"Thanks for the lift," Ash said. "I really appreciate you spending time to help us out like this."
"It's not a problem," Mewtwo replied, speaking out loud for the benefit of any Dark-types present. "I'll be glad to help out with the other things you mentioned as well, I just have some details to sort out online."
He raised his right hand, and a laptop materialized out of thin air.
"I keep it at my office," he explained to Ash, folding it open with a gesture and booting it up. It started in moments, and the Psychic-type feline began typing away from a distance of about a foot.
"What are you doing?" Pikachu asked.
"Well, several of my employees came with me to sort out the Alamos Crisis," Mewtwo explained. "And as I'm their manager, I need to do their paid time off authorization as well as my own. I'm booking them in for a half-day each… call it 'urgent public relations duties'… and myself for the rest of the week, so I can continue to travel with you."
"Why do you need to sort that out, though?" Ash asked curiously. "I mean, can't you just say it's okay?"
"Let us just say that I would prefer to do things by the book, since it is not a major problem for me to do so," Mewtwo explained. "It is partly a philosophical matter, and partly that it ensures that I do not treat myself differently. In an odd way, I value being held by the rigid logic of a time off tracker."
The screen blanked as Mewtwo finished his task. "There we go. I have also informed Mossdeep as to the reason for the delayed launch today."
"I have to admit, 'there was a danger of the universe collapsing' is the kind of thing most scientists don't hear as a reason not to do an experiment," Pikachu said.
"You would be surprised," Mewtwo replied dryly. "If you won't need me for a bit, I think I'm going to go and make sure Mew hasn't gotten into the sugar."
Ash nodded, and turned to the Pokémon behind him.
"You guys..." he began. "Thanks – I don't know how to say just how much I'm glad you guys are my friends."
"But… most of us didn't even manage to turn up until it was over," Houndoom protested. "I had to come along in a Pokéball carried by Mewtwo!"
"I know, but that's okay," Ash told him. "All of you – you were ready to fight some of the most powerful Pokémon, to come even though you knew you might get trapped. Even though you knew it was dangerous – and even when you could stay out of that danger."
"We didn't really have a choice," Kingler said.
"I have to agree," Ivysaur nodded. "Ash, you've been a great trainer… and you're a great person – but you've taught us all how to be brave Pokémon, by example."
Ash smiled. "I… thanks, Ivysaur. All of you."
He looked back to the side. "And… most of you haven't met her yet, because the circumstances were really kind of odd, but… this is Kari."
The Honedge floated over to hover in front of the assembled group of Pokémon.
"Well, this is odd," she said. "It was but a short time ago by my own reckoning that I prepared to go to fight in a battle, bearing a sword, and now I have become one."
Tyranitar raised a hand.
"Um… I have a question," he began. "You weren't always a Honedge?"
"Indeed not," Kari replied. "I was a human, a belted knight by the name of Kari Burns, and I fell in battle many centuries ago as best we can reckon. It now appears that one of the odd circumstances that cluster around Sir Ketchum has raised me into the form of a Ghost Pokémon."
She shook her crossbars back and forth. "It is a new experience to me as much as to any of you. But I shall endeavour to take it as it comes."
The next hand that went up was Lucario's.
"Yes?" Kari invited. "What say you, Messer Lucario?"
"How do you know the term Pokémon?" he asked. "It's only a couple of hundred years old."
Kari stopped.
"I… suppose it must be something I learned without perception, when I was but a lifeless blade," she decided. "How peculiar."
"What about..."
As the conversation continued, Donphan rolled out of the group and up to Ash.
"Did you plan for this?" he asked, indicating Kari starting to loosen up and talk more freely.
"I thought it was worth trying," Ash replied. "You're all great Pokémon, so I decided it would help make her more comfortable."
At about the same time, some miles to the north, a young trainer with purple hair sank to her knees.
"That was… so intense..." she said, panting. "Lucario?"
"I'm still all right," her shiny Lucario replied. "And so is Electabuzz, just about."
"Yeah, it's a good thing we won then," Casey agreed, rising to her feet. "Or we wouldn't have had anyone left who could handle electric attacks."
"I could have given it another go," Lucario volunteered loyally. "I didn't get all that hammered by the one I did take."
"Thanks for the offer," Casey smiled, walking a little hesitantly across the field. "But I'm gratified enough you were a good pinch hitter."
She picked up the Ultra Ball, and opened it.
Zapdos emerged, and gave her a deep nod before saying something in low tones.
"He says he's still standing by the agreement," Lucario told her trainer, translating. "That you've impressed him all over again… and that the trick with the vines surprised him."
"Thanks, Zapdos," Casey told him, smiling broadly. "I'm… really glad you trust me that much."
Zapdos spoke again.
"He says he's especially interested in getting involved in a battle against Ash," Lucario went on. "And he's glad he got one of the yellow-and-black Pokéballs."
Casey looked at the Ultra Ball for a moment, then laughed. "Maybe I should get everyone else one!"
Zapdos chuckled as well, and his spiked wings spread.
A whoosh of air, and he took off.
"He says he'll visit often," Lucario supplied. "To make sure you don't need him."
Casey watched him go, alongside her Pokémon.
"He kind of threw the fight, didn't he?" she asked.
"Little bit," Lucario agreed. "Otherwise he wouldn't be able to fly away."
"That was such great work, all of you," Dawn told her Pokémon. "Especially Togekiss… that was so brave of you!"
"I had to," Togekiss replied, hugging Dawn. "The others needed my help."
"I know they did," Dawn agreed. "But you were still really brave for going up there – and you did so well!"
She scooped up Pachirisu. "And this little lady kept that whole machine running for all the time it was performing Oracion! Well done both of you!"
"Hey, I was just..." Pachirisu protested, then relented and leaned into the hug as well.
As Dawn let her go, however, her Pokétch beeped.
"What was that?" Buneary asked. "An email?"
"Looks like," Dawn agreed, checking the notification, then got her folding computer out. "Okay, let's see..."
She blinked, then showed Buneary and Piplup the message.
Hi Dawn – Serena here.
We were just watching the news, and – was that you in that mess in Alamos Town? I know it's in Sinnoh, and I saw what looked like some of your Pokémon, so I thought I'd check.
Are you okay? If not, did you hear anything about what happened?
Your friend,
Serena.
"Huh, I didn't realize we were that big a thing," Dawn admitted "I'd better… where did Mewtwo take us..."
"Pallet Town," Ambipom supplied. "I recognize the hills."
"Thanks," Dawn told her. "I wondered how we were getting internet. Okay, I'd better send a reply to let Serena know we're all right… let's see now..."
She typed for a bit, then checked with her Pokémon. "How does that look?"
"Hi Serena," Quilava read out. "Yes, that was us. Ash, Brock and I were in town when something really crazy happened, so we had to help out. Most of the Pokémon you saw were probably Ash's or those of his other friends – I'm impressed you picked my team out.
We're okay, but a bit shaken up, so we're going to spend a couple of days calming down."
"You know we can all read, right?" Piplup asked.
"I thought… never mind," Quilava sighed. "Hopefully that'll sort things out, I don't see anything you might need to change."
Dawn looked around the others, to see if anyone thought otherwise, then sent it.
"There we go," she said out loud.
"It must be very hard for Tyrantrum," Goodra said with a sigh. "He's so new to this world, and now he's having to cope with a big change to how he is as well. At least you and I had a good grounding first."
"You're right there," Tyranitar agreed, as they watched Tyrantrum gingerly walking through the area where Houndoom's relatives were playing with Rockruff. "Still, he's a good Pokémon."
Goodra shuffled to the side a bit. "Hi, Ash."
"Hey," Ash replied, sitting down between the two big Pokémon. "You guys okay?"
"We're fine," Goodra replied. "But I'm sorry I couldn't be there when you were having trouble earlier, Ash."
"Don't worry," Ash replied. "By the sounds of things, those drinks and things you were handing out were a great help to everyone who did get through, and I know you'd have been right behind them."
He glanced up at Tyranitar. "And I'm not blaming anyone who didn't get through. As far as I can tell, Palkia was the one who blocked the world off, and he was trying to keep out Dialga – and if you're not able to break through something designed to keep out a Legendary Pokémon of time itself, then you don't have any blame."
Tyranitar put his hand on Ash's shoulder, and nodded gratefully.
They watched as Mawile talked earnestly to Tyrantrum, and after a long moment Ash spoke up again.
"You two are okay with Mawile being with Tyrantrum a lot, right?" he checked. "I know you're good friends of hers,"
"That's right," Tyranitar agreed, speaking for both of them. "But… well, I don't mind at all, and that's because Tyrantrum is the one who needs her help more. And I know Mawile's going to be able to spend time with us later, but helping Tyrantrum is more time critical."
"Good," Ash said, with a smile. "I'm glad that's not a problem."
He snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah, the other thing I wanted to do – I was going to let you know that Dexter's told the Togepi Kingdom that we're coming, and they've said we can stay the night if we want."
"Or stay the knight?" Goodra suggested.
Ash chuckled.
"I just hope we don't need to sleep where our official knighthood locations are," he smiled. "I don't think everyone would fit."
"Depends if we're in Pokéballs," Tyranitar suggested.
"Well, even then," Ash replied. "I mean, if Tyrantrum comes along..."
He was about to get up, but Dawn came hurrying over.
"Ash?" she began. "I've got a really odd question."
"Sure," Ash agreed. "What's wrong?"
"Well, not really wrong, but..." Dawn took the computer out from under her arm. "Look, do you remember a summer camp you took years ago?"
"How many years ago?" Ash asked, then shook his head. "Wait, hold on, that question's got a really odd answer."
"Not sure, but it was apparently run by Professor Oak," Dawn explained. "I've got someone I've been talking to online pretty much since you reminded me, and she apparently met you once at a summer camp?"
"Huh," Ash frowned. "Hold on a sec."
He closed his eyes, and his breathing slowed down a little as he meditated. The process let him remember much more easily, and he went back through his memories before nodding suddenly.
"What was her name?"
"Serena," Dawn replied.
"Yeah, I think I remember her," Ash agreed. "She got lost and hurt her knee, I helped her out."
"Well, she definitely remembers it," Dawn supplied. "Apparently I never mentioned you before."
"That's a really odd coincidence," Goodra observed.
"Yeah, a bit," Ash agreed. "But it's not much more odd than, you know, being in town the same day as any Legendary Pokémon attack."
Piplup came running up, having fallen a long way behind Dawn. He tripped, staggered, nearly fell, and recovered himself just before falling on his beak.
"I guess we'd better think about how I should reply, then," Dawn suggested.
"And did you get into any fights?" Sceptile asked.
"No, I didn't," Chikorita replied. "Did you get into any fights?"
"I got into a fight with a Legendary Pokémon," Sceptile answered. "You should see what he looked like, though."
There was a boumpf sound.
"Did Zorua just turn into a Palkia?" Meganium asked.
"Probably," Sceptile said.
"There you are, Serena," Grace said, looking up from the television. "Did you get a reply to that email you said you were going to send?"
Serena slumped down on the nearest chair.
"Mom," she began. "I had such a bizarre conversation just now. You know that friend in Sinnoh I've been emailing?"
Grace nodded. "A little bit."
"Well… those were her Pokémon I saw in the news broadcast, some of them anyway, but the reason she was there… she's travelling with Ash Ketchum, Mom!"
Grace blinked, and Serena kept going almost without a pause. "You know, Ash Ketchum! I – the guy who saved me at summer camp in Kanto years ago? I just looked him up online, and – it's the same guy who's been using all those Legendary Pokémon!"
She shook her head. "It's just… amazing to think of how many people he must have saved, how many Pokémon he's met… I'm going to look up his League battles as soon as I can but just some of the stuff I saw is astonishing – he used a Ho-Oh in a League match! And one of the Pokémon he has is one so rare nobody had ever heard of it until it published a book!"
Grace hid a smile.
"And… on top of all that, he's able to use this strange magic power thing, and..." Serena shook her head. "I can't believe that my pen pal is friends with the boy who saved me as a little girl."
"Serena, dear," Grace began, trying not to laugh. "Is it possible you might have a crush?"
"Well, yeah," Serena replied, quickly. "Who wouldn't?"
"That's one way to view it, I suppose," Grace chuckled. "So, dear… does this change anything?"
"It changes all sorts of things," Serena replied. "It means that Ash is… and… but..."
She subsided. "I… guess it means I now know something new about my friend, and it means I know more about a really good trainer than I thought I did. But…"
Blitzle tapped her hand, wondering what was wrong.
"Sorry, Blitzle," Serena smiled. "Right, I guess the next step is to… well, find out more about Ash, so I know who Dawn's going around with? I don't want to just be constantly asking her questions."
"I think the next step is to give Blitzle a walk again," Grace reminded her. "You don't want to skip steps in his training."
"Right, sorry," Serena flushed. "I'll do that now..."
Blitzle perked up, liking the sound of that.
And here we are, Mewtwo announced. Welcome to the Mirage Kingdom.
Kari floated slowly forward, blade held in her sheath, and looked around.
"It's so… strange," she said softly. "Like… well, like a mirage, I suppose. The palace hill is there, but the curtain wall is gone."
Removed two hundred years ago, Mewtwo supplied. After the Tokugawa peace had been in place for centuries, it was felt there was no longer a need.
"I see," Kari mused. "And now the Kingdom is safe."
"Mostly safe," Ash corrected. "Something happened last year with an attempt at a coup. That's how I got the knighthood, I helped out..."
"Funny, really," Pikachu observed. "Some places give out knighthoods, others say thank you, others give you Mega Stones. It's very uneven."
Ash smiled for a moment, then subsided as movement up ahead indicated the arrival of a meeting party.
To his surprise, it was the whole Royal Family of the Mirage Kingdom – the King, the Queen, and their daughter Sara, along with a Togetic flying alongside Sara.
"Ash!" Sara waved. "It's nice to see you."
"Indeed it is, Sir Ketchum," the King agreed, with a nod. "What brings you here?"
"Something odd happened recently," Ash explained. "My friends and I were stopping Dialga and Palkia from killing one another, and as we did the ceremonial sword you gave me turned into a Honedge."
"A Honedge," the King mused. "So you would mean this very one?"
"Indeed he does," Kari went on. "Sire, I am Dame Burns of this very kingdom, slain in battle nigh on six hundred years hence. I regret my absence from the Kingdom, and wish to assure you I would have returned had there been the chance."
There was a brief silence.
"Kari," Pikachu said. "You're a Pokémon now. They didn't understand any of that."
Kari turned to look at him. "What? But… wait. Ash can understand Pokémon?"
Allow me, Kari, Mewtwo announced. My apologies, your Majesty, your Highnesses. A minor technical glitch.
He waved his hand. Please, Kari, speak. I will translate this time.
Kari repeated her words, and the King was shaking his head before she finished.
"Dame Burns, even in the greatest extremis the oaths of our knights were no more stringent than to swear you to serve faithfully for the rest of your life," he told her. "Your oath is long fulfilled, and we have no hold over you."
"I… thank you, sire," Kari said, bowing her hilt a little. "In retrospect, you are taking this well."
"Given what our most recent knights have done with their time, we're kind of used to it," Sara volunteered. "Thanks for saving the world, Ash!"
"Which time do you mean?" Lucario asked, speaking up for the first time.
"Oh, whichever," Sara laughed.
"Then if you will not accept my service, Sire," Kari spoke up suddenly. "At least allow me to aid Sir Ketchum – as a trainer, a Pokémon, and if need be a weapon in his hand."
"Huh?" Ash asked, slightly confused. "You're okay with that?"
"I will learn to be," Kari replied.
"You know, my mother the last Queen never mentioned this would happen, when I was learning how to do this," the King said. "In her defence, it is all a bit odd."
He gave Kari a nod. "However – Dame Burns, I am honoured that you would offer, and if Sir Ketchum sees no problem then I will see no problem either."
"I… sure, I guess," Ash decided.
Kari exhaled, which was an odd thing for a sword to do. "Then… I think I would like to look around the kingdom a little, to see what else has changed."
"So, kid," Primeape said, looking up.
Tyrantrum looked up as well, to see if Primeape was talking to anyone else, then indicated himself. "You mean me?"
"Of course," Primeape replied. "I heard you had a problem."
"Yeah, kind of," the big Dragon-type replied. "I've got this really odd situation, and I'm trying to work out how to avoid letting someone down or making them feel disappointed… I want to stay travelling with Mawile, but I'm too big, and..."
He shook his head.
"Well, I'm not sure how you can solve that, myself," Primeape said briskly. "But I know someone who's always very wise."
He beckoned to Tyrantrum, and the Fossil Pokémon followed – mystified.
They passed by where Torterra and Infernape were laying out some decorations, then Primeape carefully brushed aside a curtain of ivy to reveal a small clearing.
"Just so you know, there is no way I can get through this," Tyrantrum warned.
"It's okay, I just left it because I didn't have a reason to get rid of it," Primeape shrugged. "Smash it if you want."
"Well, I don't want to," Tyrantrum sighed.
He backed up a bit, and Primeape waited as the theropod took a more circuitous route, occasionally squashing a branch or knocking aside a shower of small twigs, before coming back around the side of a tree to stand in front of Primeape. "Sorry..."
Primeape shrugged. "This way," he invited.
They crossed over a slight rise in the ground, and Primeape gestured.
"Snorlax," he said simply.
Tyrantrum walked closer, a little gingerly.
"Snorlax is a very wise Pokémon," Primeape said. "His wisdom is palpable. Stay a while and learn from him."
Tyrantrum watched as Primeape sat down in the lotus position, then copied him as best was possible for a dinosaur with an awkward tail.
"All right, again!" Kari demanded. "This time, a high defence!"
Lucario flowed into an attack with his metal-claw-derived blade – not currently glowing with the fury of his Sacred Sword – and Ash swung his iron bar in place to block.
The impact made a whung sound, not musical but quite loud, and Ash stepped back a pace before swinging his bar again to block Lucario's second attack.
"To the left!" Kari called suddenly, watching from the sidelines, and Lucario switched directions for his third attack. Ash blocked with his open palm and a flash of Aura, swinging the bar in for a riposte, and Kari spoke up again. "Stop!"
She let the word hang in the air, then went on. "I have seen enough, I think," she judged. "Firstly, the good bits, Sir Ketchum – you were quick, even with such a heavy weapon, and your footing is very sure. I assume that that would be more of your clear skill with Aura."
"That's right, yeah," Ash agreed, lowering the bar to his side. "It's kind of second nature now."
Kari absorbed that. "So noted. Now, the things with which I take issue. Firstly, you seem to show an over-reliance on the whole length of your blade. The further up you block the more leverage it exerts on your arm."
"That's partly because a lot of the impact is in the Aura, not the physical weapon itself," Ash replied. "But… yeah, I get your point."
"I should hope so," Kari mused. "That speaks to the main concern I have, which is that your entire style lacks polish. It is workmanlike, and steady enough to serve, but you lack many of the important touches a proper school should teach. Indeed, even had you not told me, I would be able to tell you were almost entirely self taught."
"I did get a lot of help from Absol," Ash contributed.
"That may be part of it, I suppose," Kari said. "An Absol would be unlikely to let you lack anything which might be essential, but she may not be able to determine what would or would not be useful to know."
She rose a little into the air, unsheathing herself. "Sir Ketchum. I am entirely willing to allow myself to be borne by a brave knight such as yourself in my new lease on life, but I insist that you do your utmost to at least ensure your form is good."
"Which form will you teach him?" Lucario asked. "One for a shorter blade or a longer? You're definitely on the short side for an arming sword, at least for a full-grown man, but long for Ash's current height… and yet he can swing you around like a sabre."
"The mixed longsword form is the one I will use," Kari stated. "A fusion of the longsword form in two hands and the arming sword form in one. It is versatile enough to make full use of Ash's great strength without losing the ability to switch to two hands, and the one-handed form permits both the option to keep one hand free or the option to use a staff in the other hand."
She considered. "From what I know of the staff forms, your skill there is difficult to improve upon. But for the sword, the first lesson is in your resting form. Take up your stance."
Ash did so, and Kari examined it for a moment.
"Feet are good," she said. "Doubtless from your background in unarmed combat. But raise the tip of the sword a little, lower the hilt… that's better… hold that position except when blocking."
She swept herself in to make a sudden attack, and Ash raised his iron bar to block with a whunnng before sliding back into his starting posture. Again, and this time he had to block twice in succession.
"Good," she told him, as he moved back to the basic stance. "You didn't fall for the trap – an opponent may not always give you the chance to recover your stance, so you need to be able to shift between the block stances without returning to the resting stance."
Lucario raised a hand, Dexter open in his other one.
"Yes?" Kari asked.
"Did you know that there are literally no remaining instructors who know exactly what arming-sword combat was like?" he said. "Except you. I think we should probably be recording this."
"Um… Primeape?" Tyrantrum asked, a little hesitantly.
Primeape looked up at him. "Yeah?"
"...Snorlax has just been snoring at us for half an hour," Tyrantrum said. "I… really don't think I'm getting whatever wisdom he's supposed to be passing on."
The Fighting-type considered that.
"I'm afraid I can offer no more help," he decided. "You are not enlightened."
"It's sunny, so I thought I was quite well enlightened," Tyrantrum frowned.
Snorlax rolled over onto his side and kept snoring.
"I'm just passing on the judgement," Primeape shrugged. "What you do with it is up to you."
Tyrantrum began to walk away, then turned back. "Thank you for offering, even though I didn't get anything useful," he said, nodding to Primeape – and to Snorlax as well, to be scrupulously polite.
"That was odd," Iris said, sitting back as she turned the TV off.
Excadrill looked up at her, then shrugged.
"Oh, just… last time around, I think I saw a few news stories about that kind of thing," Iris replied. "You know, like a thing about a kid who rode on a Lugia, or something about a city being shut down for hours… but I never thought about who was involved, because I didn't think it was relevant. It was just one of those things that happened."
She saw Excadrill was unimpressed with the line of conversation. "It's true!" she protested. "And I kind of thought it was a bit exaggerated. But now, whenever I see something amazing being mentioned on TV that's within a thousand miles of Pallet Town, I can't help but look to see if Ash is involved – and he usually is, as well."
She indicated the quiescent screen. "I mean… you saw the same thing I did, right? It said Ash was involved in saving a town from Dialga and Palkia, and then he saved Dialga and Palkia too! And it's only now I really feel like I have the right perspective on that – the first time around I didn't really know to pay attention, and this time I was convinced Ash was this amazing super-trainer. And… maybe he is, I don't know. But now I've been on those kinds of adventures with him, and..."
After a bit of thought, Iris shook her head. "I'm really not putting this well, am I?"
Excadrill shrugged, inspecting his claws.
"Oh, whatever," the young Dragon Tamer shrugged. "I kind of hope I get a chance to see Dialga or Palkia, though. Or Giratina. They're part of why I think the Dragon type is the best type – no offence."
The look her starter gave her eloquently served notice that some had been taken.
"Maybe I should ask Ash what happened," Iris mused. "See what his perspective is."
"All right!" Corphish called. "Go!"
Noctowl spread a wing, and an illusion appeared. The illusion was of a Spearow, and it cawed at the Water-type before jumping into the air and hovering there.
Corphish broke into a run, turning both claws towards the Spearow, and began using Bubblebeam. Little blue-white packets of light went all over the place, pocking the ground and blowing wood chips out of the trees, and Noctowl used his Extrasensory to shield himself from the barrage.
Ten or so seconds into the attack, the illusory Spearow took its first hit.
"Missed," Corphish said to himself, annoyed.
"I should bally well say so!" Noctowl agreed. "That was at least six hundred shots if it was a one, and you've only gone and missed with five hundred and ninety-nine of them!"
The strigine Pokémon rotated his head until it was sideways. "And you've ruined the whole bloody area, as well… not on, old chap."
"No, I mean I missed with that one," Corphish clarified, waving a claw vaguely at the illusion. "I'll need to work on getting less accurate."
Noctowl's head swivelled the other way. "What, what?"
"Maybe I need to close my eyes," Corphish said to himself. "Or trust in the… Power."
"At this point I think levitating rocks at your target would only improve the situation," Noctowl commented, preening a little. "They might actually hit, which you seem bound and determined to not do with the Bubblebeams."
"Consistency is an important part of a battle style," Corphish shrugged. "Let's try again."
Ash sat down, rubbing his wrist a little.
"Is something wrong?" Mawile asked.
"Not really, just did a lot of blocking in a new stance," Ash explained. "It'll be fine."
He looked up at Tyrantrum, who was large enough to be hard to ignore in any case. "What was it you wanted to ask about, Tyrantrum?"
"Well..." Tyrantrum began, toying with his hands – putting one over the other, then reversing their position over and over. "I wanted to ask if your Pokémon needed to get into battles."
He looked down at Mawile. "I like Mawile, and – I'd like to spend more time with her. But it wouldn't be fair to make her stay here all the time, and I think I'm a bit big to travel with you now like I am."
"You don't need to get into any battles, no," Ash replied. "But… are you suggesting that you'd like to be my Pokémon?"
"I don't really want to be," Tyrantrum said, trying to answer as honestly as possible. "It's a bit of a scary idea. But it seems like the best way to sort out the problem, and if it means I'm a bit uncomfortable… I don't mind that bit. It's something I can get used to."
"You don't need to do it if you're uncomfortable," Mawile told him. "Not if we can work something else out!"
Tyrantrum frowned. "I've been trying to think of something else, but all the options have problems..."
Ash flipped Dexter open, and started typing.
"Don't you want me to be one of your teammates?" Tyrantrum asked. "I… understand if-"
"No, that's not it at all!" Mawile interrupted.
She held up a hand, and sighed. "Sorry. I just think there should be a way to make this work without making you unhappy."
"Sorry," Tyrantrum blushed. "And… I think what makes me uncomfortable is just that I don't want to be the odd one out of Ash's Pokémon. The only one who doesn't do battles."
"I did have an idea," Ash replied. "I was just checking it… I was wondering how it works for kids to get a Pokémon before they become proper trainers, and it looks like you can have a trainer who's not doing the League having Pokémon so long as someone does some forms to say it's allowed."
He looked up at the two Pokémon. "It might be a crazy idea, but… what about if Tyrantrum gets caught by Mawile?"
The two friends exchanged confused looks.
"I… didn't know that happened," Tyrantrum admitted.
"It usually doesn't," Ash said. "But I bet there's a Zorua out there somewhere who's become a trainer in secret… and Mewtwo technically has some Pokémon, too…."
"So… that's about the shape of it," James said, finally.
Giovanni put his hands together and said nothing, looking levelly into the camera for several seconds.
"All right," he said eventually. "Let me see if I have all this correct."
Raising one hand, he began to count off. "You have investigated all the Rocket cells in Sinnoh."
"All the ones on the list," Jessie clarified slightly. "If there's one not on the list we didn't check it."
"I appreciate the distinction," Giovanni allowed. "And you found… either nothing being amiss, or nothing at all."
James nodded.
"It was really odd," Jessie volunteered. "But yeah… nothing."
"Though the guys in charge in places like Oreburgh had noticed somethin' was funny," Meowth threw in his two Poké. "Mostly the other guys disappearin'."
"Very well," Giovanni said. "In that case, there's not much point continuing your investigation. After some careful consideration, I have a new plan."
He pointed at them, one at a time. "I'm aware you know the young hero Ash Ketchum. For the forseeable future, your job is to keep track of him while he travels around Sinnoh. Sooner or later, someone like that will run into the crux of the problem Team Rocket has been having."
Giovanni smiled, just a little. "And when he does, you will find out as well. Help him or do not as you see fit, but either way report to me what the problem is. And solve it – by any means necessary."
"Yes, boss!" Jessie saluted, James and Meowth doing so just a moment after her.
"Good," Giovanni nodded. "You have your instructions."
The video cut out.
Giovanni inspected the time, then looked up at Persian.
"Proton is coming in next," he told the Normal-type.
Persian nodded, settling back down on his cushion.
The glint of awareness indicated he was quite ready to intercede if needed, however.
"Hmmm..." Mawile frowned. "What about this one?"
She adjusted her billed cap – one of Ash's old ones she'd asked to borrow – and held up the Cherish Ball.
Tyrantrum tilted his head a little awkwardly to see it, and there was a clunk as his brow touched one of the overhead lights.
"Sorry," he said quickly. "So… that one's got a rocky look to it?"
"Yeah!" Mawile agreed. "There's a whole shelf of them down here, but this one also has a kind of purple-yellow dragon fire effect coming through."
Tyrantrum examined it more closely as Mawile held it up, then frowned. Seeing him do so, Mawile put it back and rummaged through again.
A little way along the corridor, Mewtwo spread his hands. They are not causing problems, he noted.
The stockist – one of the employees of Celadon Department Store – looked askance at the huge Dragon-type awkwardly fitted into the aisle. "They are a bit," he replied. "How are they going to get out?"
The same way they got in, Mewtwo told him. Forwards.
Seeing the stockist looking worried, Mewtwo made a conciliatory gesture. No, don't worry, that was a joke. I will teleport Tyrantrum out.
"That would be good," the store employee said with a sigh of relief. "I don't fancy tidying up the whole shelf if one of them knocks it over..."
Mawile held up another Cherish Ball, this one a simple brick-red with a pattern of scales picked out on it, and Tyrantrum thought carefully before giving a nod.
"Great!" Mawile cheered. "All right, let's go sort out getting it!"
Mewtwo extended his hand, and Tyrantrum teleported over to the area by the checkout.
Did Ash give you enough money? He asked Mawile.
"Yep!" Mawile replied. "I double checked before I started looking at the shelf!"
"What does the guidebook say?" Concordia asked.
"It says… hold on," N requested.
He looked down the index, leafed to the right page, then checked their surroundings.
"Yes, it is here," he determined. "This is the Nimbasa Gym."
Walking forwards, he knocked on the door.
A young man in a finely tailored shirt opened it, and gave N a look up and down. "Trainer?"
"Well, yes, though not the normal sort," N replied. "I was wondering if you could answer a few questions about gyms."
"Of course," the man agreed, opening the door to let them in. "Ask away."
N entered, followed by his sisters and by Zorua, and the group took seats in the entrance area.
"So, what do you need to know?" the young man asked.
"Well, firstly, how gyms work," N began. "I understand that people challenge them, but beyond that I'm not really sure."
The simplicity of the question confused the person they were talking to, but he shook his head a little and tried to answer. "Okay, so… the way it generally works is that you're either learning from the gym leader or you're there to challenge them. If you're learning from them, you're picking up the finer points of using their particular Pokémon type – such as Electric types, for Nimbasa – while if you're there to challenge them, then the Gym Leader gives you a battle which tests if you have enough skill."
The young man gave N a look over, then continued. "Since you're new to being a trainer and – I assume – don't have any badges yet, Elesa would give you an easy battle to start with. That's just to test you've got the basic skills a trainer needs – later on in your journey your battles will be much harder."
"I see," N nodded. "So Elesa has a lot of Pokémon?"
"Yes," the young man confirmed. "Effectively her Pokémon move up the scale as they get more powerful. She has some teams she uses for very high level fights, teams for the very low level battles, and in between she uses her judgement."
N took that in as well.
"And badges indicate how skilled your Pokémon are at battling, I see," he said.
Seeing the baffled look on the young man's face, Anthea spoke up. "We were homeschooled," she explained. "It's only recently that my brother became a trainer."
"Right," the gym trainer said dubiously.
"I think I'd like to see what one of these gym battles is like," N decided. "Are there any other rules I should know about?"
"Well, Elesa will tell you about any special rules," the young man said. "But, well… she's not actually in at the moment. She's doing a fashion shoot."
"I thought being a gym leader was a job?" N asked.
"The hours are good."
At a tree somewhere in Hoenn, four Pokémon appeared with a faint flicker of light.
"Thank you," Sceptile said formally.
My pleasure, Mewtwo replied. I'll be back in a few hours.
He vanished again, and the remaining three Pokémon approached the tree.
When they were close, just close enough for the other inhabitants of the tree to notice them, Sceptile halted and took a breath.
"Behold!" he called up. "I bring my son, here to learn the ways of his ancestors! He is young and strong, a noble addition to our shared blood! I bring him here to be entered into the legends of our people!"
There was a long moment of silence, then a peal of laughter.
A Grovyle came bounding down out of the branches of the great tree in a blur of green movement, bouncing from branch to branch to trunk to land with a thud on the leaf-litter.
"You actually did it!" Grovyle laughed. "I can't believe you did it!"
"Did what?" Chikorita asked.
"I thought you said this was a custom of your people!" Meganium remembered. "Why is she laughing?"
"Well..." Sceptile began, suddenly blushing and rubbing the back of his neck with one clawed hand. "You know how this is my aunt, right?"
"We met when I healed the tree, I think?" Meganium asked. "I don't think she'd evolved then, though."
"Yes, this is our first time meeting since my evolution," Grovyle agreed. "But I think Sceptile might be distracting you."
"I'm not, not really," Sceptile denied. "It's just that it takes a bit of explaining."
He took a deep breath. "So we had a joke, way back when I was young. She told me that if I ever had a child I should introduce them like that – a really ridiculously over-the-top formal way..."
Meganium shook her head, trying to conceal a smile, then shrugged. "Well, I suppose it was fairly funny."
As she came to that decision, Grovyle knelt down by Chikorita. "It's nice to meet you, young one."
"It's nice to meet you too," Chikorita said. "You're my great-aunt, right?"
"That's correct," Grovyle confirmed. "Do you have time to stay for a meal? I'll see what's available."
"That would be nice," Meganium replied. "I think it's good for Chikorita to meet his relatives."
"That's a very noble goal," Grovyle volunteered. "I think so, anyway."
With that, she crouched, then jumped-and-glided to the trunk of the tree and climbed with an easy motion.
"When did you meet Grovyle before?" Chikorita asked, curious.
"Meganium was helping to heal the tree," Sceptile explained. "It was close to death when we arrived, but your mother's Heal Pulse really turned things around for it."
Chikorita took that in with a frown of concentration, then nodded. "Okay."
He looked up. "Are all those Treecko younger than you?"
"Most of them are older," Meganium told him. "Like most of Ash's Pokémon, your father and I evolved a lot quicker than normal."
"So what I'm saying is..." Muk spread his pseudopods. "It's easy for someone like me to feel like people really don't respect stinky things. But what gives me hope is… cheese."
Ash blinked. "Cheese?"
"Cheese!" Muk agreed. "It was such an amazing thing to find out that the smellier the cheese is the more people respect it."
"Even if it's from a distance," Pikachu mumbled, somewhat nasally.
"There are some cheeses which people really like, and which will make the whole house smell the same even if they're wrapped up inside a sealed fridge!" Muk waxed lyrical. "And then there's the most amazing ones, which are from Corsica… I hope to try one, some day."
He frowned slightly. "The only problem is that they're banned from public transportation vehicles. Something about the danger of a crash."
"Maybe Mewtwo can go and get you some?" Ash suggested.
"That would be nice," Muk said. "Could you ask?"
Ash nodded.
As he walked away, looking for Mewtwo, Pikachu took his paw off his nose. "How did you cope with that conversation?" he asked.
"Same way I use Aura to avoid being affected by sandstorms," Ash pointed out. "Airslip."
"...you couldn't have said something?"
"Remember when we founded this restaurant?" Cress asked. "How we wanted word-of-mouth to spread that we were good for any trainers or Pokémon to come and visit?"
"Of course I do!" Cilan agreed. "And isn't it a wonderful thing that it's working?"
"Yes," Cress smiled. "I don't have a problem with it working. It's just that, well, it's working better than I expected it to..."
Chili came bustling into the kitchen. "Another order for the party on the balcony. A 42, a 38 and three 12."
"Got it," Cilan nodded, already checking on the pizza oven. "How are they enjoying their pasta?"
"Well, the Zapdos has added quite a lot of salt to his, but the Articuno's quite happy," Chili reported. "And the Moltres' plate caught fire, but that seems to be how he likes it."
"I'll make one of the 12 with extra olive oil," Cilan decided. "That way it'll be nice and flammable for a pizza en flambe!"
"That could be a new sensation," Cress suggested, dicing up leeks for the risotto the Bird Trio outside had also ordered. "I think… yes, the pizzas should be about eighteen minutes and the risotto will be more like thirty. The jumbo bread platter's already done, tray four."
Chili nodded his thanks, picking the tray up.
"Do you think it all started when that Keldeo brought his friends to visit?" Cress suggested. "I wonder how he heard of us..."
AN:
Not an Ashes Nowhere chapter this time, too many things to resolve involving Ash.
Also some stuff with other characters too.
