"So why did you only take one Pokémon with you?" Iris asked. "You must have caught some of the other Pokémon in Striaton Gym."

"It's true, I did," Cilan replied. "But it's Pansage who I have the best bond with, by far, and that's what matters!"

"I kind of think that a lot of how it works is that you can build bonds with Pokémon," Ash volunteered. "And people, too. But sometimes you do just hit it off right almost without trying, so I guess that's the kind of thing you're thinking of?"

"Ah, you've got it just right," Cilan said. "It's when a recipe comes together first time. That's a bond between a human and their Pokémon!"

"I wonder how many cooking metaphors we're going to get on this journey," Pikachu asked.

Iris looked back. "I guess-" she began, then did a double-take. "Wait, is Pikachu flying?"

"I did learn the move," Pikachu replied, flicking his water-crafted surfboard and doing a kick flip. "Well, it started as Surf and then I picked up Fly from there."

"I don't have the time to be amazed by everything, so just take it as read that I'm amazed," Iris requested. "Anyway. I guess that's just how Cilan is?"

"I have two great passions, Pokémon and food," Cilan smiled. "So of course I like relating the two together."

"But what I was wondering is, Ash, what Pokémon did you have trouble relating to first?" Iris added. "Or the most trouble getting on with, anyway."

"Probably Aten?" Ash supposed. "He wanted to kill me at first, but he was adorably incapable of it. He's the Hisuian Zorua – he's really toughened up, but at the same time he's learned to have friends and sort of accepts it now. So he's grown up a lot as a Pokémon."

"You have an incoming electronic message," Arc reported. "The message reads: A. A. A. A. A. A. There is an attached file for Ibid."

Ibid promptly vanished out of Ash's pocket, then reappeared a moment later along with Absol.

"Well, hello there, mysterious stranger," Lokoko said. "What brings you here?"

"Intimations of a possible disaster," Absol replied. "Not a big one, but one I felt worth turning up for."

"Oh, is this your Absol, Ash?" Cilan asked, looking between the Dark-type and Ash. "You don't seem to have a very good bond at all, I'm not sure why."

"Thank you for your concern," Absol replied. "It is, however, entirely irrelevant."

"Yeah, Absol isn't my Pokémon," Ash explained. "She and Lokoko are girlfriends, so she hangs around the Oak Ranch a lot, but she's technically a wild Pokémon who sometimes works at my Mom's cafe."

Cilan considered, tapping his chin as he looked at Lokoko and Absol, then nodded. "Yes, I can see it! A hot-smoked flavour of friendship, indeed."

"But you do have an Absol, right?" Iris asked. "I know I heard that about you… admittedly, you have such an insane collection of Pokémon that that could just be a mistake."

"Back in Johto we found someone with a potion that turns people into their most fitting Pokémon," Ash explained. "I turned out to be an Absol. So I sort of am my Absol."

Cilan framed Ash with his forefingers and thumbs, and nodded. "I can see that, yeah."

"But is that allowed?" Keldeo asked. "I, um… wait, yeah, I think I remember. Global Battling Rule 124 subsection D."

"124 subsection D," Arc related. "A trainer may not circumvent rules around Pokémon reuse by means of a collection of funny moustaches."

"E, then," Keldeo replied.

"Or hats," Arc quoted. "Assuming you mean Rule 124 subsection C, it specifies that a Pokémon who is also a registered trainer at the time of the battle may send themselves out to battle as part of their own team, whether or not formally captured or registered."

"What I want to know is what that disaster is," Iris said. "Absol are supposed to appear around major disasters, right? I… think it's that they know they're coming rather than actually causing them?"

"Maybe it's a Pokémon we're about to meet," Ash suggested. "Like Reshiram?"

Zekrom exploded out of his Pokéball. "Is Reshiram here? I was asleep!"

The tree he collided with went crash, and a Snivy jumped out of it to do two forward flips before landing en pointe on the ground.

"Excuse-moi? What kind of way to treat a lady is that?" she asked, winking, and Zekrom stared.

"I, uh… pretty?" he said, dazed.

"Ah, now I see," Absol declared. "Lokoko, I suggest we go and spend some time together away from the female Pokémon throwing around Attract."

"Hey, Snivy!" Ash called, once Zekrom had been returned. "I've got a simple question!"

The Grass-type held her tail up like a fan, then flicked it. "Oh? And what might that be?"

"Are you a Pokémon who doesn't want a trainer, under any circumstances?" Ash asked. "Or are you someone who wouldn't mind the right trainer?"

"Oh, now, that is an interesting question," Snivy mused. "Let me see, now…"

She shrugged. "I would say… catch me if you can, yes?"

"Right!" Ash decided. "In that case, Croagunk!"

There was a slight pause as Ibid retrieved the Poison-type, then Ash sent him out and Snivy raised an eyebrow.

"A male, yes?" she asked. "Perhaps one of an alternative persuasion?"

Croagunk shrugged. "It depends what you mean by that, but I am attracted to female Pokémon," he said. "Mostly other Croagunk."

"Get ready to dodge that Attract!" Ash called. "Since she's probably going to use it."

Iris frowned slightly.

"So… why isn't he just using a Pokémon who Attract doesn't work on?" she asked. "I don't get it, unless he doesn't have a straight female Pokémon or something?"

Zygarde barked.

"I think I get it," Keldeo volunteered, a bit uncertainly. "See… there isn't any kind of rule about having to give a wild Pokémon a fair chance in a battle. Or, at least, not like this. But I think it's the sort of person Ash is."

He waved a hoof vaguely. "It'd be easier to beat Snivy with a Pokémon that Attract just plain wouldn't work on, but… that might be sort of like not giving Snivy a proper chance? Or if you think of it as solving a puzzle, it'd be like skipping to the end of the book."

"It's obvious enough to me, it's a kind of taste testing," Cilan said. "Ash and Snivy are both seeing if they fit properly with the other one, and whether they'll combine properly."

"Okay, that?" Iris asked, pointing at Cilan. "That one was actually helpful. If you're going to do cooking metaphors, more like that one please."

"I'll do my best," Cilan promised with a smile. "What are they saying now, Keldeo? If you don't mind, that is."

"Well, Croagunk is complaining that he dodged and so Snivy's Attract got flipped around so it hit her instead," the Water-type supplied. "He's saying something about social perfect defences and how she should now be infatuated with herself, but Snivy says she can't tell the difference."

"Thanks," Cilan said. "I have no idea what it means, but thank you for letting me be confused rather than ignorant."

Keldeo smiled at that.

"Though…" Iris began. "If this is going to take a while, maybe I should try seeing if I can teach Excadrill some of that move Ash was working on."

"Hmm…" Ash frowned. "I think I've got an idea… Pikachu?"

"Yes?" Pikachu asked, warily.

"I've got a plan that would work, I think," he said. "How does that sound?"

"Foreboding," Pikachu replied, then flicked his ears. "But I'm on board with whatever you want, Ash. I know you wouldn't ask me to do anything I wouldn't be okay with."

"Thanks, Pikachu," Ash said, touched. "Okay, it's your turn!"

Pikachu hopped out in front of Snivy. "Let's do this!"

"Yes, I agree," Snivy said, blowing Pikachu a kiss, and the Attract washed over him.

"Pretty," Pikachu added, sounding a little dizzy.

"Pikachu!" Ash called. "Snivy really, really wants a hug!"

Snivy blinked. "Pardon?"

Pikachu gave Snivy a hug.

This involved using the move Nuzzle.

"I must admit, that was crafty," Snivy said, some minutes later, once Mew had brought in an Eggant Berry for Pikachu. "You are more than just a trainer who relies on their Pokémon to get them through problems."

"I'm not, though," Ash replied. "I rely on my Pokémon because they're the best friends I could have. And I know I can rely on them because we've spent all that time working together, and I think – I hope – that they know they can rely on me as well."

Snivy blinked. "That is… not something I had considered," she admitted. "But it is a good way to think, I think."

"And I thought you might want to meet Clefairy," Ash added. "I have the feeling you two might have something in common."

Clefairy bowed. "Bonjour, ma nouvelle amie."

Snivy examined Clefairy for several seconds.

"How exactly do you think that I have a close association with the moon?" she asked. "I do not understand zis 'something in common'."

"Hmm," Ash said, frowning, and got Arc out of his pocket. "Doesn't the Snivy line absorb sunlight?"

That was enough of a tangent that Snivy blinked. "Pardon? What is it you are saying?"

"Well, moonlight is just sunlight that's been reflected off a rock," Ash said. "So couldn't you use that instead?"

"…is this normal?" Snivy asked, glancing at Pikachu.

"Ash has a miniature shiny version of the creator of the universe as his smart phone," Pikachu said, succinctly. "And they're a Normal type. So yes, by that definition this is normal."

AN:

French like a royal dynasty that's lived elsewhere for centuries.