"And here we are!" Cilan declared. "Nimbasa City! The city lit by the flash of lightning!"

Ash looked up at the sky. "It doesn't seem very stormy."

"Oh, sorry, is that a problem?" Rayquaza asked, peering out from under his jacket. "I just tend to assume that people like nice weather."

"We definitely do," Iris told her. "But I think it's metaphorical, because of the use of electricity."

"...so I shouldn't turn into Primal Kyogre?" Rayquaza double-checked.

"It sounds more like it'd be a job for a Thundurus," Ash decided. "So if one shows up, we'll sort something out. Okay?"

"That sounds good," Rayquaza agreed, nodding. "Thank you for explaining."

"Is this somewhere you've been before, Cilan?" Ash added.

"No, and that's one reason I'm so excited," Cilan replied. "I'm really looking forward to trying out the metro!"

N tilted his head slightly. "Um… a metro… that's an underground railway, right?"

"It's actually from the word metropolitan, in context meaning a railway in a city," Cilan corrected. "But it's actually come to mean any light rail system in a city or built up area, and any extensions from there, including underground and overground sections. I'm a connoisseur of metros!"

"How many things can you be a connoisseur of?" Pikachu asked.

"So long as you have excellent taste and a good work ethic, the sky's the limit!" Cilan replied. "And I do consider myself an appreciator of fine weather. These little fluffy clouds are particularly bijou, Rayquaza!"

"Thank you," the Dragon-type said.

"Is that Cilan I hear?" someone asked.

Two men came out of a nearby subway entrance, wearing striped cloaks and peaked hats – one of them black-and-russet, the other white-and-russet.

"Ingo and Emmet!" Cilan smiled. "It's been a while. How have you been?"

"Well, you know me," the white-striped man said. "I've been keeping the trains running, same as always. Same as Ingo, except for that time he disappeared last year and turned back up again three days later looking like he'd been gone for years."

"I've told you, little brother," Ingo replied. "I was gone for years."

"It's true," agreed a large Pokémon standing behind Ingo. "He was."

"Hey, I understood her that time," Emmet said, surprised. "What happened there?"

Lokoko waved. "All part of the service."

"That does make sense of where Sneasler came from," Emmet added, frowning. "I always thought you'd rescued her from under the tracks of the Super Single and didn't want to embarrass her."

Sneasler looked down at herself. "I'm not entirely sure I'd fit, even without carrying the backpack. I've seen those tracks."

"But we should show you around the whole of the metro!" Emmet decided. "And don't forget to bring your friends."

"Is that something we can do after lunch?" Iris asked.

"Fortunately, my backpack is full of lunches," Sneasler said. "Or, technically, half full. The other half is tools, tickets, souvenirs, maps, spare jackets, and everything else a Subway Boss might need to use or give out to someone else."

"That's impressively prepared," Ash told her. "How do you carry all that?"

"It's a hold item," Sneasler replied.

"Am I the only one confused by how there's a Pokémon I don't recognize standing over there?" N checked.

"Says the shiny Keldeo," Zygarde pointed out. "Technically you are standing next to a Pokémon that is not often seen; that is, myself."

They licked their paw. "I suggest trying to remember a law that they are in violation of."

Cilan enjoyed himself for the rest of the day, and Ash found it interesting as well sometimes. Mostly because of the special subway cars which could handle Pokémon battles, built with shock absorbers and resistant materials, and Latias had a quick battle with Sneasler in which the unusual Pokémon showed a mastery of using Shadow Claw and X-Scissor to block potentially-dangerous Psychic attacks before they reached her.

Towards evening, though, they finally headed out of the subway network, and saw a familiar face.

"Bianca!" Iris said, smiling. "We keep running into you, it seems."

"Not that that's a problem," N added.

"Yeah, I guess it's just where I happen to be compared to where you guys are," Bianca shrugged. "I heard from Professor Juniper that you had an Archen now, Iris?"

"Actually I've got an Archeops now," Iris replied. "She evolved – she actually looks really cool now, look."

Archeops came out of her Pokéball and hovered there, then landed, and Bianca gasped.

"Wow," she said. "Those feathers are beautiful! And what's that she's got around her neck?"

"That was Ash's idea," Iris replied. "It's some Gastro Acid in a little jar, so she can turn off her Ability if she really wants to."

"Sometimes I don't mind having a good reason to get out of a battle," Archeops agreed. "But sometimes it's important to me to be able to keep going, and I… sort of like the ability to choose."

"Gastro Acid," Bianca repeated. "That's… right, I get it now. I like that!"

She held out a hand, then paused. "Is touching okay?"

Archeops bobbed her head, and Bianca patted the saurian Pokémon before scratching her under the chin.

"Bianca!"

Bianca winced, going a bit pale. "Oh no…"

"What is it?" N asked. "What's wrong?"

"It's my dad," Bianca replied, turning around. "Hi, uh, dad…"

Bianca's father was a man in a suit and a red tie, striding purposefully towards them down the street.

"What nonsense is this?" the man asked, then stopped in surprise as N stepped in front of Bianca.

"Don't talk to her like that," the shiny Keldeo said. "Especially not if she's your daughter."

"I think he was talking to me," Ash suggested. "Professor Oak says that a lot when I'm talking to him."

"He does?" N asked. "...actually, I can see that."

"I'm talking to my daughter, of course!" the suited man insisted, apparently deciding to more-or-less ignore the fact of a Legendary Pokémon being present (which was fortunate, because counting the invisible Latias there were at least seven in various places around the subway entrance). "I want her to come home again. It's too dangerous for her to be on a journey, especially at her age."

"At her age?" N said. "Bianca, are you only nine years old?"

"No!" Bianca said. "I'm years older than that… I couldn't leave home with my friends Cheren and Hilbert, even though they were old enough, because Father insisted I stay."

"Then you weren't violating Trainer Rule Ten," N nodded, then frowned. "But I can't see how-"

"Trainer Rule Ten," Arc interrupted. "Trainers who have books out of the public library when they are destroyed in a Pokémon battle must replace the books themselves. Does Bianca have unpaid library fines?"

"I mean the one about trainers needing to be at least ten years old unless they get special parental permission," N replied.

"That is Trainer Rule 46b subsection 8 point h," Arc said. "In hindsight it is quite far down the list and they should probably be swapped."

"How old do you want your daughter to be before she goes on a Pokémon Journey, Mr. Bianca's Father?" Ash said. "And how are you counting?"

"Why are you calling me that?" Bianca's father said.

"It's the only thing I know about what your name is," Ash replied, in sensible tones. "I thought maybe it was like how you can have someone called Johnson, who's John's Son."

The man closed his eyes for a long moment.

"Just call me the Red Meteor," he decided. "It's my old stage name. Anyway, what do you mean, how am I counting? Age is… age."

"Well, Emmet and Ingo are twins where one of them is about three years older than the other," Ash replied. "I was wondering if you were counting on physical age, time-experienced, time since date of birth or something else."

The Red Meteor blinked.

"I have about a hundred and four Pokémon who can help discuss this," Ash added. "And my friends have some who can help too. Dawn's Pichu is possibly from decades in either the past or the future, we're not sure, and she spent several years going through a time loop which has made her older in experience without getting older in how old her body is, while Shaymintwo is a clone and so obviously he was born as an adult. And Manaphy was born before he was born."

"And anyway, Bianca actually doesn't have to listen to you," N said. "If she wants to go on a Pokémon Journey, that's not actually something you can stop."

He took a steadying breath. "It sounds like she stayed at home longer than she needed to, which is probably because she respects you. But if you keep doing it, then – then she's going to have to pick between you and her Pokémon, and that's something you shouldn't want her to choose between."

"Still, I want to see what kind of problem the Red Meteor has," Ash resumed. "Because I'm pretty sure I can help fix some of them… if it's the amount of time someone has lived, are you counting biological time passed or mental experience?"

"These questions are getting alarmingly specific," the Red Meteor worried.

"...point is, I'm pretty sure that we could make Bianca older, if that's your problem," Ash concluded.

"I now know more about Legendary Pokémon than I ever expected to," the Red Meteor said. "But that's not actually what my worry was… it's that Bianca isn't experienced enough. She's not safe out here."

"I can see some logical problems with-" Zygarde began.

"You don't know that!" N insisted. "How can you know that?"

"Well, in that case, I challenge her to a battle," Bianca's father said. "Two Pokémon on a side. And if I win, then she has to come home."

"That does not resolve any of-" Zygarde tried again.

"Bianca, if you want, I'll help you out," N said. "This isn't an official gym battle, is it? So she can use me even though I'm not registered as her Pokémon!"

Bianca's father glanced at Ash. "Is… that something you're okay with?"

"He's not my Pokémon either, and it'd be up to him even if he was," Ash declared.

"In that case, then," the Red Meteor replied, raising his hand. "Do you have somewhere I can change into my old costume? It'll be a few minutes."

They set up in the Super Single, at Ingo and Emmet's insistence, and the Red Meteor's first choice of Pokémon was a Darmanitan.

"Darmanitan," Ibid said. "This one is a Fire type variant. Some Darmanitan can turn into Psychic types."

"I know, I knew one growing up," N said, then tossed his mane slightly. There were a few chirps, and he glanced back.

"Guys, this is a battle," he said. "You're going to need to be at the side… and can you grab the Light Stone?"

"Sure thing," one of his Pidove companions agreed, and he and the other two carried it off to one of the seats.

"Anyway, as I was saying," N resumed. "Have we started yet?"

"Begin!" Emmet declared.

"That's my job on this train," Ingo complained vaguely. "Even if we're not actually moving."

N raised his hoof, used Hydro Pump, and blasted Darmanitan into the back wall of the subway car.

"Well done, Keldeo!" Bianca cheered.

The Red Meteor looked at his unconscious Pokémon, then back at Keldeo, and whistled.

"I could use your help!" he said.

The subway door hissed open, and a Kangaskhan came in.

"Wow, aren't those Pokémon not normally seen in Unova?" Cilan said. "You must have imported special – a real taste of foreign cuisine!"

"Huh, that's nostalgic," Pikachu mused, then leaned forwards. "Wait. Where's the kid?"

"Oh, my little one left recently," Kangaskhan explained. "And I have to say, it's left me so distraught… and very sympathetic to others who are missing their children."

"Kangaskhan isn't actually my Pokémon," Bianca's father explained. "But, as we've established, this isn't a formal match."

Ingo was the one to call on them to begin, this time, and N aimed another blast of water. Kangaskhan blocked it with her forearm, jumped high enough to brush the highest tier of handholds in the subway car, and landed next to N with a whang that shook the car slightly on its bogey wheels.

Then she picked N up by the tail and began beating him against the walls, floor, ceiling and chairs.

"Ow," the Fighting-type said, two crowded minutes later.

"Are you all right?" Bianca asked.

"Probably not, to tell the truth," N admitted, pushing himself upright. "I think I could draw a diagram of this subway car based purely on the bits I was used to hit. But making sure you're free matters to me, Bianca."

He shook his head, and staggered sideways slightly. "This feels like a violation of article 58b subsection 4 of the Pokémon League Code."

"Article 58b subsection 4," Arc said. "Premeditated use of Pokémon mothering instincts in an official Pokémon battle is considered unsportsmanlike and grounds for annulment of the battle's terms. That does seem to be the relevant guideline for this situation, quoted correctly, though of course this is not an official Pokémon battle."

"I may be somewhat concussed," N mused.

As he spoke, Bianca frowned, then stepped over to Iris.

"Honestly, I'm not sure why you're doing this," Kangaskhan added. "You don't seem like you've had great parents yourself."

"That is an understatement," N mumbled.

"Keldeo, come back," Bianca requested. "Please. I know what to do."

N came back, in a somewhat wobbly fashion, and his Pidove companions began circling his head and chirping in worry as Bianca sent out a Litwick instead.

"Now I know you're doing dangerous things, Bianca," her father said. "Litwick are dangerous Pokémon."

"That's a common misconception," Bianca replied. "Actually common enough that this Litwick believed it, but after thorough research I can confirm that they don't need to drain anyone."

She pointed. "Okay, Litwick – let's do this!"

Litwick's candle flame burned green for a moment.

"Bianca, haven't you heard of the Ability Scrappy?" her father asked. "It means Kangaskhan doesn't need to know specialist moves against Ghost types!"

"I know!" Bianca replied. "Start the battle!"

"Begin!" Sneasler called, for variety, and Kangaskhan began stomping forwards.

"Trick!" Bianca ordered. "Now, Telekinesis!"

There was a brittle snap sound of breaking glass, and Kangaskhan's attack passed right through Litwick without connecting.

"I know about Scrappy," Bianca reiterated, as Kangaskhan skidded to a halt and looked at her fists in bafflement. "And I know what Gastro Acid does – the same Gastro Acid that Litwick just splashed Kangaskhan with!"

"And since Kangaskhan can normally rely on Scrappy, they often don't bother to pick up moves that can hit Ghosts," Pikachu said.

"Well, Father?" Bianca asked. "Should we keep going?"

The Red Meteor shook his head.

"You've made your point," he admitted. "I… didn't want to believe you were that strong."

"I have been wondering this for several minutes," Zygarde said. "Assuming that Bianca was not yet strong enough to go out on her own, how would she ever correct that if she was not allowed to train her Pokémon?"

"I've got another question," Iris added. "Why doesn't Kangaskhan just accompany Bianca to make sure she's safe?"

"I find myself wishing you had asked those questions earlier," N admitted.

AN:

I could have made up an actual name for him, but sticking only with canon compliant names was more interesting.