"This feels weird," Max said.

What's weird about it? Silver asked. It's helping out that nice family with their Lotad, right?

He flapped his wings slightly, swimming closer. Can you do that pipe there?

"Well, sure," Max agreed. "Uh… Shroomish, can you get the wrench – thanks."

He took the tool from the Grass-type, and used it to tug on one of the bolts. "It's just that, you know… all of us doing this underwater seems weird."

That's half the point of the move Dive, though! Silver pointed out. It lets you go underwater safely!

"Right, and I get that too," Max agreed. "It's just…"

He finished undoing the pipe, and looked out through the lake water.

Silver made sense to be making a bubble of air underwater, because he was a Psychic type, and Lugia lived deep in the sea anyway. And honestly it was kind of cool.

And Ash's Latias – who was giving May her air bubble – was kind of sensible too, for the same sort of reason. Eon Pokémon didn't live deep in the sea, maybe, but he'd gathered that Latias spent a lot of her time living near canals, and she was a Psychic type anyway.

It was Cranidos – supplying the bubble for Brock – which started to get a bit weird.

Sure, Cranidos wasn't swimming for Brock, that was being done by a Lotad that had taken a shine to him, but it still seemed a bit strange for the cheerful Rock-type to be clinging to Brock's back while… somehow… keeping a bubble of air going that let Brock move about freely underwater.

And then there was Ash.

Max had watched Ash's League semi-final, sure he had, and he even remembered something like this happening… vaguely, if you squinted… but it just seemed fundamentally wrong for a Charizard to be bobbing about ten feet underwater, his wings and paws swimming him along outside the air bubble while his trainer, teammate and flaming tail all sat inside the bubble.

"It just raises questions about oxygen, really…" Max muttered to himself.

"Miiish?" Shroomish asked.

"Not you, Shroomish, sorry," Max said, patting the Grass-type on the head. "Just thinking about Ash's Charizard."

"Shr-iish," she replied, sounding happier.

"I guess I should move on to the next pipe now…" Max said.

A day or so later, May caught herself a Wurmple.

This involved significant confusion, because Jessie had caught herself a Wurmple at the same time during an Ekans training session, and telling which Wurmple was which was not rendered simpler by Zorua getting involved.

While all that was going on, though, many miles away – in Vermillion – a boy just in his early teens compared a map and a newspaper article.

"So… that might be a clue," he said, and wrote it down. "Another sighting."

"Pii?" his companion asked.

"I don't know, Pidgey," Goh replied. "There's only a little data to go on, and it's all so confusing…"

He rubbed his temples. "There's plenty of circumstantial evidence that Ash Ketchum has a Mew, but it's all circumstantial, and even if it's confirmed then that's just the start… all it means is that I know for sure that there are still Mew around today, and I know that at least one of them let itself be caught… and I couldn't have that Mew as a starter anyway."

He leaned back in his chair, spinning it around with a kick, then looked at Pidgey again.

The little Flying-type had been around for years, now, pretty much constantly either in his room or flapping around when he was outdoors, and for a while he'd wondered if he was disappointing the Tiny Bird by not catching him as a formal starter.

But every time Goh brought up the subject, either directly or by talking about his wish to have Mew as a starter Pokémon, Pidgey had listened attentively and then just kept hanging around. And when Goh asked if Pidgey was interested in being his first non-starter capture then Pidgey had shown every sign of interest.

"You know that just because I rescued you from under that truck doesn't mean you owe me anything, right?" he said. "It's because you were in trouble, not because I wanted anything from you."

Pidgey chirped.

Somehow that made Goh feel embarrassed… the good kind, though, where a friend had gently told you to stop being silly.

"Maybe I'll notice something if I watch that League challenge again," he mused. "I swear there's something I'm missing..."

When they reached Rustboro, Ibid informed them that the local Gym Leader also worked as a teacher at the Rustboro City Pokémon Trainers' School. She was busy there, instead of at the gym, and May suggested that they go and visit.

Which went well.

"Ah, it's always a delight when Pokémon Trainers from out of town visit," the principal said. "I'd be quite happy to allow the three of you to sit in on the lessons and let Roxanne know that there's a challenger waiting."

He fixed his attention on Ash. "However, you're not allowed in the building. And nor are your Pokémon – including that Phanpy."

"...huh?" Ash asked, confused, as Pikachu jumped down to tell Phanpy she wasn't to go rolling through the door. "Why not?"

"There are a number of things I would rather not see, Mr. Ketchum," the principal replied. "A Wurmple using String Shot to cover the entire west building. Sophie's borrowed Taillow making the merry-go-round in the playground spin so fast it melts the axle. The missing link between Cranidos and Aron being unearthed in the basement."

He folded his arms. "Can you honestly say that those things won't happen?"

"...well…" Ash began. "Why would a Wurmple want to do that? Unless it was trying to make a trampoline, or see if it could make a really big cocoon and evolve into a giant Beautifly or Dustox… oh, or maybe if it was trying to work out the difference between the different kinds of silk…"

"And now you see why," the principal told him.

"Hey, there isn't a missing link between Cranidos and Aron!" Cranidos protested. "...or so I am told, it's not like I was there when there would have been one. Which there wasn't."

"Seems kind of an over-reaction, though," May mused. "What's wrong with some of Ash's really young Pokémon getting involved? Like Phanpy?"

"Ash! Ash!" Phanpy called. "I found another of those shiny stones! This one's different though."

Ash took it from the little Ground-type as she rolled up, and inspected it.

"That kind of looks more like my Key Stone than a Mega Stone," he said. "That's pretty neat. Well done, Phanpy, I'll let Professor Oak know and see if he's got any suggestions."

"I don't want some kind of ancient superweapon to be discovered under the school," the principal concluded.

"Well… I guess I'll just use the time for training, then!" Ash decided.

"Who do you think you wish to use, for this next battle?" Zacian asked, flicking her tail. "I could always give it a go."

"I'm kind of thinking it'd be better to give Taillow and Treecko a go," Ash replied, pondering. "See how good they are now. I know where everyone who was in the League is, or was then…"

"Speaking of which, what gyms are there here?" the Fairy-type asked.

"Uh… I looked it up, but I can't remember them all," Ash admitted. "I know there's an Electric one, a Fire one and a Flying one."

"Perhaps Raikou and I should schedule to battle the Flying gym, assuming there's no Dragon or Fairy gym…" Zacian pondered.

"That's assuming a lot about whether I'm doing the Flying gym!" Taillow said. "What makes you think I'm not?"

"Honestly?" Pikachu replied. "Ash as a trainer is kind of focused on having his Pokémon take on unusual type combinations, half the time. For example, I'm pretty sure I'm not facing the Flying gym, but I might get the Electric one."

"That is pretty much accurate," Ash admitted. "So, uh… I think we've pretty much got Treecko's new defensive move ready, but he needs to work on attacking. Can you help out with that, Zacian?"

"I'm sure I can," Zacian agreed.

"Right, so, the idea is," Ash began. "Treecko, when I tell you to dodge, you'll need to just avoid the attack as quickly as possible – the quicker you work the better. And when you've finished dodging, I'll call out one of the Pokémon illusions Zacian makes – and you need to target that as soon as possible as well. Right?"

Treecko pushed himself up from the root he'd been resting against, and flicked the twig in his mouth. "I think I get it."

"Yeah, if you can re-orient yourself really quickly after dodging then you can do it whenever!" Ash agreed. "Then once that's working we can move on to Zacian's favourite topic."

"...what, dinner?" Zacian asked.

"I was actually thinking about measure," Ash corrected. "But having dinner is important too!"

"Miss!" someone gasped, standing up to look out the window. "There's a Flygon outside!"

Roxanne paused her talk about Abilities. "If there's a Flygon outside then it's probably just a wild one passing through," she said.

"No, no, it's fighting something – wait, it disappeared!" the boy said. "It just… popped! Like a balloon! And now there's a Salamence!"

"What do you know," Max shook his head. "Ash isn't even here and he's disrupting class…"

Ash's actual gym challenge at Rustboro came around the next morning, and Roxanne brought her whole class along.

"Normally, I do this so that they can observe a gym battle," she told Ash. "And learn about appropriate strategies, as well as picking up a few tips on what not to do… but this time it's a bit more like watching a fireworks display."

"I guess that's all right," Ash decided, after thinking about it for a moment. "How many Pokémon is it?"

"Three Pokémon on a side," Roxanne declared. "However, the winner must switch their Pokémon unless it is no longer possible."

Ash frowned. "So… is that about how you have the different types of rock, like, sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic? And how they keep changing from one to another?"

"...that's surprisingly well informed on geology, but no," Roxanne told him. "I just think it's a good idea."

"I've been travelling with a Rock type gym leader for two regions!" Ash said, by way of explanation. "I guess some of it must have sunk in… anyway, I know what Pokémon I'm using!"

Someone raised a hand, and Roxanne called on him. "Billy?"

"Are any of the Pokémon you've chosen Legendaries, Mr. Champion Ketchum?" Billy asked.

"Not this time," Ash replied. "But it's important to make sure all your Pokémon get a good share of time battling and training… not necessarily an equal share, because sometimes some Pokémon need more work than others or just don't like training as much. But it depends on your Pokémon."

There were several nods, then Roxanne's hand brushed over the set of Pokéballs she had ready before selecting one. "I won't quite go as high as I can get, I think, but I'm going to start with Graveler!"

"Taillow, go!" Ash countered.

Taillow emerged in a flash of light, and hovered there before doing a spontaneous aileron roll. "Okay, this is going to be fun."

"Hmm," Roxanne mused. "A Flying type, so weak to Rock moves… and it can have Guts, which would make it stronger if it was poisoned, burned or paralyzed. Graveler, stick to Rock type moves."

She clapped her hands. "Begin! Graveler, Rock Throw!"

"Electrify!" Ash called.

Roxanne blinked. "Pardon?"

Little sparks crackled off Taillow's wings, and she clapped them together sharply as the rock approached – and the rock dissolved into an electrical current, which surged forwards to hit Taillow, only to bounce off her feathers with absolutely no purchase.

"I…" the Gym Leader began, then blinked a few times. "Okay, that breaks at least two independent rules of normal Pokémon battling…"

"Great, it's working!" Ash said. "Steel Wing!"

Taillow let out a war-cry, and dove in to hit Graveler with Steel Wing.

"Flamethrower!" Roxanne ordered, and Graveler raised an arm to block the Steel Wing – which struck home with a tchak – before shooting out a mass of flames at Taillow. The Flying-type clapped her wings together again, this time turning the flames into electricity, and shed them from her wings as easily as the Electric Rock Throw had gone before flipping around to attack again.

"Stay on the move!" Ash called. "Keep that speed up!"

"...wait, that's it," Roxanne realized. "Graveler, forget using moves, just try to swat that Taillow!"

"Agility!" Ash retorted. "In and out too fast for him to react!"

Taillow flew a complicated, looping course, clapping her wings together every few seconds to convert any move Graveler was preparing into a burst of electricity instead, and Roxanne watched before raising her voice.

"Class?" she said. "Tomorrow, we'll be discussing how this should be impossible. Take notes."

"All right, Taillow!" Ash announced, once the battle was over. "Great work!"

He held up a Pokéball. "You need to switch out, now, but you can have a rest or watch the rest of the battle."

"I'm going to watch," Taillow declared, flitting up to sit on the shoulder that wasn't occupied by Pikachu.

"Fine by me," Ash decided.

"My next Pokémon is my Nosepass," Roxanne said, sending the Rock-type out, and Ash sent out Treecko in response.

Nosepass rocked back and forth slightly, then turned to their trainer.

"I understand that there's a rare opportunity for me to be fully understood," he said. "So, just for the sake of clarity during this rare chance… I prefer sweet foods, even with how they make me sneeze."

Roxanne nodded, taking out a small notebook and writing that down.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"Not really."

"To be fair, if I were in a situation where I was being translated for the first time in my life, I'd correct any errors in food preferences," Vulpix mused.

"Anyway," Roxanne said. "Begin – Gravity!"

The air around Nosepass trembled slightly as he altered gravity, making it so that he was the focus of a localized gravity well, and Treecko stumbled and nearly fell towards the Rock-type.

"Treat the floor like a wall!" Ash called. "Stick on!"

"Rock Throw," Roxanne ordered.

"Substitute!" Ash replied.

Just as the fired rock hit, Treecko used Substitute. There was a puff of smoke, and when it faded there was a broken bundle of twigs where the Grass-type had been.

"Great!" Ash called, as Treecko reappeared several feet away. "Don't let him pin you down – now, Bullet Seed!"

"That's going to-" Roxanne realized, but by the time she had Treecko was already using Bullet Seed.

They weren't the normal round seeds of a Bullet Seed attack. Instead they were big and sharp, like oversized sunflower seeds, and Treecko threw them out in a fan that curved to strike Nosepass.

"Invert the gravity," Roxanne ordered. "He's using it to boost his attacks!"

She frowned, thinking, as Treecko sprang into the air again and threw another barrage of Bullet Seeds. This time they curved away, instead, but one of them had been thrown straight enough that it still connected, and she considered before nodding.

"Switch to electric attacks," she said. "Thunder Wave!"

"Substitute!" Ash replied.

Treecko vanished in a puff of smoke again, evading the attack and leaving a bundle of twigs behind, then reappeared and hurled more Bullet Seeds.

"Hmm," Roxanne said. "Nosepass – Rock Blast!"

This time the Rock-type hurled a barrage of exploding rocks, not just one. Treecko evaded the first with a Substitute, but the attacks came too quickly for him to cope with just yet – the second one exploded just next to him, and he avoided the third, but the fourth hit him squarely and knocked him back with a thump.

"You okay, Treecko?" Ash asked.

Treecko gave him a thumbs-up.

"I guess we need to work on that," Ash decided. "In fact… get in closer! Climb up the floor to get in close!"

"Earthquake while he's on the ground," Roxanne said.

"Aha!" Ash replied. "Mimic!"

"Mimic?" Roxanne repeated.

Treecko got slammed into the air by the shaking ground, then vanished in a puff of smoke as he used Substitute.

A moment later the Grass-type appeared again, doing a forward flip down from the gym ceiling, and slammed his tail into the ground.

And used Earthquake.

Nosepass suffered more heavily than Treecko would have done, and Ash pointed. "Now – close range Bullet Seed!"

It was a tough fight, especially because both Roxanne and Nosepass had noticed that Treecko couldn't put his Substitute dodges too close together, but eventually Treecko managed to hammer Nosepass with enough Bullet Seeds to clench the win.

"I'm… sort of nervous about this third battle," Roxanne admitted, recalling Nosepass. "You could use Taillow here again, after all."

"I know who I'm using instead," Ash said. "Taillow's really tough, but I know she's tired, so I'm not going to overwork her."

Taillow chirruped something which could be taken as charitable, if you squinted.

"In that case," Roxanne said, and sent out an Omanyte. "Let's see who you're using."

Ash replied with Phanpy.

"Oh," Roxanne said. "Well, I do know how this is going… if you'll oblige me for a moment?"

She turned to her class. "Who can tell me what's likely to happen?"

"Omanyte's got a type advantage!" someone said.

"No, they both have," another student corrected him.

"Ash's Phanpy is really fast," a third student said. "And she can use an electrical attack?"

"That's what I was thinking of," Roxanne agreed. "I don't know if Phanpy actually has a Ground attack, but I do know she has an Electric one because she used it during the Pokémon League. Which means I have to be careful with my Pokemon's Water type moves."

"Ready, Phanpy?" Ash asked, once the quick discussion was over. "Rollout!"

"Rock Polish!" Roxanne countered. "Mud Shot!"

"Mud Shot, huh?" Ash repeated, thinking, as Phanpy avoided the attack and she and Omanyte began chasing one another around the room. "Phanpy, you're up to speed – use Thunderbolt!"

"Now, Surf!" Roxanne ordered.

Ash frowned for a second, because quite apart from anything else they'd just been talking about this, then realized what was going on as the attack reached Phanpy – knocking her aside, and making her yelp, but not sending a blast of electricity flashing over to hit Omanyte. "Oh, I see – the water's all muddy because of the Mud Shot! In that case… Phanpy, no Thunderbolts, go for a direct hit with Rollout!"

Omanyte moved out of the way at speed, and Phanpy chased the Rock-type around the room – dodging left and right at Ash's command to avoid the Water Gun attacks launched at her.

"Hey, come back!" she complained.

"Phanpy, Stone Edge!" Ash called. "Put down some obstacles!"

Rocks came sliding out of the arena floor, forcing both Omanyte and Phanpy to weave crazily around them, and Ash counted under his breath.

"...and now!" he said. "Bounce!"

"Bounce?" Roxanne repeated. "That's not a good move against…?"

She stopped as Phanpy started bouncing between the obstacles, still using Rollout. Her speed was still increasing, but more to the point she couldn't tell where Phanpy was going to bounce to next and nor could Omanyte.

Less than three seconds later, the inevitable happened and Phanpy collided with Omanyte. There was a tchack sound as they bounced off one another, and Ash grinned. "All right – now, start using Thunderbolt again! And keep bouncing!"

"Dodge!" Roxanne ordered.

"How?" Omanyte demanded. "Dodging implies having some idea where to dodge to or from!"

Then Omanyte got hit by Thunderbolt.

Also Phanpy.

Also the ground.

In many ways, it was a team effort.

Roxanne gave Ash the Stone Badge, and told him that she had no idea what he was doing to raise his Pokémon but it was clearly working.

Then they spent most of the rest of the day helping Roxanne and her class speak to their Pokémon, and after that was done the friends faced an important question.

Which way next?

"So… I guess the awkward one is Dewford, right?" Ash asked, looking at the map. "I know it wouldn't take us long to visit the gym there, not really, but it still feels like it would be an awkward detour."

"I know what you mean," Pikachu agreed. "And, by the way, Ash, would you feel happy or annoyed if I praised you for reading a map correctly?"

"You realize it was us getting lost, not me getting lost, right?" Ash said, sticking his tongue out. "Anyway, uh… I kind of think we should go to Dewford next, but if anyone's got any other ideas that would be great. We could go up to, uh… Fallarbor, or via Verdanturf… I… think?"

"I'd kind of like to visit everywhere in Hoenn," May suggested. "But I think you're right, Ash, we could either go around Mount Chimney this way or that way, and going to Dewford kind of makes more sense to me."

Brock didn't point out anything the two of them had missed, and Ash grinned. "Right! Then I guess I need to sort out how we're getting there… uh, anyone have a problem with flying? Max?"

He looked up. "Where did Max go?"

"I think he was going for a walk with Mightyena," May frowned. "It's not like the two of them can get in trouble, though…"

"He's been around you at least a week, Ash, I think we should go check on him," Pikachu suggested.

"Ooh!" Cranidos announced, once they'd found Max. "This is full of cool technology stuff!"

"How do you know about technology?" Max asked. "You're literally a fossil."

"I read!" Cranidos huffed, crossing her arms. "It's called re-skilling. You should try it."

Max blinked a couple of times. "I… think I'm still skilling, really…"

The man who Max had met laughed. "You seem like a bright boy already," he said. "And I have to say, I'm glad to see that there are fossils out there who are up to date on the modern world… even if I didn't expect any to have learned the language."

"That's my work," Vulpix said proudly.

"So, what did bring you here?" May asked.

"Oh, that's right!" Max said, then deflated slightly. "I… actually forgot, when I met Mr. Stone, but there was someone Mightyena and I saw who was sneaking into the building! I tried following him, but… it got kind of complicated…"

"I can help!" Cranidos said, and hurried over to a computer. "Let's see…"

She stood back slightly, then bashed her head repeatedly into the keyboard.

"What are you doing?" Mr. Stone asked, sounding more fascinated than concerned. "I'm fairly sure that should have broken the keyboard."

"I'm hacking, of course!" Cranidos answered, still head-banging, as camera footage came up on the screen. "Look! There he is, going into the building, and there he is putting on a lab coat… and he's stealing something!"

"Oh, good," Mr. Stone declared. "I thought it was something serious. That's our Creation Fluid that's used for reviving fossils… which is a grandiose name we put on tap water."

"...oh, I get it!" Ash declared. "So that way, if someone breaks in like that guy just did, they take it because they think it's important… and it sounds cool, too. That's important."

Pikachu raised his paw, thought, and lowered it again. "Given that one of my attacks is called Thunder That Breaks The Earth, I literally have no possible justification to object."

AN:

A long chapter this time, which is how it broke out. That cuts into my buffer a bit, but I'm going to see how long I can keep up daily updates.