The Unovan duo had started walking, intending to catch up with the rest of the students, when their attention was drawn skyward by the sound of Flying-Type Pokémon chirping and tweeting. The two found the source to be a flock of Pikipek led by a Pokémon Shane guessed to be their evolved form, with an owl-like Pokémon that had green tail feathers lagging behind them. The bird Pokémon flew over the town, before descending rapidly.

"I assume those are wild Pokémon, so why are they flying into town?" Shane asked.

"It's about this time of year that Pikipek flocks start gathering food." Sai explained. "The locals believe nature's abundance should be shared freely, so they basically give away some berries to the Pikipek. It's only around once a year that it happens, so everyone's usually fine."

Before the two could discuss further, they were drawn back to the forest by a scream. The two shared a glance, then took off, rushing toward the source. By the time the Unovans arrived, they found Ash holding an injured Pikachu, with the rest of the students gathered around concernedly.

"Confirming damage. Confirming damage!" RotomDex informed.

"I'm so sorry!" Lillie cried.

"I'll take you to the Pokémon Center!" Mallow offered.

"What happened?" Shane asked.

"We had a little trouble tryin' to catch Grubbin." Ash explained, before turning to the girls. "A Pokémon Center would great, so lead the way, Mallow. And don't you worry, Lillie."

"And Ash, we'll go back to school and tell Kukui what happened, all right?" Kiawe said.

"Thanks, Kiawe!" Ash replied.

"I think I'll go with you to the Pokémon Center." Shane said, before turning to Sai. "I know we'll be giving up the chance to find new Pokémon today, but I'd like to get Blade healed up myself, and to get to know my new teammate."

"I'd say that's for the best." Sai agreed.

Elsewhere in the forest, Team Rocket was stuck in a precarious situation. Bewear had brought them to its home, in the space under a large tree where it slept and stored food. The Strong Arm Pokémon walked around just a few feet away from the entrance, which to the villains, seemed like a patrol route. The four Team Rocket members sat upon a bed of leaves and twigs, and off to the side was a large pile of berries. Mimikyu, still wild, stood at the entrance, simply staring into the forest… and occasionally batting away Poké Balls Jessie threw at it. James was meticulously polishing something spherical while Meowth and Wobbuffet watched Jessie fail at catching a Disguise Pokémon.

"This time, for sure…!" Jessie quietly declared, determinedly throwing another ball at Mimikyu… only for it to bat it away just as easily as always. Neglecting to pull out another ball, Jessie leaned forward and tried to reason with the 'mon. "Look, Mimikyu! You're the one that wanted to help us, so let me catch you!"

"It's kinda weird," Meowth remarked. "You'd think Mimikyu would be tuckered out from battlin' the quiet twerp's Servine, but it ain't tired one bit."

"Wobbuffet."

"Don't you get that I'm trying to catch that Mimikyu because you guys can't beat that Bewear?!" Jessie explained irritably. "If we don't get out of here quick, we're going end up on that Bewear's snack down schedule!"

"Snack down?!" James parroted, dropping the Ball he'd been polishing as he, along with Meowth and Wobbuffet, promptly freaked out. Jessie, however, took note of what her teammate dropped.

"A Luxury Ball?" the redhead observed, picking it up. "Ha. Perfect timing!"

"Not that!" James protested, weakly reaching for it only to get pushed down by his teammate. "It's part of my precious collection!"

"Your collection? It's valuable…" Jessie replied, winding up to throw it at Mimikyu. "When someone uses it!"

"Don't do it!" James pleaded, grabbing Jessie's arm to stop her. "Anything but that!"

"TURN IT DOWN!" Jessie snapped, shaking him off and throwing the ball at Mimikyu.

Strangely, Mimikyu noticed, but made no attempt to evade capture this time, and was encapsulated comfortably. Team Rocket screamed as the Luxury Ball fell to the ground, though each of their screams carried a different emotion.

"Direct hit!" Jessie announced.

The ball shook once, the trio staring in tense anticipation.

The ball shook twice, and James vaguely hoped Mimikyu would break out.

On the third shake, the team unconsciously, unanimously held their breath.

Click!

"I caught it!" Jessie exclaimed.

"It's part of the family! Yay!" Meowth cheered.

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet added, also cheering.

"My poor collection!" James cried, sobbing to himself.

Triumphantly giggling, Jessie walked over to the Luxury Ball and reached down for it, only for Bewear to grab her wrist. Jessie slowly turned her gaze upward to face the Strong Arm Pokémon, and found its somewhat darkened face terrifying. The redhead screamed as the absurdly powerful Pokémon picked her up.

"Get your big paws off me!" Jessie cried as Bewear walked over to the others, holding her underarm.

"Bewear, Bewear," the pink bear replied.

"Bewear says 'time to strap on the ol' feed bag'!" Meowth translated in terror.

"Jessie's not a bag!" James protested as Bewear dropped the redhead on the bed.

"You've got to come out and save us, Mimikyu!" Jessie called to the Luxury Ball. "Mimikyu! Mimiky-"

Jessie was cut off by Bewear dripping some sort of sweet-tasting, yellow substance into her mouth from a leafy plate. Confusedly, the redhead consumed it, and was consequently overcome with bliss.

"What is that?" She asked. "Yummy! Delicious! Richer than rich!"

"Dat's nummy honey nectar!" Meowth realized, opening his mouth wide as Bewear offered him some. "Sweets for the sweet!"

James was next. "What a succulent taste!"

Then, finally, Wobbuffet got some, and all four members of the team were overcome with bliss, and declared, in perfect sync:

"Succulent doesn't begin to describe it!"

"Welcome to the Melemele Island Pokémon Center!" Nurse Joy cheerfully greeted, flanked by Blissey and a Pokémon neither Ash nor Shane had seen before.

It was a small, round, light green Pokémon with an orange face and a fluffy green crest that curled slightly over its face and extended backwards. A ring of flowers was attached to its back by one end of a blue thread, the other held in its stubby arms.

"We really need your help, Nurse Joy," Ash said as Rotom snapped a picture of Blissey.

Pikachu and Blade were laid out on a stretcher, Pikachu laying near the foot on his front and trying not to move, while Blade lay across the pillow on his back, with one arm on his chest, one leg sticking into the air, and his tongue hanging out of his mouth melodramatically.

"Don't worry. Pikachu and Servine will be all better in no time," Nurse Joy assured. She then turned to the Happiness Pokémon beside her. "All right, Blissey."

Its command received, Blissey wheeled the mouse and snake through a door for treatment.

"You're Servine's got a bit of a drama problem, doesn't it?" Sai asked with a chuckle as a second Blissey wheeled away his Skarmory, which the assistant-professor had used to ward off a few tougher wild Pokémon, such as a Hariyama.

Skarmory looked down at the overdramatic Servine. "Skar..." It said, shaking its head.

"Comes with the territory. You don't get to be a movie star or a Coordinator's MVP without a flair for the dramatic," Shane replied, placing his hands on his hips with a smirk. It quickly faltered as he began scratching his head. "Though, I admit he didn't really go full ham until he evolved. I'm... not sure if it's his personality, or something he picked up from me."

With that, Rotom decided that was the time to exposit.

"The Pokémon Center is where you can heal your Pokémon, restore its strength, and treat any status conditions!", the haunted 'Dex explained. It then took a picture of Nurse Joy, then a Machamp and Machoke. "Updating Nurse Joy. Updating info."

"Hey, RotomDex. That Pokémon, who is it?", Ash asked, drawing Rotom's attention to the small Pokémon, its flower ring now flowing behind it like a tail as it carried a small bag of medicine down the hallway.

"Let's see!", the Dexmon replied, scanning it. "Comfey, the Posy Picker Pokémon! A Fairy-type. It releases a relaxing scent from the flowers it picks. The scent has a healing effect and can cure status conditions."

Comfey, having completed its task, flew over to Ash and dropped its flowers around his neck, having made a lei out of them. Ash relaxed, enjoying the scent.

"Sounds like the perfect assistant for Nurse Joy," Shane commented.

"Blissey's perfect too!", Mallow added.

"A correct assessment!", RotomDex added, loading Blissey's PokéDex entry. "Blissey, the Happiness Pokémon. A Normal-type. When it senses someone sad with its fur, it will rush over, no matter how far, and share its Lucky Egg that brings a smile to everyone!"

"Yep. Together, they're a great team for even the oddballs in the Joy family." Sai agreed.

Shane groaned, remembering an encounter with an oddball in the Kantonian branch of the family.

A short time later, as the group sat around a table enjoying refreshments, Mallow spoke up.

"So, Shane. You're a Battle Trainer, a Coordinator, and an actor?", the green-haired girl asked. "What don't you do?"

"Anything else, really," Shane replied, rubbing the back of his head. "And I don't do a lot of movies these days. My focus is on battles, since that's where I started, but I love contests too. You have to be flashy and creative, which is fun and great for movies. Plus, I love showing off my Pokémon, and it's just really fun overall."

"Sounds like it!" Mallow said. "That explains why you were able to win the balloon challenge during the party the other day."

"Yeah," Shane confirmed. "But to be honest, even though I may be a bit more adaptable, I'd say Ash and Sai are way better battlers than me. I've still got a long way to go."

"Hey, c'mon, don't say things like that!" Ash said. "You're an awesome Trainer! You won the Unova League, remember?"

"He's right, Shane. You're definitely better than you give yourself credit for. You've even given some of my Legendaries a run for their money." Sai added approvingly.

Shane's only reply was a blush and a nervous chuckle.

It was then that Nurse Joy and Blissey came over with Pikachu and Blade's stretcher, the two foreign Pokémon standing strong and proud.

"I'm happy to say Pikachu and Servine are fully healed!" the healer informed.

"Pika!"

"Vine!"

Ash and Shane stood up to receive their energized partners, Ash still holding his drink while Shane left his behind. Pikachu leapt directly onto Ash's shoulder, squeaking cheerfully and nearly making Ash spill his beverage, while Blade jumped into Shane's waiting arms for a hug, before slithering up and hanging himself around his Trainer's neck.

"Glad you're back, Pikachu, Blade!" Mallow greeted.

Bounsweet greeted the foreign Pokémon, who replied in kind to the Alolans. A few seconds later, Sai's Skarmory was returned as well.

"Skarmory's in excellent condition as well," Nurse Joy declared.

"Glad to hear it. Feeling better, old friend?" Sai asked the Armor Bird Pokémon.

"Skarmory!" The steel bird declared happily.

Shane began petting his partner as RotomDex floated over behind Pikachu. "A test!", the brilliant Ghost-type declared, tugging on Pikachu's tail and receiving a well-earned dose of electricity alongside the far-less-deserving Ash. The others jumped back, staring at the electrifying scene in shock.

"Are we SURE that thing is the latest and greatest technology available?" Sai questioned.

"I'M pretty sure it's annoying..." Shane muttered.

After a moment, the electricity let up, revealing a slightly static-y Ash and a thoroughly blackened RotomDex.

"Full recovery confirmed!" the ditzy 'Dex announced. "Next, Servine!"

Shane held Rotom back with a finger as a fiery aura surrounded him. In that moment, the Pokévice saw the teen standing in front of an active volcano.

"Don't," Shane said calmly, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his hat as lava slowly seeped out of the volcano behind him.

RotomDex loudly gulped, despite being a haunted machine, and backed off. Blade looked up at his Trainer with a sweatdrop. RotomDex looked at Skarmory, FOR ONCE hesitating before it decided whether or not to mess with the Armor Bird Pokémon. However, that decision was made for it.

"Skar!" Skarmory cried out, its wings glowing as it gave them one mighty flap, sending projectiles of wind that almost looked like saw blades at RotomDex with Air Slash.

"That's Skarmory's NICE way of telling you to back off." Sai warned the PokéDex.

The next day, after school, the foreign Trainers visited Mallow's family restaurant. The four were seated at a table on the porch, with Ash, Sai and Shane enjoying a meal alongside Pikachu, Skarmory, and Blade respectively, plus Shane's recently-acquired Pikipek.

"Today's the day!" Ash declared, before taking a bite out of his food. "I'm catching a Pokémon. That's for sure!"

"Pika!" Pikachu enthusiastically agreed, pumping a fist.

"I hope you don't mind if we join you," Shane said. "As much as I want to get acquainted with Pikipek, I also want to see if we can still catch Mimikyu. I don't want a Pokémon like that winding up in Team Rocket's hands."

"Smart. Team Rocket could actually be dangerous with that Pokémon," Sai agreed. "And there's nothing wrong with catching a good bundle of Pokémon and getting to know them all together. That's what I've always done."

"Yeah, and it'll be way more fun if we're all catchin' Pokémon together!" Ash declared.

"The current Pokémon encounter rate in the forest behind the Pokémon School is eighty-nine percent!" RotomDex informed.

"That just might work!" Mallow said. "The forest is where I first came across Bounsweet."

"Bounsweet!" the berry-like Pokémon added, flapping its leaves in joy and unleashing a Sweet Scent wave.

The move sent the other Pokémon at the table into a momentary bliss...and caught the attention of a certain leafy-feathered owl.

Said owl looked around for the source of the scent until it spotted Bounsweet. Mistaking it for a berry, the flying Pokémon loudly trilled as it dive-bombed Mallow's partner. Unfortunately for the featherbrain, the party's Pokémon heard it coming and Bounsweet repelled it by spinning its leaves, countering the bird's kick and knocking it away.

The humans were quite naturally surprised by this exchange.

"Hey! Who's that Pokémon?" Ash asked, alarmed.

"Leave it to me!" Rotom said, scanning the newcomer. "Rowlet, the Grass Quill Pokémon. A Grass and Flying-Type. It stores energy during the day from photosynthesis. It swoops down without making a sound and unleashes a powerful kick without being noticed!"

Demonstrating Rotom's point perfectly, Rowlet got rejected by Bounsweet again just as the Dexmon finished explaining.

"Rowlet's also the Grass-Type Starter around Alola," Sai added. "It would've been my choice if I started in Alola. But, I caught one on my own anyway. It's fully evolved into Decidueye now."

"Um, about that not-being-noticed thing..." Shane said, sweatdropping.

"However, there is no doubt that Bounsweet noticed," Rotom said, turning back to Rowlet with its own sweatdrop. "And Rowlet met with a strong defense instead of unleashing its so-called powerful kick."

"Because Bounsweet's used to it!" Mallow explained.

"Bounsweet's used to it?" Ash parroted.

"You see, Bounsweet's scent is-"

"Wait," Rotom interrupted Mallow. "Allow me to explain the rest! Bounsweet, the Fruit Pokémon. A Grass-Type. It's always emitting a delicious scent from its body."

Punctuating Rotom's explanation, Bounsweet used Sweet Scent again, affecting Ash and Pikachu.

"Lured by its scent, many flying Pokémon mistake it for a berry."

Rowlet's loud trilling alerted the group to its next action.

"Here we go again," the Unovans muttered in unison. Pikachu, Blade, and Pikipek sweatdropped as Rowlet once again was repelled by Bounsweet, knocking the bird into a power line, where it hung by its foot.

"Skar..." Skarmory sighed, shaking its head.

"Maybe that Rowlet's really hungry," Ash guessed.

"Pika-Pika!", Pikachu shouted in concern, drawing the group's attention to Rowlet as it dropped from the power line.

"Mory!", Skarmory cried, taking off at high speeds and quickly managing to catch Rowlet, slowly flying back down to us and gently releasing the Pokémon into Ash's arms.

"Great work, Skarmory," Sai said, feeding it a rainbow Pokébean.

A short time later, Rowlet awoke, laid on Ash's nylon backpack.

"Are you okay?", Ash asked as Rowlet sat up. The bird seemed a bit groggy, but not seriously injured. "Thank goodness."

Rowlet stood up and tilted its face- somehow, not its head, as far as the humans could tell- then realized how comfortable the backpack it was standing on was. The owl hopped upon the comfortable surface, before taking note of the bowl of sliced fruit behind it, flapping over, and chowing down with nearly unmatched vigor.

"Talk about an appetite," Ash commented, peeling a banana.

"The amount of food and the speed that it eats it incredible!" Rotom added.

"Pika..."

"Vine..."

"Want this, too?" Ash offered, holding out the banana and getting Rowlet's attention. The owl took note, and flapped over to him, gripping his arm tightly as it munched on the fruit, to the Kantonian's mild discomfort. "Man, you've got a strong grip!"

Just as Rowlet finished the banana, Shane's Pikipek fluttered over and landed on a step, greeting the owl cheerfully. Rowlet responded in kind, and the bird Pokémon began chattering animatedly.

A short time later, as Pikipek spoke to Blade and Pikachu, Rowlet finished its meal.

"Did you like it?" Ash asked. Rowlet purred, content. "That's great. Glad you're happy," Ash said, reaching down to pet it. "Whoa, you're so soft!"

Upon Pikipek finishing, Shane bent down to pick up Blade, who translated the Pokémon conversation for him.

"Sounds like they're pretty tight," the teen commented.

"What's up?" Mallow asked as she placed a watermelon in the empty food bowl.

"From the sounds of it, Rowlet and my new Pikipek are part of the same flock," Shane explained. "They were supposed to gather berries yesterday, but Rowlet brought home a wind chime, so it was sent back out to get some actual food."

"It's rare, but Pokémon do sometimes take in other species into their flocks or families. Heck, my Meloetta used to live with a family of Bellossom." Sai explained, chuckling at the memory.

Ash, having missed the conversation due to Rowlet's softness, pulled out a Poké Ball.

"Hey, Rowlet," Ash quietly began, "is it okay if I catch ya?"

Just as Ash began to ask, however, Rowlet remembered its goal again, grabbed the watermelon with its talons, and began flying back to the forest.

"Hey! Wait up!" Ash called after it.

Pikachu hopped onto Ash's shoulder as RotomDex hovered over, holding his backpack.

"Are you going to catch it?" Rotom asked as the rest of the group walked over.

"You bet!", Ash answered. "Let's go!"

"Right!", the others replied as the group ran after Rowlet, Pikipek and Skarmory easily flying after it and catching up.

The heroes followed the Flying-Types through the forest until Rowlet and Pikipek dove out of sight, Skarmory touching down and waiting for the others. The Trainers and the rest of their Pokémon stopped atop a cliff that overlooked what seemed like a massive web of roots, branches, and vines.

"There it is! Over there!", Ash exclaimed, pointing.

The others followed his gaze, spotting Rowlet upon a tower of nests across the mossy web before them. The owl was blushing as a bigger bird much like Pikipek patted it's back with a wing, evidently praising it, while an even bigger toucan-like Pokémon sitting in a slightly higher nest spoke with a Pikipek. Upon hearing Ash, Rowlet waved its wings cheerfully in greeting. However, the bigger birds glared at the group in distrust.

"Here's where I come in!" RotomDex declared, floating over to the Pikipek and snapping a photo before scanning them. "Pikipek, the Wood Pecker Pokémon. A Normal and Flying-Type. It can unleash 16 pecks per second to drill a hole into a tree, where it stores food."

The Pokévice moved on to the bigger bird, who stood beside Rowlet. "Trumbeak, the Bugle Beak Pokémon, and the evolved form of Pikipek. It attacks its opponents by firing seeds stored in its beak."

The living 'Dex then snapped and scanned the biggest bird in the flock. "Toucannon, the Cannon Pokémon, and the evolved form of Trumbeak. Its beak heats up to 200 degrees, and its peck can inflict a serious Burn!"

Naturally, being an UNFATHOMABLE GENIUS, Rotom promptly decided to test the temperature of Toucannon's beak, completely disregarding its apparent conversation with Pikipek.

"We probably SHOULD help him, but I don't want to. He's earned whatever he gets at this point," Sai stated.

Shane nodded silently.

"What's this? It's not hot at all!" Rotom announced, pressing on the big bird's beak repeatedly with both arms from different angles. "That's strange," the intellectual Ghost-Type muttered, oblivious to Toucannon's rising temper until its beak heated up enough to burn him, whereupon the BRILLIANT 'Dexmon fluttered about, waving his arms in pain.

"Wow," Ash remarked as Rowlet flew up to him and dove into his backpack. "I had no idea you had so many awesome friends!"

"You were so caught up in Rowlet's softness that you missed our conversation, huh?" Shane asked teasingly as his Pikipek fluttered over and perched on his shoulder. "I seem to recall that getting distracted by cute Pokémon is MY thing, not yours."

Ash chuckled, scratching his head with an embarrassed smile.

Before anything else could happen, a large net suddenly ensnared the wild Pikipek, who cried out in fear. Another net soon caught Trumbeak and Toucannon despite their Bullet Seed counterattack.

"What's going on?!" Ash yelled, caught off-guard.

"Pika!" Pikachu added as he hopped down, cheeks sparking.

"What do you think?" Shane answered, glaring at a set of silhouettes to the heroes' left across the mossy web.

Sai let out a sigh of annoyance. "Nope. Shutting this down right now," he declared, nodding to Skarmory.

Three of the silhouettes suddenly posed with a partially-hollow R.

"Did someone ask something? We're here to find out!"

"Noble answers are what we're all about!"

The totally mysterious blue-haired silhouette threw his rose, but it was promptly sliced apart by Skarmory's Air Slash, as was the rest of the stock footage of their motto. The pieces of James' rose and the animation frame depicting Team Rocket's silhouetted pose fluttered to the ground at their feet, much to the trio's shock, horror, and anger as tick marks appeared on their foreheads.

"HEY!" Jessie snapped, dropping her net-launcher. "Who gave you the right to interrupt our motto?!"

"The authors." Sai and Shane casually answered in unison.

"First you mock our motto, and now you won't even let us finish it?! Don't you know how important the motto IS to us?!" James demanded.

"I'm sorry..." Shane started.

"We don't give a flock," Sai finished.

"Team Rocket!" Ash snapped. "Let Pikipek and the others go!"

"Sorry, but the twerp loses again!" Jessie replied, picking up the rope of her net launcher alongside as James grabbed the one from his. "They shoplifted Bewear's food, and that's a no-no!"

"And we're here to take it back!" James added. "That way, we can pay it back!"

"Wobbu!"

"I go boom!" Meowth declared, firing his own net-launcher to grab the flock's berries.

"And we're going to give your Pikachu as a perfect present for the boss!" Jessie declared, drawing a Luxury Ball. "Take it away, Mimikyu!" She commanded, throwing the ball and indeed revealing the Mimikyu from yesterday, who materialized about five feet away from Pikachu. "Mimikyu! Take care of them the way you know how!"

Pikachu tensed as Mimikyu leapt into the air, charging a Shadow Ball, but it wasn't Ash's voice that gave the next command.

"Use Mirror Move!"

"Piki! Pek!"

Mimikyu's Shadow Ball met another, and the two spheres detonated uselessly.

"Rowlet," Ash whispered. "Now's your chance to save your friends!"

Rowlet chirped, then flew up.

"Alright, Pikachu! Iron Tail!" Ash ordered.

Pikachu flipped into the air as his tail began to glow, then spun around and smacked the face of Mimikyu's disguise, only to be shocked as Mimikyu recovered effortlessly.

"Pikipek, pull Pikachu back!" Shane commanded, stepping beside Ash. "Ash, remember Mimikyu's Disguise ability? It ignored THAT Iron Tail, but another one will hurt it."

Shane's Pikipek grabbed Pikachu and pulled him away from Mimikyu, letting him go once he was in front of Ash before landing beside the mouse. Meanwhile, Rowlet flew over to the captured Pikipek and, with a single swipe of its glowing talons, sliced through the net and freed them, to which the little birds began cheering.

"Rowlet cut through that rope with just one kick!" RotomDex remarked as the wild Pikipek flew off.

James yelped. "What happened?!" He cried.

"It's one of them?!" Meowth exclaimed.

"Mimikyu, quick! Attack one more time!" Jessie ordered.

"Skarmory! Protect Pikachu and Pikipek!" Sai ordered.

"Skar!" Skarmory complied, dive-bombing and landing in between its allies and Mimikyu, who assaulted the Armored Bird Pokémon with Play Rough rather than its intended targets.

"Skarmory, no!" Ash cried.

"Sai, why would you do that!?" Shane demanded.

"Look," Sai instructed.

The group looked back as Mimikyu was landing several blows on Skarmory, who didn't even seem to acknowledge the attack, until it finally clamped down on Mimikyu's tail and threw it into the air.

"Oh, I get it! Fairy-Type moves aren't very effective on Steel-Types!" Mallow realized.

"But Steel-Type moves are super effective on Fairy-Types! Skarmory, Steel Wing!" Sai ordered.

"Skar!" Skarmory confirmed, its wings glowing as it flew towards Mimikyu and slammed its wing into the Ghost/Fairy-Type, sending it to the ground, significantly weakened.

James gasped.

"Mimikyu!" Jessie cried.

Just then, Rowlet finally cut the net holding Toucannon and Trumbeak, freeing them.

Mimikyu shakily stood up. Its eyes gleamed as it leapt into the air, readying a Shadow Ball.

"Steel Wing again!"

"Pikipek, Mirror Move!"

Copying Skarmory's Steel Wing, Pikipek flew alongside the Steel bird. The two separated, then flew by Mimikyu at upwards angles from opposite directions, knocking the Ghost/Fairy-Type higher into the air and cancelling its move. It was then that Rowlet leapt into action, using a move neither Ash nor Shane had seen. Glowing green leaves followed by high-speed wind surrounded the spinning Disguise Pokémon, keeping it suspended as a few leaves buffeted it. Despite the incredible damage, however, Mimikyu managed to ready another Shadow Ball.

"Finish it off with Iron Tail, Pikachu!"

Pikachu leapt up after his "doppelganger", spinning around as his tail glowed, before spinning the other way and slamming it into the Disguise Pokémon, sending it flying into Jessie, who was knocked into Wobbuffet, who was caught by a suddenly-appearing Bewear along with Jessie and Mimikyu. Bewear then grabbed James and Meowth and began walking away, to the bafflement of all.

"Bewear again?!" Team Rocket exclaimed in unison.

"Cool your jets, bub!" Jessie said. "We're just trying to pay you back for the food and shelter you gave us!"

"Bewear, Bewear." The absurdly powerful Pokémon replied.

"Off with a new blast..."

"Wobbuffet..."

With that, Bewear and everyone's favorite villains vanished into the forest.

"They're all gone..." Mallow said.

"Yeah," Ash added, rubbing the back of his head.

"Not quite as satisfying as a blast-off, honestly," Shane commented.

"Yeah, I miss sending them flying," Sai agreed.

"Pika..."

While the humans and non-bird Pokémon recovered from Bewear's oddness, the Pikipek flock gathered around Rowlet and Shane's Pikipek, chirping brightly. Trumbeak tackle-hugged Rowlet, patting the owl's back proudly. Toucannon, meanwhile, nuzzled Pikipek. The two birds were soaring on pride and joy, even as they blushed over all the attention.

"They look so happy," Ash said.

"It's wonderful," Mallow added.

"Pika," Pikachu agreed.

"Not to mention adorable!" Shane chipped in.

"It's nice to see a family spending time together," Sai noted.

Ash then walked over to the cheering flock.

"Rowlet?" He called, getting the owl's attention. Rowlet flew up and over to the Kantonian, perching itself on his shoulder. "Rowlet, thanks. You were awesome back there!"

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu added.

"That was a powerful kick!" RotomDex complimented, to which Rowlet preened proudly, a small blush returning to its face.

After a moment of letting Rowlet enjoy the praise, Ash crouched, holding his arm out to let Rowlet off. Both Rowlet and Pikachu got down from Ash's shoulders and looked up at the boy in confusion as he stood back up.

"Okay guys, let's go home," Ash said, turning back to the group. Mallow and Rotom were visibly confused, but Shane smiled.

"Going home?" Rotom parroted. "I thought you were going to catch Rowlet."

"It's okay," Ash replied as he walked by the Alolans.

"Ash, are you sure?" Mallow asked.

"Does not compute," Rotom added.

"Thing is," Ash started, "Rowlet has a lot of friends. Look at them! They're a family!"

Ash couldn't see it, but Rowlet was clearly saddened. Toucannon, however, seemed certain of something.

"So it's all fine," The Kantonian finished, then began walking again. Rotom and Pikachu began to follow, as did Mallow after a moment of hesitation, but the Unovans didn't move.

"You never did look at the big picture," Sai told the Kanto trainer.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked, stopping to look back the assistant teacher.

"You're doing what YOU think is right, but did it occur to you what ROWLET thinks? Because it looks to me like it wants to go with you," the multi-region champion explained. The owl Pokémon cooed in agreement, drawing Ash's attention.

"Really? You want to come with me, Rowlet?" He asked. "What about your friends?"

Rowlet turned to face Toucannon as Pikipek hovered over beside the former, the two young birds looking at their parent hopefully.

"Cannon," Toucannon said softly, nodding. After sharing a glance, the two took flight, quickly perching on the shoulders of their chosen Trainer, where they cooed in content as the rest of the flock began cheerful farewells, waving their wings and chirping at their siblings.

"I was hoping you'd choose to stay," Shane said, petting the woodpecker gently.

"You really do want to come with me?" Ash asked, to which Rowlet rubbed up against his cheek. The boy was momentarily overcome by the softness of Rowlet's feathers.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu commented.

"Unbelievable!" Rotom exclaimed.

"Awesome!" Ash exclaimed as Rowlet fluttered off of his shoulder. The boy held out an arm, which Rowlet quickly perched on. "I really wanted you to be with me as well, Rowlet!"

Rowlet then took flight again, hovering in front of Ash expectantly.

"What's Rowlet doing?" Rotom asked.

"What do you think?" Ash replied, pulling out a Poké Ball. "You want me to catch you, right?"

Rowlet replied with an affirmative trill and joyous expression.

"Alright, then here we go, Rowlet! Go, Poké Ball!" Ash said, tossing the ball up. It lightly bumped Rowlet's head and encapsulated the little owl. Ash easily caught the ball, staring expectantly at the blinking button. As expected, with no resistance on the Pokémon's part, it was three shakes and click before the ball went still. Pikachu hopped off of Ash's shoulder as the boy spun around before holding the ball up to sky. "I just caught... a Rowlet!"

"Pi-Pikachu!" Pikachu cheered, leaping into the air to complete the victory pose, before landing perfectly on Ash's shoulder.

"WHAT?!" RotomDex yelled. "IT'S POSSIBLE TO CATCH A POKÉMON LIKE THAT?!"

"Of course, it counts!" Ash replied easily, holding the ball up proudly.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu added.

"Great!" Mallow said. "Though I think Ash has done this before."

"Those of us who've traveled with Ash before call it the 'Ketchum Style'," Shane explained. "Though it's my preferred method too."

"Eh. I prefer to earn the Pokémon I catch after a hard-fought battle. And I can do without all the posing." Sai criticized.

Suddenly, Darkrai emerged from his Master Ball. "Oh, really? Because I remember something VERY different when we fought Yveltal," Darkrai said, picking up a berry the same size as a Poké Ball, tossing it high into the air behind him. "'And just like that, I caught Yveltal'!" He declared, taking a spinning step backwards, catching the berry and holding it out in front of him.

"Well, I've decided who I'm replacing with Xerneas..." Sai grumbled in annoyance at the Legendary Pokémon.

The rest of the group burst into hearty laughter.

And so, both Ash and Shane have their first Alola Pokémon. Rowlet, a dim but genuine Pokémon who shows great strength when protecting its friends, and Pikipek, who has already shown great versatility. The sibling bonds of their new Pokémon may just strengthen the already incredible bond between their Trainers as the journey continues!

To be continued...

Sorry about the late chapter. Trust me, you guys aren't the only ones annoyed at my slowness, and for the record, I'm not talking about Sai.

That said, on the subject of this fic's co-author, I once again give special thanks to Sai Kunai Blade, and once again, if any of you haven't already checked out his stories, I highly recommend you do so. Also, in case anyone's curious to see us actually play video games instead of just writing about them, we both have YouTube channels, though Sai has over a hundred videos posted for many different games, while I've only got about four vids concerning Banjo-Tooie, so you should probably subscribe to Sai and just look back on my channel every couple of weeks or so. For those curious, Sai's channel is Sai Blade (no Kunai for some reason) while my own is TheDamonWolfCub18.

Part of my problem, admittedly, is a lack of equipment. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could tell me where to get a decent (but hopefully affordable) capture card for either 3DS, Switch, or both.

In the meantime, we both wish you all a good day, and hope you're staying safe in this trying time period.