"Do you want help training Dwebble?" Ash asked. "I can spare some time to put you on the right track if you want."
"That's fine, Ash," Cilan replied. "Maybe if we do get stuck, but right now I think I know what to teach Dwebble – it's something to help him defend himself against other Dwebble, in case they try taking his artisanal rock home."
"Artisanal is a nice word," Keldeo said.
Then they heard an approaching squeaky rumble, which quickly turned out to be some kids on tricycles towing a Trubbish towards the trainers.
"Someone stop those kids!" a woman shouted, running after them.
"Did they kidnap that Pokémon?" Keldeo asked. "That's, um, actually that could be allowed or not depending on the situation they took it from-"
One of the kids shouted a command, and they all got mud balls ready to throw.
"Stand back!" Oshawott said, reaching for his Scalchop. "I'll handle this! Strengthen my heart, Scalchop!"
The blade that emerged was a sort of shimmering silver-bronze, and Oshawott's expression changed. "Actually I'm not sure I like this one, it's going to-"
A mud ball hit him in the face.
Keldeo braced himself, raised a hoof, and shot down two of the other mud balls with blasts of Hydro Pump. The last one got past him, and Lokoko hit it with a Solar Blade from her tail to split it in half.
"What move did you get, anyway?" Ash asked Oshawott, crouching down and using a cloth to wipe the Water-type's face clean.
"Revenge," Oshawott replied, as the tricycles sped past. "Before I got hit there was no point using it, and after I got hit I couldn't see..."
"Why didn't you stop them?" the chasing woman asked. "It's not safe for them to be with that Trubbish!"
"Why not?" Iris replied.
The woman seemed a bit nonplussed at that. "Because… they're kids, and it's a wild Pokémon?" she said.
"Trubbish didn't seem all that upset," Keldeo mused. "Were they trying to catch it in a Pokéball? That would be a violation of, um… is it General Pokémon Trainer Rule 4.8 or 14.8?"
"Pokémon Rule 14.8 states that a trainer card must use a photo that includes at least enough of the trainer to tell them apart from their Pokémon," Arc said.
"Probably 4.8, then," Keldeo decided. "Plus it'd be bad for the Pokémon unless they agreed to it, too. Is that the problem?"
"That's not the point," the woman said. "The point is-"
She stopped, and took a deep breath.
"Actually, you're Ash Ketchum, so you probably can help with this ridiculous situation," she decided. "Those kids are part of my class, and they recently met a Trubbish, and now they refuse to be separated from it!"
The friends waited.
"...um…" Iris began, after twenty seconds or so. "So, what about that is either ridiculous or a problem?"
She frowned. "Is it because it's a Poison type? But Poison types are one of our only defences against the tyranny of Fairy types."
"It's a nice sentiment," the teacher admitted. "But there's just… practical issues with having a Trubbish around. They leave the place messy and smelly."
"Oh, is that the main problem?" Ash checked. "I'm pretty sure I can help solve that!"
He ran after the kids.
"...what?" the teacher asked, staring. "How did he do that so fast?"
"Well, he didn't dance first, so probably Agility," Iris guessed.
The teacher introduced herself as Daniela, and explained that she was the granddaughter of the owner of the nearby Pokémon Daycare as well as being the kindergarten teacher.
Halfway through Iris, Cilan and Keldeo being shown around, Ash came back along with the kids and Trubbish – who, he proudly said, had learned not just Sweet Scent but also Aromatherapy and Scald, so he could clean up any problems he caused.
"And, if there's any problems with that, he's learning Stone Edge too!" Ash added.
"...why Stone Edge?" Daniela asked.
"I heard about stone washing," Ash shrugged. "And I'm not sure how it works, but the more ways to clean the better! Anyway, Trubbish did agree that he can't be in class all the time, but what about if he's the school Pokémon until the kids decide who he should go with – if anyone?"
"In my opinion, you should have expected this when you asked Ash to help," Cilan observed pansagely.
Ash got an egg out of the whole business, which was a little surprising because as far as he was concerned he'd just been helping out in the way anybody would if they could.
"Hmm…" Iris said, examining the egg carefully. "I guess it could be one of several possible Pokémon, but with you I'm not ruling out it being a Pokémon entirely new to science."
"I caught one of those, once," Ash replied. "It turned out they were actually Mew."
"Not surprised," Iris muttered. "Though – do you always know that a Pokémon that you hatch is going to work out for you? I never really wondered about that until now."
"I think they usually do," Ash said, thinking. "Not always, maybe, but thinking about the hatched Pokémon I've known they do all tend to get on well, while people meet lots of wild Pokémon and only catch a really small number."
"Perhaps it's because the baby Pokémon has more of a chance to pick up the right habits to get on with their trainer?" Cilan suggested. "It's like cooking vegetables alongside the main dish, so they pick up the flavour!"
Iris shook her head. "That's one of the ones that only really helps if you're already a chef, otherwise it's more helpful for learning how to cook than anything."
"Perhaps that's what I'm trying to do," Cilan said. "But what about you, Silver? You're a young Pokémon, did Ash hatch you?"
"I'm actually several years old, but Lugia grow up slowly," Silver explained. "I'm happy with it – it's a bit more exhausting when I give Ash a lift, but in exchange I can fit in buildings a lot more easily."
He shrugged his wings. "But I did visit Ash a lot when I was younger, so maybe I count? Then I became his Pokémon, and obviously that meant I was around his house a lot more!"
"Maybe I should learn to cook," Keldeo wondered.
"You'd probably want to learn Scald," Ash said. "Then you can do the things that need hot water, at least – like, uh, pasta, right?"
"That's a bit of an oversimplification," Cilan told him. "But it's a good start, yes! And a little brine for seasoning, plus Whirlpool to stir?"
"Yes, that is a good point," Keldeo agreed. "A lot of cooking does seem to assume you have hands, which I don't have."
"You could use psychic powers," Silver suggested.
Keldeo frowned. "I don't have psychic powers."
"Yeah, but the other Keldeo I've met can use Teleport," Silver replied. "And Articuno can use cut moves and also psychic powers, so it's not like you can only have one of those things."
"Excuse me!" someone called, waving. "Are you Ash Ketchum?"
"That's me!" Ash called back, and the girl who'd shouted came hurrying over.
"Professor Juniper told me to look for the boy who was probably travelling around with several Legendary Pokémon," she explained, as she got closer. "Apparently you forgot to pick up a badge case, and Professor Juniper told me she'd rather send me to deliver it than phone you and risk you turning up at her lab – my name's Bianca, I'm sort of her assistant."
She held it up, and Ash took it. "Thanks!"
It flipped open with a click, and Cilan leaned in to have a look.
"So that's the Trio Badge," he said. "The best Badge, of course! But there's more than eight spaces."
"There's more than eight gyms in Unova, right?" Ash replied. "Arc?"
"Correct," Arc replied. "That is one of the reasons badge cases like that are not universally used."
"...oh, that's right," Cilan realized. "I still thought there were eight, even though Striaton Gym is the tenth. It's funny how hard it is to unlearn things you grew up with."
"And a friend of mine wants to become a Gym Leader too," Bianca told them. "He's not sure where to start, what to specialize in or how to start a gym, but he's got a dream!"
She rummaged in her pocket, and a dusty Pokéball fell out. "Whoops… sorry, Pignite!"
A Pokéball still in her pocket flashed, and a Pignite emerged. "Sorry about what?" he asked, then gasped. "Wait, is that a Lugia? Is that a Keldeo? Is that a…"
He stopped.
"Excuse me," he resumed, pointing at Zygarde. "What kind of Pokémon are you?"
"I am Zygarde," Zygarde said. "We are many. I prefer not to use gendered pronouns because they are inaccurate."
"Thank you," Pignite said, then gasped again. "Is that a Zygarde?"
"Yes!" Silver supplied. "It's nice to meet you!"
The dropped Pokéball went click, which surprised almost everyone.
"What just happened?" Bianca asked.
"Your Pokéball just caught a Minccino," Marshadow told her.
"Is that a-" Pignite began, gasping again, stopped, and took Bianca's Pokédex out of her pocket. He flipped it open and pointed it at Marshadow.
The device beeped. "No data."
"Aww, that's my thing!" Purrloin complained, phasing out of thin air.
"I am Marshadow," Marshadow introduced himself. "That is actually Mew."
Pignite looked contemplative, then jumped into the air and went thump back down again.
"It was worth a try," he said.
"This is amazing!" Bianca said. "I never realized that around Ash Ketchum people can just talk to Pokémon like it's not a big deal!"
Keldeo had trotted around to Minccino's ball, and knelt down.
"You realize you can escape if you want?" he asked. "I trust Ash to make sure you could, if you didn't want to have a trainer."
The Pokéball remained inert, and Keldeo shrugged before rising back to his hooves.
"Well, you now have another Pokémon," he declared. "I assume you're aware of all the appropriate rules and regulations?"
"Probably not!" Bianca admitted. "I sort of assume that making sure Minccino is well-fed and happy is the important thing!"
"...in hindsight that would have been a much more efficient version of the appropriate rules and regulations," Keldeo said.
"You do sort of need the full ones, though," Ash shrugged. "Not because of people who are nice, but because of people who aren't, just to make sure that it's certain that what they do is wrong."
"Do you mind if I take some notes?" Bianca asked. "I'd love to have a proper conversation with Pignite while I can, as well."
AN:
Bianca is an assistant, which means being given the jobs the Professor does not want to deal with.
Her actually enjoying this one is useful.