The large ballroom was lined with tables, which themselves were lined with a large variety of food. League Members were strewn about the place, chatting and eating happily. Ash stood in a corner, sampling some Nanab Berry Pudding. And by sampling I mean he had his plate topped with one and three quarters pound of pudding.

"You've certainly grown, haven't you?" Ash glanced up at the familiar face approaching.

"Professor Sycamore." Ash smiled. "It's good to see you."

"I wasn't sure if you had noticed but... Some of the League Members and Professors... Specifically the ones who know you..."

"I did notice them giving me some odd looks. What exactly did Oak tell them?"

"Well, apparently, you suffered some sort of a breakdown after losing the Kalos League and just dropped off the face of the earth after he and your friends tried to get you help. Then after that he supposedly uncovered evidence that you had been abusing your Pokémon for a while." Ash's eye twitched.

"That so?"

"So I did some reading on Glacias..." Acerola chirped. "And it said that each of the High Knights specialized in two types."

"Always have." Ruby confirmed as Kiriko was silently eating peanut butter filled pretzels from a bowl she offered. Rico was sampling the cute little sandwiches.

"You seem to be an excitable type." Fantina mused as she stared at the Alolan Trial Captain. Acerola blinked as she looked at the older woman.

"Oh! You're Fantina! I saw you in the news after you were fined for leaving your Gym constantly unattended." Fantina's face went red.

"What the hell!? That has nothing to do with this conversation!"

"Even so." Phoebe began. "As a Gym Leader you have an obligation to your Gym. And if you are planning to be away for extended periods you need to have someone to attend the Gym in your place."

"When did this conversation turn to my Gym attendance!?" Ruby spotted Marnie sampling meatballs, and decided to leave the three to their conversation.

"Ash Ketchum, the living legend himself." Ash blinked, turning from his shrimp scampi to find a man in a lab coat with no shirt underneath, a young girl beside him fidgeting. The man held out a hand. "Professor Kukui, nice to meet'cha. Ash slowly took Kukui's hand.

"Ah, the Alola Regional Professor, right? Then this must be Moon, you're Region's Champion." Kukui nodded.

"This might come as a surprise, but Moon here was actually from Pallet Town herself before she moved to Alola.

"That so?" Ash asked, worrying this girl was going to think him a Pokémon abuser.

"Oh my gosh I'm such a huge fan!" Ash jumped at the girl's sudden outburst. "I have all the DVDs of your League runs. I even have an official Ash Ketchum doll in your likeness! Can I have your autograph?"

'First Gloria, now her?' Ash thought, sweatdropping as Began ruffling through her bag for a pen and paper. 'How many young fans do I have? Wait, an official doll in my likeness? I don't know anything about that!' He made a mental note to have Latias contact his lawyers as Kukui resumed talking.

"Yes, well, Moon was a bit nervous about coming to talk to you cause Samuel has you blacklisted as a Pokémon abuser."

"I know you're not one." Moon said as she continued digging through her bag. "Anyone who watch enough of your League Career could pick that out. Plus, I looked up Glacias' laws. They are EXTREMELY strict when it comes to Pokémon abuse. You're have to be a complete lunatic to be apart of their Platinum League if you're a Pokémon abuser." Kukui nodded.

"Well said Moon."

"To be honest, I was more worried about getting yelled at by someone who actually does believe you abuse Pokémon, so I asked Professor Kukui to come with me-Oops!" As she pulled a pen and paper out of her mess of a bag, several files slipped out and scattered on the floor, one paper in particular sliding over to Kiriko, who was standing behind Ruby as the older girl was chatting with Marnie. Kiriko bent down and picked up the paper, inspecting it.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Moon said as she scooped up the papers still on the ground. "These are my-"

"It's Tama." Ruby jumped, not having expected Kiriko to start talking again so soon. Moon looked at the girl curiously.

"Huh?" Kiriko turned the paper around, revealing it to be a file on the Ultra Beast Naganadel.

"It's Tama. But your Tama is a different color. Tama is supposed to be black and yellow like a Beedrill." Moon blinked, dumbfounded.

"How do you... Know about that creature?"

"Because... Tama is Tama."

"Ok, that's enough out of you." Ruby cut in, grabbing Kiriko and dragging her off. "You pick NOW to be talkative!?" Kukui had his hand on his chin.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to have a Pikachu?"

"Uhh..." Latias stepped in, clearing her throat.

"The first round matchups have gone live. If you want, we can take a look-"

"Why is Rotom Dex registering a Latias?"

"-In the next room if you please." Latias finished, a vein popping on her forehead. Ash sighed. At least, for once, her trying to get him into another room wasn't so she could flirt with him.

Ash sighed and stared at the tablet Latias had produced. He was going to be going up against a Kantonian trainer named Goh tomorrow, while Ruby was up against the Galarian Gym Leader Nessa, and Gloria was up against a girl from Galar's Crown Tundra named Shirudomiria Tate. He began pulling up information on his own opponent. Apparently Goh was an assistant to Professor Cerise and had a habit of catching almost every wild Pokémom he could. His main Pokémom was a Cinderace just like Gloria.

"Alright then." Ash mused, setting down the tablet. "Blastoise it is."