"I remember this being harder," Piplup mused, looking at Dawn's new Pokétch to make sure it was as he remembered it. "Wasn't there something with a clown, a city-wide shortage of Pokétches, and… oh, right, that was Team Rocket."

"Yeah, it actually feels kind of odd," Dawn agreed. "It's been days without them showing up, and normally that means they're just preparing something huge..."

Shrugging it off, she checked the apps on her Pokétch. "So that's the Pokémon status one, that's the drawing one…"

"Excuse me?" Rockruff yipped, drawing the attention of both humans – though only Brock could understand her. "Was someone talking about food?"

"You mean earlier?" Brock checked. "The milkshake? That's actually a drink – but I'm sure you can try one when we go to the shop."

"Will I like it?"

"Let's find that out when we get there," Piplup suggested.

"Shouldn't someone wait at the Pokémon Centre for Ash and Max?" Dawn said. "I don't want to just go off without them."

"We could leave one of the Pokémon, if they don't want to have a milkshake," Brock frowned. "Anyone volunteering?"

As they considered that, two blurs passed overhead.

"Or we could wait until they just show up out of nowhere," Brock added. "That seems much better."

Latias and Latios came back to hover overhead, then dropped smoothly out of the sky.

"You're making aircraft look really bad when you do that," Dawn said. "Most of them can't take off like that, and most of the ones which can can't fly that fast."

"We're just that cool, I guess," Latias squeaked/'pathed. "How did it go?"

Dawn showed off her Pokétch.

"...should that be impressive?" Latias blinked. "I don't actually know why you were here."

"I'm here to get my Pokétch and compete in a Contest," Dawn clarified. "So that's half done. What about you guys?"

"I've got my eighth Kanto badge!" Max reported proudly. "It was a pretty tricky fight, we had to out-think Blaine, but we did!"

"Well done, then," Brock told Max. "Blaine's a tricky opponent, you can't just rely on type advantages against him."

"Yeah, Delta had trouble," Max agreed. "Fortunately I didn't really offer any good targets for a Solarbeam."

"So now you can go and do the Indigo League when it's on, right?" Dawn nodded to herself. "Well, good luck! I guess you'll want to train as much as possible before you go?"

"Well, yeah, I want to make sure all the problems we spotted are either sorted out or at least… less problem-y… before going to the League," Max said. "Oh, though, that does remind me – Deoxys actually turned up. You know, the one I accidentally caught?"

"Yeah, you mentioned," Dawn agreed. "How did that work out?"

"Pretty well, I think," Max replied. "He decided he'd like to watch some more battles, so I gave him one of those transceivers so he can come to the Indigo League."

They all looked over at Ash, who seemed to be having a bit of trouble with people asking for autographs.

"I wonder why that's happening this time," Max mused. "It doesn't normally."

"Maybe appearing out of the sky on a psychic dragon Legendary makes people notice?" Latias suggested. "So, what now?"

"I think Buneary's been waiting for her milkshake for too long," Dawn decided. "It looks like Latios is stuck with Ash. You can help them find us when we reach the shop, right?"

"Yep!" Latias agreed with a giggle.


"So, apparently this is a single Pokémon appeal," Dawn began. "What do you guys think?"

She looked along the line of her Pokémon, from Piplup to Mamoswine – though Togekiss was away, handling the Royal Duties half of her shared career.

"Anyone want to give it a go?"

"Well, I'm not going to," Quilava huffed, with a head-shake. "I'm still hurt by Piplup's comments on trams."

"They're the urban equivalent of a gimmick scooter and you know it," Piplup shot back.

"What about you, Buneary?" Dawn asked.

"Well… maybe," Buneary frowned. "I think I'd rather leave it a bit, I think that routine with Ambipom with the ice balls is a winner."

Ambipom nodded, taking a sip from her milkshake – a thick, cold one with peanut butter ice cream as a base.

"Mamoswine?" Piplup asked.

Mamoswine rumbled.

"He'd rather not," Buneary supplied. "His latest solo trick isn't ready for prime time yet."

"That means me, then," Piplup decided. "Well, I suppose I'll have to..."

"You don't have to," Dawn assured him. "But if you're okay with it, I think that'd be good. We've had the most time to work out something new and unique, anyway."

Piplup nodded his assent.

"How's the milkshake, by the way?"

"It needs to melt a bit," Piplup judged.

"What kind of penguin are you?" Quilava asked.

"The kind who doesn't like trams, apparently," Buneary chuckled.

They all looked up as Ash came into the shop, followed by Lucario and a floating Pikachu.

The Pikachu in question ran along nothing, took a flying leap, and landed on Ash's shoulder as he reached the counter – which made Dawn realize that the nothing was actually Latios, just invisible.

"Hey!" Latias called. "Brother – try the cinnamon one, it's great!"

Mamoswine rumbled something.

"He's wondering if that's going to end up called the CinnamEon Surprise," Buneary relayed.


"This is going to be pretty odd," Max mused, as they sat in the Contest Hall seats. "I'm pretty used to watching these, but it's always because May's in the Contest – not Dawn, I think I might have seen her once..."

He shook his head. "Anyway – I wonder how she'll be different."

"See if you can spot any differences," Brock suggested. "Try and work out how May would do it."

"I'm… not sure that will help," Max admitted. "I'm not really very good at working out that kind of thing at the best of times."

They looked up as the first contestant came out, a girl with bright red-orange hair.

"Isn't that Zoey?" Brock said. "Ash, is she..."

Ash looked at Brock for a moment, confused, then realized what he meant and closed one eye to look. "No," he answered. "I don't know why Drew was and she's not."

There was a flash of smoke as Zoey sent out her Pokémon and a slightly excessive number of smoke seals went off at once, and for a long moment the smoke cloud just hung there – not moving in the slightest. Then three long, wicked, shadowy claws cut through it as Zoey's Glameow used her Shadow Claw move, slicing the smoke apart and seeming to burst through into the air with her tail drawing the smoke out behind her.

Flicking the long tail around her, Glameow coiled it briefly before springing high into the air. That gave her the height to pounce into the still-lingering smoke cloud, and another blur of Shadow Claws sliced it to indistinct ribbons which boiled away in all directions.

Before the smoke had quite dissipated, however, Glameow flicked her tail around again – drawing it all together into a dust-devil, then sending it darting high into the air to fall apart as it approached the ceiling.

"That's interesting," Corona commented, leaning on the back of the seat in front. "I wonder if there's a way for me to control a smokescreen like that. One of the things my fighting style does need is a way to hide a little better."

"Sounds like a plan," Max agreed, as Zoey and Glameow gave bows and walked off – replaced by an older coordinator, a man who sent out a very sleek-looking Rapidash.


"Here we go," Dawn whispered, and stepped out onto the stage.

Her dress felt comfortable, familiar, as she wore it for the second first time, and she listened to the announcers telling everyone who she was.

"Please can everyone give a warm welcome to Dawn Berlitz!" Marian told the crowd. "She's a newcomer to Pokémon Contests, so let's hope her first performance with us today is a big splash!"

Smiling a little, Dawn threw her Pokéball.

When Piplup emerged, he detonated two Splash Seals on his Pokéball, and there was a laugh from the audience as Marian's prediction came true in an unexpected way.

"Whirlpools!" Dawn told him, and her Water-type did a pirouette – whipping up the water falling all around him, and adding more of his own into a well-practiced whirlpool.

After a few seconds, he stopped with his flippers out to either side – cutting the whirlpool off at the base, but leaving the rest of it to keep going with the rotational energy he'd put into it. Diving forwards and sliding for a moment on his belly, Piplup moved to the other side of the arena and started up a second whirlpool.

This one built up faster, reaching full speed before the first one had begun to really lose energy, and Piplup darted over to start a third one off to the side of the first two.

Once that was going, he stopped himself from giving it energy and began to swim instead, and was promptly spat out at high speed towards the first whirlpool he'd created as it began to fall apart.

Spending a few seconds to stabilize it, he jumped from that one to the second, then to the third, back to the second – darting from one to the next at increasing speed, and steering them towards one another so they met in the middle of the arena.

For several seconds, Piplup vanished entirely inside the clashing and barely-controlled waterspouts. Then there was a flash of purple energy as he unleashed his Bide, and he mixed in an Ice Beam to freeze the whole collection just as the chaotic Whirlpools finally fell apart completely.

After a few nervous seconds as both Dawn and Piplup tried to look like they were confident the whole thing wouldn't just shatter from the stress, they relaxed and Piplup struck a pose.

"Well!" Marian said, deeply impressed. "That's quite a debut performance! Everyone put your hands together for Dawn and Piplup!"

"What do you know," Piplup said, as Dawn picked him up and they bowed to the crowd. "It didn't explode this time."

"Most contest routines are meant to explode," Dawn replied quietly. "But the ones that aren't supposed to are rarely helped when it happens anyway..."


"Home again, home again, juggitey jug," Latias squeaked.

"What?" Latios asked, as they passed over the invisible line that was the Altomare city limits and began to dive. "What does that mean?"

"I heard someone say it when they got home, once," Latias replied.

They plunged into the water, invisible and as smooth as silk, and began navigating the waterways of their home. Other swimming Pokémon moved to the side as they went past, used by now to the occasional high-speed freak wave, and they continued to talk. Are you sure that's what they said?

It was a while ago, Latias admitted. But I'm pretty sure it was close. I don't know what a jug has to do with getting home, though.

Maybe it's so you can have a drink after a long journey? Latios suggested. And saying juggitey jug is because you're feeling really affectionate towards it?

I don't know… Latias shook her head, and then they were through the underwater hole in the wall and rising into the secret garden.

Dropping their stealth in unison, the brother and sister duo emerged into the air – to be met by Lugia, who was lying on the path and drumming his wing on the grass.

"Hi, Lugia!" Latias waved. "How are you?"

"Well..." Lugia began, stopped, then shook his head and chuckled. "I realized not long after you left that I'd not really thought the whole thing through."

"Why's that?" Latios asked, curious.

"Well, you two can patrol the city," Lugia said. "You can swim underwater, go invisible, take on human form and hide that way, and of course the garden is built for you to fit in."

He spread his wings, indicating the Secret Garden. "I'm a bit too big. And I don't fit down that entrance/exit into the canals – or the canals, really – and if I took wing and left the garden I'd be totally obvious instantly."

The mental image drew a giggle from both dragons, not just Latias, and Lugia smiled a little.

"So I've been sitting here for the past few hours," he finished. "The Soul Dew is safe, by the way."

"Poor Lugia," Latias sighed extravagantly. "What were you going to do if someone did come after the Soul Dew?"

"Be very grateful something interesting was happening," Lugia replied with a chuckle. "Then, depending on how I felt and how powerful they were, either use psychic powers to lift them into the air and hold them in place or just use Aeroblast."

They turned to look at the shrine holding the Soul Dew.

"...isn't there a lot of houses behind that?"

"No, I worked out where there's just a canal," Lugia replied. "I've not had a lot to do but look at this old tourism map. Next time I'm bringing a book."


"So, what do you think of Dawn so far?" Brock asked.

"I'm not sure, really," Max admitted. "It's kind of hard to tell. I've been looking, but I've only seen a couple of battle rounds and one appeal round – so I'm not sure what's a Dawn thing and what's a Piplup thing."

"Yeah, I can understand that," Brock agreed.

He looked down at Rockruff. "What do you think of this whole thing?"

"It's very interesting!" Rockruff told him earnestly. "It's kind of like battling but without really battling? Or is that a silly way to describe it?"

"I don't think it's a silly way," Brock assured her. "Though I think the important thing about it might not be whether or not it's 'really' battling but what your priority is – you're still trying to defeat your opponent, it's just that showiness is a way of doing it even if your opponent's more powerful."

Rockruff nodded, absorbing that.

"It looks like Dawn is going onto the battle area again," she observed, pointing. "And the girl with the cat Pokémon – the Glameow?"

"Zoey," Brock supplied. "We actually knew her pretty well – she's a good person."

He chuckled. "I suppose it's a good sign they're meeting in the final."


"You're doing really well, especially as it's your first Contest," Zoey said, giving Dawn a nod. "But I think you might have trouble with my Glameow – she's a bit more subtle than your opponents so far."

"Yeah, the guy with the Rapidash was a bit odd," Dawn agreed. She glanced up at the scoreboard, to be sure they hadn't started counting yet, then nodded back.

"Begin!" the announcer announced, and both Coordinators sent out their Pokémon.

Almost as soon as he appeared, Piplup launched into a spin – conjuring a quick Whirlpool around himself, hiding him from Glameow.

"Peel that whirlpool!" Zoey instructed, and Glameow darted forwards. Tail lashing, she manifested her Shadow Claws and swiped at the water with care.

The claws punctured a hole in the envelope keeping the water moving, and it sprayed outwards – something Glameow had been ready for, as she jumped to avoid it.

What she wasn't ready for, however, was that Piplup had already left his own whirlpool to avoid being caught. Using it to catapult him into the air, he did a forwards flip before landing in the puddle he'd left and using Peck.

The elongated spear-tip of his beak flicked out at Glameow, and she retreated before using Iron Tail and fighting back – manipulating her tail as though it were a steel whip, with long flourishes to catch the eye between impacts. They clashed two or three times in quick succession, then Piplup offered an opening and took a blow to the side of the beak from Glameow's tail-whip.

"Whirlpool!" Dawn called, and Piplup used the momentum of the impact to make him spin faster – converting the power of Glameow's attack into a boost to his own, and whipping up a quick waterspout to block Glameow's next attack.

The feline Pokémon took a step back, glancing at her trainer, and Zoe frowned.

"Okay…" she muttered, thinking for a second, then nodded sharply. "Bounce and then use Iron Tail!"

Glameow's tail coiled up like a spring, and she launched herself sharply into the air. The force of the push sent her halfway to the roof, and she activated her Iron Tail again on the way down.

Piplup wasn't sticking to a simple Whirlpool, however. Before Glameow reached the apex of her jump, he wove an Ice Beam into his routine – containing it so it remained a blue glow in the core of the whirlpool, until when Glameow drove her Iron Tail into the attack it just released all the ice energy at once.

Tail suddenly trapped by the instantly-frozen and still-spinning vortex, Glameow was spun around one and a half turns before the ice broke and sent her skidding across the room.

"Oh, and that's a very impressive trick!" Marian commented. "And without Dawn having to tell Piplup a thing – one thing's for sure, that's a sign of plenty of training!"

Glameow rolled back to her paws, and she and her trainer both looked up at the score counter – showing that the two of them were coming off decidedly second best points-wise.

"Glameow, let's change our approach," Zoey decided. "Use Shadow Claw on your tail!"

Glameow's tail coiled up so she could reach it more easily, and she flicked her ghostly Shadow Claws along it as it turned to the silver-shine of Iron Tail. The combination held only for a moment, at first, but then Glameow began to spin her tail around more and gather the charge into a useful form.

"Now!" Zoey called suddenly, and Glameow charged forwards. Her tail continued spiralling around, building up the ghostly energy inside it more and more as it went faster and faster, and she reached attack range of Piplup before flicking the whole combination around like a whip aimed directly at Piplup.

"Peck!" Dawn countered, and Piplup did so. He took Glameow's tail in his beak as it came at him, enduring the power of her attack as it fizzled and sparked all around him, then used Whirlpool – with such force that it dragged the startled feline into the spiral, winding her up before catapulting her outwards and up into the air.

Still in the middle of his spin, Piplup used Bubblebeam – his bubbles picking up some of the lingering Ghost-type energy in the area, and bombarding Glameow in a series of smoky bursts which didn't add to the damage of the Bubblebeam itself but certainly made it look more impressive.

Glameow hit the floor with a wet splat, jumped to her feet, and tripped over her own tail before falling back to the floor again.

"Glameow?" Zoey called, worried.

After a few seconds, Marian called it. "As Glameow is no longer able to battle, the victory goes to Dawn Berlitz!"

Before the crowd had really started cheering, however, Dawn was already offering Zoey her hand to shake.

"That was a good match," she said, as Zoey took it. "Really."

"I'm glad you think so," Zoey replied, wincing. "It didn't feel very good from this side…"

"No, really," Dawn stressed. "Look… there's something I'd really like to talk to you about – do you mind if I meet you in the Pokémon Centre in a few minutes?"

"Well – sure," Zoey agreed. "I'll have to go there anyway for Glameow, so it's no problem for me."

She waved Dawn towards Marian. "Now, go on – you won that ribbon fair and square! You only get your first ribbon once, so go ahead and enjoy it!"


A few minutes later, Zoey handed over her bedraggled Glameow to the local Joy.

"How bad is it?" she asked, anxious, and the Joy ran her scanner over the Normal-type before giving her a smile.

"Don't worry," she said first. "Your Glameow's fine, she's just a bit tired. She'll be right as rain before long – shouldn't be more than twenty minutes. You can wait by the front desk, or I'll call you on the intercom when she's ready otherwise."

"Thank you," Zoey relaxed. "I know Pokémon can take a lot, but..."

"Your Glameow would have to be much worse off before I'd be worried," the Joy assured her. "Her pride, on the other hand..."

That drew a chuckle from the coordinator, but then there was the sound of the door to the Pokémon centre opening and she looked around – seeing her erstwhile opponent coming in, along with a few friends.

One of them looked familiar-

"Is that Ash Ketchum!?" the Joy asked suddenly, startled. "I… hope he's not as bad for the scenery as the rumours say, we just redecorated..."


"So," Zoey began, once they were in one of the side rooms. "You wanted to say something?"

"Yeah," Dawn agreed. "It's kind of going to sound a bit odd, but – I know you. And I mean as a friend."

Zoey lifted a hand with finger upraised, paused, then lowered it again.

"I was going to ask how," she informed them. "But I'm pretty sure you're going to tell me, or there'd be no point having the conversation to begin with."

"It's kind of a big thing," Dawn agreed. "Basically, time travel – I knew you, and then we went back in time."

Dawn shook her head. "Still sounds strange to say it out loud, I know… but there's a way we can prove it to you."

"I'm still stuck on the time travel," Zoey admitted. "Why would you possibly need to do that? Or did you need to?"

"It was kind of accidental, in a way," Ash supplied. "The world ended, and I got sent back in time to save it – everyone else sort of came along for the ride."

Zoey winced. "Ouch… so you're literally trying to save the world, huh?"

She looked down for a moment, then back up at Dawn. "So… I guess that means that wasn't your first Ribbon?"

"No," Dawn admitted. "But we did both take part in this Contest last time, and you won it. So… sorry?"

"I don't think you need to apologize," Zoey shrugged, waving it off. "It's just like if you'd had extra experience first – I certainly didn't go easy on you, you earned that ribbon."

Dawn smiled, and Zoey smiled slightly too on seeing her reaction.

"So… how far did you come from?" Zoey asked. "You don't look very old."

"It's kind of complicated," Ash supplied. "We're as old as we should be, we just… remember last time. Dawn picked up her memories less than a year ago, but I've been back for more than three years."

"And I wanted you to know, because you were my friend," Dawn explained. "And because I think Ash should be able to do the same thing with you-"

"Dawn," Ash interrupted.

Dawn looked back. "Huh?"

"I can't," Ash told her. "She's not remindable – I don't know why."

"Seriously?" Dawn demanded. "Why not? Paul was remindable!"

"Paul?" Zoey asked.

"He's kind of a jerk who Ash battled a lot last time," Dawn explained. "But – I mean… okay, something's wrong here. Are you sure-"

"Pretty sure," Ash answered. "I've always been able to tell who I can do it to, and she doesn't show up."

"Can you try anyway?" Dawn asked. "Maybe it's different for Zoey – I mean, if you don't mind?"

Zoey thought about it.

"If you're not sure if you can do this time-travel thing to me, then you certainly can't do my Glameow," she said, carefully. "Do I forget anything if you do?"

"No," Dawn told her. "When it happened with me, it was like I remembered two versions of everything from the moment Ash came back in time and started changing things. Some of it was the same, so that's just normal, but I remember both versions of the things that were different."

"Like the Fairy type?" Max asked. "Lucky you – I got reminded before it existed, so I had to do all that stuff as extra revision."

"The… Fairy type?" Zoey asked carefully. "What do you mean, before it existed?"

"Yeah, uh..." Ash chuckled. "We've kind of changed a lot of things over the past few years… last time around there were only seventeen types."

"Well, then, go ahead," Zoey decided. "I'm always interested in making new friends, and apparently I made some where I can skip the simple bit!"

Dawn smiled, then Ash took Zoey's hand and focused.

"...sorry, I don't think it worked," Zoey told them, a few seconds later. "I don't feel any different."

"Right," Dawn said. "Ash, I think we need to get this sorted out. The Lake guardians are connected to this, right? What's the best way to contact them?"


"So, what's this called?" Azelf asked.

"This is known as a mai tai," Uxie said, passing them over to Mesprit and Azelf. "They like them here."

"Interesting," Mesprit muttered, taking a sip. "Fruit flavour. Large quantity of sugar. Highly alcoholic."

The Emotion Pokémon looked up. "Would recommend not overindulging. Meeting is supposed to be for handling important issues."

"Which there aren't, not at the moment," Azelf shrugged. "We should probably make sure we can teleport home, though."

There was a bright flash next to them, and all three Lake Guardians looked around – seeing a group of familiar humans, with one extra, and Mewtwo hovering an inch or two off the ground.

"Okay, maybe there are some issues," Azelf admitted.

"What brings you here?" Uxie asked, focusing on Ash, Brock, Dawn and Max. "Is there a problem? I am not aware of any."

"Those are the lake guardians," said the new human, in an amazed voice. "You just phoned up Mewtwo to get him to teleport us to the Lake Guardians."

She looked around, only now noticing the long, sandy beach and the palm trees and the brilliant cerulean surf rolling in from a sun-drenched sea. "And… where are we?"

"It looks like somewhere in the south Pacific," Brock said.

"Never mind that now," Dawn interrupted. "Didn't you guys say you had something to do with when Ash reminds people?"

"Yes. Not primary function, subsidiary, mostly Uxie." Mesprit's tails flicked out to the side, then back down. "Agitation. Interesting. What is the nature of your metaphysical emergency?"

"Zoey can't be reminded," she told them.

"Clarify, please. Is this unexpected?"

"Unexpected?" Dawn repeated. "Yes, it is! Paul could be reminded – but Zoey was one of my closest friends, one of Ash's closest friends in Sinnoh, and… it doesn't make any sense that it wouldn't work for her."

"That sounds..." Uxie began, then stopped for a moment.

"What?" Azelf pressed. "What is it, Uxie?"

"Do you remember when we first realized something had gone wrong with time?" Uxie asked them. "How much work it was to make it so Ash could handle more than just a few people, and keep the memories going in storage for so long?"

"Of course," Mesprit agreed. "Was good work if I do say so myself. Very satisfying."

Azelf's tails went still for a moment. "Wait, now I remember too. Wasn't it his childhood friend?"

"Yes!" Uxie confirmed. "It was almost exactly the same!"

"You mean Gary?" Ash said, baffled. "But I did remind him! It worked just fine!"

"Actually, that has been something I didn't understand," Brock volunteered. "Why did you only remind him when you met him at the P1 Grand Prix?"

"That was the first time I met him again," Ash replied. "I didn't before then because I didn't know it was possible."

"But you knew it was possible for Misty," Pikachu pointed out.

"Yeah, because..." Ash's voice trailed off slowly. "Because I saw her in Aura Sight. But I should have seen Gary too, and he didn't show up."

"Right," Pikachu agreed. "Something is up."

"And you didn't manage to remind any of his Pokémon," Brock added. "You managed some of Max's Pokémon, but none of Gary's, even though you knew Gary for a lot longer."

"Gary Oak was a particularly difficult subject to sort out," Mesprit informed them. "Reason unsure. No obvious cause forthcoming."

"I don't follow half of this," Zoey apologized. "But… does this mean you could get me sorted out with this?"

"Unknown," Mesprit answered.

"But we're going to try!" Azelf added. "We'll do our best to help out!"


"Hmmm..." Uxie pondered. "I remember how we did this last time, but it was a bit fiddly."

The Lake Guardian frowned. "Actually, it might be a bit easier this time because Ash is actually here."

"What do I need to do?" Ash asked, sitting down cross-legged. "Is it going to be hard?"

"Well, that depends how you view it," Uxie replied. "Right, Mesprit?"

"Not my department. Ask Azelf."

"Yeah, this is kind of a willpower thing," Azelf agreed, floating forwards and giving Ash a small bow. "But it actually involves all three of us, and that might not be enough..."

"Does it involve me?" Zoey asked nervously. "I've heard about the kind of things Ash gets into."

"This will probably not involve space, large explosions or more than six Legendary Pokémon," Uxie told her.

"Six?" Zoey repeated. "Why six?"

"There's four here already, we might need Celebi, and Max has one as well," Azelf supplied. "Okay, Ash, let's do this. You know how to meditate, right?"

Ash put his hands on his knees, closed his eyes, and began to concentrate. Breathing deeply and evenly, a faint glow flickering around the tops of his fingers.

"I think that's a yes," Max said.

"Good," Mesprit told Ash. "Concentrate. You knew Zoey? Helpful. Focus on your friendship."

"Think about everything you knew about her," Uxie added. "All the details, from the large to the small. Try and bring that all together."

"Form a gestalt," Mesprit took up the thread. "A single idea. Not the moments but the person, everything about them."

"And only on that," Azelf stressed. "Make sure that's the only thing you have in your mind – the only picture."

Slowly, the three Legendary Pokémon raised their tails. Mesprit and Uxie drifted forwards, taking up positions just behind Ash's shoulders, then turned and joined their tails with Azelf to form a continuous ring.

"Found by emotion," Mesprit began.

"Recorded in memory," Uxie continued.

"Recalled by willpower," Azelf concluded.

Red light chased around the circle for a moment, then faded into a ringing silence.

Uxie coughed. "Jirachi?"

Jirachi looked up from a half-finished ice cream. "What?"

"We all wish that Zoey's memories can be returned to her," Uxie informed him.

Jirachi's third eye opened in surprise, and then his tags lit up as well. The circle formed by the three Lake Guardians shone a brilliant white, and when it faded the three of them drooped towards the floor. Ash was suddenly panting, red-faced as if he'd run a marathon, and Jirachi nearly dropped his ice cream.

Also, Celebi was hovering there.

"Don't do that again!" she chided. "It took me fourteen tries to get it to work without you all screwing something important up!"

"I don't remember that happening last time," Uxie muttered.

"That's because last time you had me there helping from the beginning, and it was an easier one to begin with," Celebi informed the Lake Guardians crossly.

With that, she vanished.

Ash reached out his hand to Zoey, tired but triumphant, and after a moment's hesitation she took it.

Then she gasped.

"Are you okay?" Dawn asked.

"I – yeah, but..." Zoey began automatically, then stopped and shook her head. "Not really," she amended. "I was… this is so weird… I know why we're here, but at the same time it feels like it was just a few seconds ago I was trying to save you three."

"You mean… us?" Azelf asked. "That… I did not expect in the slightest."

Brock looked up from checking to see if Uxie was all right. "You were right there when it was all happening?"

"Someone was… I think they were using the Lake Guardians to try and capture Dialga and Palkia," Zoey said, closing her eyes to help her remember. "There's someone… who I didn't recognize then, but I think it was that guy who was in the news for discovering Mega Evolutions – he was there with me, and I was trying to help but they beat him and-"

Zoey stopped, and swallowed.

"Sorry," she said. "It was really scary..."

"Do you mean Gary Oak?" Uxie asked.

"Yes, that's him," Zoey agreed.

"That's… very odd," Azelf mused. "We had trouble bringing back Gary's memories, and we had much more trouble with Zoey. And they were both near where all this actually happened."

The Being of Emotion floated up to Zoey. "Must apologize for causing distress. But must know. Where exactly were you?"

"I was..." Zoey frowned. "I was trying to break… Uxie out of these weird glass containers. Gallade and Leafeon and Glameow, they were all trying to protect me, but they were being beaten and-"

She stopped. "What about my Pokémon? Can you do the same thing with them?"

"I… don't think so," Ash said, shaking his head. "It was really hard to do you – it felt like I really had to drag them up, not like it is with everyone else. I can't remember how hard it was with Gary, but I couldn't manage any of his Pokémon either."

Zoey blinked fast, one hand going to her eye to wipe away a tear. "Then..."

She sighed. "I guess you did warn me… but it's not your fault. And I know my Pokémon better now, even if they don't know me. I just… will I get the same ones?"

"Yes," Mesprit told her bluntly. "Will ask Celebi to make sure of it. She will not mind."

The Coordinator let out a relieved sigh. "Well… thank you, then."

She turned to Dawn. "And… thank you for all of this, too. You're a good friend – three of you are good friends, and I'm sure Max will be too."

"I'm… actually not in Sinnoh for very long," Max warned her.

"...I'm not sure how to react to that," Zoey admitted. "I hope we get along anyway?"

"Sounds good to me," Max agreed.

Are you done? Mewtwo asked, making them jump. I mainly ask because I'd quite like to try the drinks, but I'm unwilling to drunk-teleport so I'll get you back to where you were before I try some.

"I don't think we've got anything else to do here," Dawn began, then corrected herself. "Well, there is one thing."

She crouched down to the three tired Lake Guardians.

"Thank you, all of you," she said sincerely. "I know it was a lot of work, but… well, thank you. I didn't want to miss out on a friend like that."

"Our pleasure. Metaphorically and literally, though not physically," Mesprit told her.

Azelf looked over at the table. "I think I'd like one of those My Ties now. I feel like we've earned it..."


"Ah, there you are," Nurse Joy smiled. "Your Glameow is just fine now."

She lifted the feline Normal-type to the countertop, and Glameow balanced herself finely for a moment before reaching out to Zoey.

The Coordinator took her starter Pokémon in both arms, giving her a hug. "Thank you."

"It's not a problem at all," Joy said brightly. "Please, come again any time!"

Zoey walked away a few paces, waiting until she was far enough not to be overheard, then gave Glameow another squeeze.

"I've got so much to tell you..." she said, half-laughing. "And it's going to sound so bizarre..."

Glameow wiggled about a bit, getting a paw free, then used her trainer's arm as a support to give her a look.

"So that girl with the Piplup, she's a time traveller." Zoey chuckled at the look on Glameow's face – quizzical and faintly disbelieving. "So are her friends – you know, Ash Ketchum and his friends. And you've got to admit, they're odd enough."

Seeing she wasn't convincing Glameow yet, Zoey went on. "And – and they did something, so now I remember what happened as well. So I might be a bit… off… until I get used to it, because I remember lots of things you don't and several companions you've never met. But I'll do my best."

She rubbed her chin against Glameow's own. "So just be patient with me, okay?"

Glameow was still for several seconds, tail twitching idly, then nodded.

She yowled something, and Zoey wasn't sure what it meant – but it sounded a bit familiar, from all the times they'd been planning contests in the past.

"You're going to listen to me because I'm the one with the food?" she asked, laughing when Glameow gave her a slightly surprised nod. "Well, you'd better remember it!"

Letting Glameow down, she smiled – then shook her head. "Wow, Gallade would have loved that conversation..."

Glameow asked a question, tail flicking up for a moment, and Zoey spread her hands. "Sorry – we met him, or will meet him, in a few months."

Her other Pokéball opened, and a wisp of smoke with a bead necklace let out a loud yawn – then tilted her head. "Miiis~?"

"Were you asleep the whole time, Misdreavus?" Zoey asked, and got a nod. "Okay, I'll go over it again in a bit."

She pointed. "But first – we're going to have to work on some new routines! I've got lots of new ideas, and I'm going to make sure I live up to Dawn's promise!"


"Reporting for duty, Boss!" Jessie reported, standing straight.

"We're ready for our next assignment," James added.

"Or, ya know whatever you got for us, sir," Meowth finished.

Giovanni looked up, and nodded slightly. "Be seated."

The trio sat down in one of Giovanni's plush sofas, and waited.

Eventually, Giovanni finished his papers and put them away.

"What do you know about Sinnoh?" he asked.

"Uh… it's kinda cold?" Meowth suggested.

"It's where the world was created," Jessie volunteered. "Or, well, the world was created everywhere, but-"

"How was the world created everywhere?" James interrupted. "I'm not sure-"

"Anyways!" Meowth said loudly. "So, uh, Sinnoh. Up north place. Lots'a legends."

Persian rolled his eyes.

"That will do to begin with," Giovanni told them, after several seconds. "We do not have any organizations there that are directly linked to Team Rocket, just a few subsidiary operations. Or we did."

"Boss?" Jessie asked.

"Two months ago, the local head of operations in Canalave City stopped paying his dues. I sent Cassidy and… the other one… to investigate, but they found nothing."

He gave them all a look. "Nothing. No sign of the local head of operations. Going by the reports, no sign of organized operations in the city at all."

"Tough new police guy?" Meowth suggested. "Maybe dey got some cop on da edge to come in an'-"

Persian shifted slightly, and Meowth shut up.

"I find this highly suspicious," Giovanni noted. "Crime does not just stop, and people do not get away with breaking faith with Team Rocket."

He looked down for a moment, then back up. "Find out what happened. If the head of Canalave operations has gone into hiding, dig him out of his hole and bring him here to make his excuses. If someone else has moved in, find out who. And if this is something serious, help the Interpol investigation."

James raised a hand. "Uh… Boss? What do we do if there's no Interpol investigation to help?"

"I'm sure you can come up with a way to make sure there's an Interpol investigation," Giovanni said, smiling thinly. "You have your orders."


"Hmmm..." Keldeo said to himself, inspecting the tourist map of Opelucid City. "Now, where did Cobalion say they'd be..."

He tapped a hoof absently, looking from place to place. "They said they'd come up here from Striaton, but was it going to be today or tomorrow… wait, I remember, it was the Moor of Icirrus!"

The Water-type glanced up at the sun. "I might need to get a move on..."

Turning, he began to canter through the street – drawing more than a few gasps as the people of the city recognized a Legendary Pokémon going past wearing a billed cap and two saddlebags.

It was nice to be able to run, and Keldeo settled down to an easy rhythm – his hooves striking the solid road as he ran west, towards the road which led to Tubeline Bridge.

As he went past one of the side roads, however, someone came out of it in a rush – nearly running into him, and making him skid to a halt in a clatter of hooves. There was a thump and a muffled ow from the person who'd come close to running him down, as they tried to come to a quick halt and fell over.

"Are you all right?" he asked, turning to look – and stopped.

"Iris!?"

"Yeah, wha-" Iris began, then froze halfway through picking up her bags of shopping. A bottle of steel polish rolled away, before Keldeo stopped it with a hoof.

Slowly, Iris looked up.

"You're a Keldeo, right?" she asked, then her gaze flicked up to the hat. "Wait, you're not just a Keldeo, you're Ash's Keldeo!"

She gave him a puzzled look. "How do you know my name?"

"That's… kind of a long story," Keldeo admitted. "But, now I think about it, you should probably hear it. It's going to be pretty important – look, is there somewhere we can talk?"

Iris finished picking up her shopping, and stood up. "I… think we can probably ask Drayden for the loan of the Opelucid Gym," she said. "If he's there, anyway."

"That sounds like a good idea," Keldeo agreed, then whistled. "Pidove, excuse me?"

One of the Pidove circling overhead came down, hovered for a moment, and landed in front of Keldeo. "Um… yes?"

"Can you take a message for me to the Moor of Icirrus?" Keldeo asked. "If there's a Cobalion, a Virizion and a Terrakion there, can you let them know I might be a bit late? Say it's the same kind of thing that happened with me at Mount Quena."

Twisting his neck, he pulled a bag of poffins out of one of his saddlebags. "You can have one of these for your trouble."

Pidove nodded eagerly, and repeated the message before taking a Poffin and flying off.

"Okay, lead on," Keldeo said.

"I… didn't know that was something Pokémon did," Iris admitted. "I've never heard of it."

"I sort of came up with it right then," Keldeo told her. "It seemed to make sense… uh, which way's Opelucid Gym?"

"Right!" Iris remembered. "Okay, it's this way…"

As they set off, Iris glanced back at Keldeo. "You are Ash's Keldeo, right? What's that like?"

"Ash is a dear friend and a true companion," Keldeo replied. "He helped me discover my true strength as a Sword of Justice, and anyone who has helped me with that is a friend."


AN:


So, that's Dawn's second first Contest, as well as dealing with Zoey.

Both were interesting to write, and there may just be a bit of Myth Arc in there...

Also, I guess there's some stuff at various other places. Probably mostly unimportant.

(Oh, and in case you were wondering, the Rapidash belongs to someone from Vermillion City in the original games...)

Thank you all for your kind words on the family issue. It's still ongoing, I'm afraid, but hopefully it'll resolve itself in the next few weeks.