
"Don't think like that," Meganium said. "If you make a decision like this because you feel you should, or you must, or it would be impolite to refuse… then you're not making the decision for the right reason. This isn't a request, or an order… it's an offer."
"Honestly, we're sort of guessing on this one," Sceptile supplied. "If our egg had hatched back at home… well, to be honest I'm not sure how they'd handle a Chikorita, but if they were a Treecko then they'd be raised by my family. And… well, to me it seems as though either here on the ranch or with you, Max – and May, and Ash for the next several months – is a family."
"That's a nice way of putting it," May said, one hand running along Altaria's neck – scratching, so he let out a musical purr. "Is that why you say it's just an option for Max, not for any other trainer?"
"Yes, that's right."
Max sat down, thinking.
"I'm… really not sure," he admitted. "I mean, it's kind of something I'd like to discuss with the Pokémon first – and I know that's hard because your egg is, uh, an egg..."
Sceptile and Meganium exchanged a glance.
"That would make this hard, yes," Sceptile admitted.
"Professor?" Ash asked. "Does Max have to pick a starter now – can he wait? Or, uh, is it possible to pick one now and then decide on another one later?"
"I think I know what you're suggesting," Oak nodded. "And – really, it'll be up to the parents if their offer is still open in a few months."
"That's actually quite a sensible choice," Tracey mused.
"Yeah, I think I like that idea," Max agreed. "Sorry if that's offended you, I guess..."
"Of course we're not offended," Meganium assured him.
"I am," Sceptile said, then raised his hands. "Okay, I was joking..."
"You've got to admit," Bulbasaur said, looking aside at Squirtle. "This is a pretty unusual situation by any standard."
"Yeah, it is," Squirtle agreed. "It's kind of like that bit where the heroes have their last few hours together, before they have to split up and go their separate ways."
"What series is that?" Bulbasaur asked her. "I think your description was too generic."
"Generic?" Squirtle repeated, shocked.
"Guys?" Charmander requested. "Not the time."
Squirtle subsided. "Fine… I guess you're right. It isn't really the time to get into arguments."
Bulbasaur poked her with a vine. "Hey, don't be too gloomy either. This is going to be a pretty cool experience for one of us, right?"
"Yeah, it is," Charmander agreed, waving her tail and leaving a little trail of fire. "It's kind of a pity we can't all go – but, then, that wouldn't let us grow up, would it?"
She looked out the window. "And when we meet again, later in life, we'll all have some great stories to tell."
The Grass-type chuckled, bringing his vines back. "You're right there, Charmander. One way or another, this isn't going to be boring."
There was a click as the door opened.
"Ah, hello," the Professor said, smiling at them. "Sorry to keep you three waiting."
"Hi!" Squirtle waved. "I guess it's time?"
The Professor checked his pad for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, that's right – it's time. If it's okay, he'd like to interview you all before deciding."
Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander exchanged glances, then nodded.
"That's fine," Charmander said, electing herself spokesmon for her fellows.
"The way I tend to meet Pokémon is… not really the normal way, I think," Max said, looking from one Pokémon to another. "I caught Arc and Delta by battling them – kind of, for Arc – but for the rest it's been more like having a conversation. So… that seemed like a good idea."
"Actually, that's something I hadn't thought of," Bulbasaur mused. "If we went with most trainers, they wouldn't actually be able to understand us."
"I've heard that Dr. Akihabara is working on better Porygon translation services," Charmander volunteered. "Damos mentioned it a week or so ago."
"Does that mean you can understand us?" Bulbasaur asked, then shook his head. "No, come to think of it – you're using that Porygon, aren't you?"
"Yeah, this is Kris," Max nodded. "She's actually the first Pokémon I had, though it's kind of… complicated..."
"It seems pretty simple to me," Squirtle shrugged, waving her tail. "Clearly you're the main character, and that's your helpful companion who does the exposition. They sometimes count and sometimes don't, and they usually don't count towards the party limit."
"What Pokémon do you have?" Bulbasaur requested. "I know you're having trouble working out what to ask, so perhaps we should ask some questions and that way we can all get to know one another."
"That does sound like a good idea," Max agreed. "Okay, so – Kris is my Porygon, Arc is a Manectric. I've got Guy, he's a Breloom, and Cinder who's a Mightyena."
"This is actually a pretty cool sounding team," Bulbasaur opined.
Thanks, Kris replied. I hope I am one of the ones designated cool.
"Delta's a Mantine, so he's pretty big," Max went on. "And the next team member I got was Jirachi – he doesn't have a nickname."
"Jirachi?" Squirtle repeated. "Oh, that's pretty cool – so he's the immensely powerful but naive one you're showing the world?"
Actually, that sounds pretty accurate, Jirachi agreed. I keep finding new flavours of sandwich I did not know existed!
Charmander laughed.
"That's six," Bulbasaur said. "So – does that mean that's your full team?"
"I've also got a Shuppet called Casper and a Ralts called Roland," Max finished the list. "So I've got a couple more than the normal six, but not much more."
"Okay, that's interesting," Charmander mused. "Where do your Pokémon stay when they're not with you?"
"So far a lot of them have been taking time off to visit friends or relatives," Max supplied. "Well, Roland, Casper and Cinder do."
"That's something you can do?" the Fire-type asked. "That's actually very helpful."
"Yeah," Max agreed, smiling. "Yeah, it's made it a lot easier for me to feel okay with Pokémon who have family joining my team – and, I guess, one of you three, since you're friends."
"Yes, we are," Bulbasaur said, exchanging a glance with his two fellows.
"What kind of trainer are you?" Squirtle asked. "Are you the kind who does a slice of life thing, just travelling through the world and running into fun things, or are you the kind with an adventurous life?"
"Squirtle, he travels with Ash Ketchum," Charmander pointed out. "You know, the guy whose Pokémon keep causing havoc on the ranch?"
"Oh, yeah, good point..."
"Well, I'm not really sure what a good word for me would be," Max said, thinking about it hard. "I mean, I tend not to challenge Pokémon to capture them – Delta's the main exception – but I certainly do the gym challenge. And… well, I really value my Pokémon as friends, too."
"That's a good attitude, I think," Bulbasaur nodded approvingly. "Don't you guys think so?"
"Of course," Squirtle said. "It's well known that friends fight better – that's the whole point of the power of the heart."
Charmander tapped her clawed foot on the ground, thinking.
"So, I think we should sum up," she said. "Firstly – do any of us think anything so far is a deal breaker?"
Squirtle and Bulbasaur shook their heads.
"Right," she went on. "Now – Max, if you had to name something which you think would be the biggest problem for us, if we became your Pokémon, what would it be?"
Max frowned, thinking. "I guess..."
He stopped, giving it some more contemplation, then went on. "I think one of them is that we do kind of get into a lot of odd situations. Like… the space thing, and the Groudon and Kyogre thing, and the Deoxys thing..."
"That… might be a deal breaker for me, I'm afraid," Bulbasaur said. "No offence, but… it sounds a bit more dangerous than I'm really comfortable with."
"I don't think I agree," Charmander replied, thinking. "I mean, it's all about experiences, isn't it?"
"I guess," Bulbasaur nodded. "But I think I'd rather have experiences which involve being in the firing line of fewer Legendary Pokémon."
Squirtle looked contemplative. "You know, those Legendary Beasts the Professor studies aren't as violent as some Legendary Pokémon are supposed to be. I guess they're the good versions?"
I think I'm a good version, Jirachi mused. But I'm not sure what a nasty Jirachi would do. Grant wishes in the wrong way?
"...actually, that sounds pretty scary," Max said, with a wince.
Squirtle and Charmander exchanged a look.
"Janken?" Charmander asked.
"No need," Squirtle replied. "I'm sure I'll find a great trainer – but you've always been the adventurous one. This is your call to adventure!"
Max chuckled. "I guess that sounds like you've come to a decision without me!"
"Is that alright?" Charmander asked. "I don't want to impose, I mean..."
"No, it sounds fine," Max assured her. "Though this does mean I need to think of a good nickname for you, unless you'd rather not have one."
"Call her Superflame!" Squirtle suggested.
"That sounds silly, and you're silly," Charmander retorted, sticking her tongue out.
"You know, it occurs to me..." Lucario mused. "If we actually stay on schedule this time, we might be able to visit the Rota tourney. Which would be quite a good thing, hint hint Ash."
"Okay, I get it," Ash said, shaking his head. "You'd think I forgot it three years in a row."
"I'm just making sure you don't forget it three years in a row."
"Actually, that's going to be interesting," Brock added. "I don't think May or Max have met Aaron's Lucario this time – he's actually quite pleasant when he's not trying to punch Ash."
"That reminds me," Ash said. "Lucario – please don't punch me at Rota, I've been punched there by two Lucario and I don't want to make it three."
"But we're still going to spar, right?" Lucario asked innocently.
Ash knocked on the door. "Hi, Mom!"
Mimey opened the door. "Ash, welcome back! I'm afraid Delia went out on an errand, so she might be a while."
"...that sucks," Ash sighed. "Okay, I guess we both kind of got our timing wrong."
"Come in anyway," Mimey invited. "I'm not sure how long she'll be, but – well, it is your house."
He turned to the others. "Not you. You will make my nicely mopped floor dirty."
"That seems unfair," Brock said.
"Fine, then. But take your shoes off."
"It feels kind of odd to be here, actually," Ash said, as Mimey passed around some drinks. "I know it's home, but I'm usually here for only a week at most before I go off to a new region – I think the only real exception was when I was training here before the Indigo Conference, but the other Leagues are too far away to do that."
"I know the feeling, Ash," Brock nodded, then turned to the Maples for a moment. "And – well, you two had nearly a year at home before joining us in Hoenn, this time, but for Ash it's been..."
He counted under his breath. "...nine years? Close to that?"
"It's Ash," Pikachu volunteered, looking up from his cocoa. "I'm pretty sure he can't just stay in one place, or if he decided to try then… well, he'd have to live up a mountain or something."
"Why would I have to live up a mountain?" Ash asked. "Aaron didn't live up a mountain."
"And I'm pretty sure you get into more trouble than Aaron did," Pikachu retorted. "Imagine what insurance would be like living near you for all those poor other people!"
Brock chuckled.
There was a click from the door.
"Mom?" Ash asked, getting up.
"Ash!" Delia replied, giving him a hug. "Oh, it's wonderful to see you!"
She took a step back. "But what did I tell you about getting into trouble?"
"Trouble comes to me, Mom," Ash said. "Pikachu was just saying that, actually."
"I know," Delia admitted, with a sigh. "And – well, I am proud of you."
She looked up at the sky for a moment. "When you were up there… Samuel told me about it. And you were saving everyone in the world. That's scary for me to think about, as a parent, but at the same time… it's just hard to describe."
Ash hugged her again. "I don't try to make you scared, Mom. I'm trying to keep the world safe for you – and for all my friends, too."
"I know," his mother said. "Really I do. But… sometimes it can be hard to accept that."
She broke free of the embrace. "Oh, dear… this must look terribly embarrassing to our guests..."
"No, I think we understand pretty well," May assured her.
"Yeah," Max agreed. "May and I had a lot of talks with Mom and Dad back in Hoenn about what we were going to do – obviously some of it's been kind of unexpected, though."
"But Dad said that, basically, he'd rather know we were doing what we loved," May took the thread back up. "And it does feel good to help people out – and kind of cool, too."
Lucario nodded, stoic and calm. "It is sort of the Lucario culture."
"Oh, that's right," Delia said, nodding to herself, and reached into a pocket to get out a small box. "I was just getting this for you, Ash."
"You were?" Ash asked, taking the box – the by now familiar jewellery box that custom badges came in. "But… I didn't win the Ever Grande conference, they cancelled it."
"I know," Delia agreed. "But I'd already ordered the badge… and, well, take a look."
Ash did so, opening the front, and blinked. "How does this mean..."
May peeked over his shoulder. "Ash – why do you have a comet badge?"
"Comet!" Brock said. "Ash, that's not a League badge – I think that's a saving-the-world badge!"
Ash looked from the badge to his mother, then back again. "Mom, that's… thanks, that really helps me feel okay about what I do, actually."
His mother nodded, eyes a little damp. "I thought it would help you remember that I worry about your safety – but I don't think you should stop what you're doing. It's too much a part of you for that."
"Thanks, Mom," Ash told her, blinking back a few tears himself. "I – yeah, thanks."
"So..." Charmander said, looking at Pikachu for guidance. "Is this normal?"
"Not normal, per se," Pikachu replied, waving his paw. "But I'm not surprised. Really, this group is quite good for getting rid of a startle reflex."
I'm not sure if this was in my plot notes.
"Well," Aaron replied, paws glowing blue as he got ready for another sprint, "If you didn't want us to give our pursuers the slip by going over a lava flow, you shouldn't have included lava flows. Okay, Palkia – now!"
Palkia fired a spray of water, which washed over the surface of the red-hot lava and produced a massive cloud of steam. Sir Aaron waited until the hissing had stopped, leaving a moderately solid path over the molten rock, then ran hard for the other side before the pressure of the flow made it break up again.
Skidding to a halt, he turned to face the two team members still on the side nearest town. "Dialga, you're going to have to come across some time."
"Yes, I am," Dialga agreed. "And I will select that time, because time's sort of my job!"
"You're still Dragon type as well as Steel," Giratina said. "It's not that bad. Just slow time and run over while Palkia's rock bridge is still there."
"At least we've got time to argue," Palkia added. "I think we might have shaken our pursuers."
You haven't shaken them,, they know where you are, Arceus stated. It's just that they're not going to follow you into an active volcano!
"Then they're not a very good angry mob," Giratina opined.
Fine, fine, I'll write in someone for you to meet who's actually willing to live near an active volcano…
AN:
So, plenty of reminding and conversations about it. There's Wartortle and Azurill, and also the occasional visit by people we've met before.
Oh, also, I guess there's a thing with Meganium or something?
A nickname hasn't been picked yet for Max's new Pokémon. Hopefully I made all the choices interesting.
Also, here's an omake. It did not necessarily happen or not.
Ho-Oh looked down at the ruined plate of sushi, and sighed deeply.
"Not again," he said to himself, shaking his beak. "I always forget how light these are."
A rustle caught his attention, and he looked - seeing three dozen neatly arranged avocado sushi rolls in a pile on a plate.
"Excellent," he said, half-unfurling his wings as he got up, and walked over to take a bite.
Then something fell down around him - a large rope net, with weights all around the base.
"Got him!" Molly's voice came. "Espeon, can you write that down?"
"Of course!" Espeon confirmed. "Ho-Oh... love... sushi."
"In retrospect, I deserve this," Ho-Oh said to himself.
