It was the following Monday when Professor Kukui organized a field trip to Hokulani Observatory, on the very top of Mount Hokulani on Ula'Ula Island.

Naturally, a field trip to an observatory meant going at night, and that in turn meant that the trainers had very unusual sleep schedules. Except Ash, because Arc had a function for that.

Ash wasn't fully clear on the details, but he wasn't complaining either.

"What kind of thing can observatories see?" Mallow wondered, out loud, as they climbed towards the observatory itself. "Are there Pokémon in space?"

"There's Deoxys, they're from space!" Ash said. "And some Clefairy are on the moon. My nephmew is, too, remember, we met them once? And I think there's some Cresselia up there… things like that."

He snapped his fingers. "Right, so Lunatone and Solrock are meteorite Pokémon, they come down from space sometimes, but I think there's local populations here now and have been for a while – you can never really tell with Pokémon like that that can teleport… and Elgyem and Beheeyem sometimes fly around in UFOs, I've met some in the past."

"Don't forget, there aren't just Pokémon in space!" Rayquaza said. "My cousin lives near space, and you could probably see him with a telescope if you got lucky!"

"Oh, yeah, that's a good point!" Ash agreed. "There's Pokémon who live up near space, too, in the ozone layer or the ionosphere or places like that. Big Rayquaza is one of them, just one of them because the only other Rayquaza I know about is my Rayquaza and she mostly lives either in Kanto or in my jacket."

"She's so cute," Lana said. "But really, Rayquaza lives up that high?"

"That's part of their job," Ash explained. "Some Legendary Pokémon, especially, are there to do things, and Rayquaza's jobs are to keep Groudon and Kyogre from causing trouble and to stop meteorites from hitting the planet and doing damage. So for one of them it's good for him to be up near space, so he has a good view, while for the other one it doesn't matter how high up he is because he can just come plunging down to say hi to both of them."

"It's funny that it's called Dragon Ascent when he spends most of the time he uses it on the way down," Rayquaza giggled.

"Those are all good examples of Pokémon from space, or near space," Kukui told them. "But there's another one as well, and that's why we're here in fact."

"Huh," Ash frowned. "I guess that must be-"

"Minior!" Sophocles announced. "I know a lot about them, I met one when I was younger! It landed but its shell didn't break, so I helped it."

He looked downcast. "It dissolved, though… that was really sad. I guess Minior just don't last long down here."

"Don't they?" Pikachu asked. "But they do fall out of the sky, right?"

"Ibid, do you have any ideas?" Ash asked, reaching for his Pokédex.

Ibid turned into a Microor, which was a smaller Minior than usual.

"Minior," he said. "It lives in the Ozone Layer. Though the outer shell is durable, the shock of falling to the ground smashes the shell to pieces. The colour of its core varies depending on the dust it eats. A Minior which is out of its shell will dissolve over time, and either the core or the dust will return to the ozone layer."

"So I guess it's a cycle of life thing," Ash wondered. "If they form in the ozone layer, then either they're really young and they just don't live long or they're really old because they keep falling down and returning!"

"Then maybe I could talk to that same Minior, if they're still around," Sophocles decided. "If they turn up, that is."

"Yeah, it's not likely but it's worth asking," Ash agreed. "Let's go and see whoever's in charge of the observatory!"

The person in charge of the observatory was, as it turned out, Sophocles' cousin Molayne. He showed them the telescope, pointing it out into space, then at a group of Minior expected to fall the next evening, and finally at the moon.

"Hmm," Ash said. "Hey, have you seen Mirage Mew's house?"

"...what?" Molayne asked, confused. "Who's that?"

"That's my Nephmew, but it's okay, you might not know exactly what I mean," Ash realized. "Look near that really big bright crater on the left… okay, zoom in… left a bit, and… there!"

"Wait," Molayne asked. "You mean you know the cause for the Procellarum Lights?"

"If that's what the telescope's pointed at, sure!" Ash confirmed. "It's where Mirage Mew set up their home. It's a nice big place now, I think they've got some people living up there permanently, and there's a water park. There's some extinct Pokémon, too!"

"How can you have extinct Pokémon there?" Kiawe asked.

"Well, actually, is that the right word?" Ash asked himself. "Conway's got one, so maybe not… I was thinking you could say they were extinct because there weren't any on earth any more, but there is one, I just hadn't thought of Conway's one. But yeah, it's a big building project Mirage Mew is doing as a hobby!"

"I think I'm going to have to write that one up," Molayne decided.

"Hey, look!" Lillie gasped. "There's a shooting star!"

"That's a Minior!" Sophocles said. "Let's go and see them!"

There were dozens and dozens of multi-coloured Minior there already, along with one that was still stuck in its shell, and Ash hurried ahead.

"Hi!" he said. "So, we had a technical question… how old are you guys?"

"It depends how you count time," one green Minior answered. "If you count this body, about a year. If you count experience, as old as the world. If you count mental age-"

"About three minutes," another Minior said, this one violet.

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Green protested.

"That's great!" Ash said. "Thanks! So, you mean that a Minior sort of remembers things from all the dust of the Minior that that Minior was before?"

Rotom began taking photos and talking about science.

"Does that mean that one of you remembers Sophocles?" Pikachu asked. "Or all of you?"

"Sophocles?" the Minior asked themselves, turning to look at each other.

"Oh!" Rayquaza gasped suddenly. "I just thought! Has anyone ever explained to a Minior before about how humans look different as they get older? They don't always stay the same appearance."

"That's new!" a Minior said. "We did not know that!"

"We do not remember the name Sophocles, what did Sophocles do?" asked an orange one.

"He broke a stuck Minior out of their casing," Pikachu provided.

Then Big Rayquaza arrived.

"Hi Ash!" he waved, as the observatory telescope tracked around to focus on him. "Is Rayquaza with you?"

Rayquaza waved. "Hi!"

Meanwhile, Sophocles was being whirled around by dozens of Minior and looked both happy and confused.

The next morning, after a night at the observatory, Kukui's class was preparing to leave when a Sandshrew came running up to them.

"Um," she began. "You're the Thunder Beast, right? Tapu Bulu told part of our group about you and your trainer, and I heard you were here, and-"

"Huh, that is me, yeah," Pikachu concurred. "Is something up?"

"Oh, thank goodness!" Sandshrew said, relieved. "We got instructions about what to do if you came to us for an Island Trial, but right now we're the ones who need help!"

"What's going on?" Lillie asked. "Oh, that's a Sandshrew, right?"

"Apparently they're in trouble," Ash explained. "Pikachu and I will go and help out, and then make our own way back."

"Actually-" Lillie began. "That is… can we help?"

She looked at Sandshrew. "What kind of problem is it?"

"There's a Tyranitar in our home, and it's not leaving!" Sandshrew explained. "And, and, it's strong against all the kinds of things we can do!"

"I'm sure we can help!" Ash said, paused, then looked at Lillie. "Do you and Snowy want to help out too?"

"Oh!" Lillie said. "I…"

She glanced down at Snowy, who nodded, then turned back to Ash.

"If we can," she said.

"Then sure!" Ash agreed. "Arc will get us home in time once we've sorted this out… if it's a Tyranitar, though, well, I think I know what will help."

Sandshrew agreed to lead them back to her home, and on the way Ash switched out Rayquaza – who liked the sound of a few more hours of sleep in Kanto – with Mew, who examined Snowy for about three seconds before turning into an Alolan Ninetales.

"So!" he said, tails spreading out in a kind of fluffy fan, and speaking both psychically and in Ninetales just to make sure everyone could follow. "What kind of moves do you have already?"

"Powder Snow, Hail, Aurora Veil," Snowy listed off. "Sorry, they're all Ice moves."

"Hey, that's not a problem!" Mew replied, with a tail-flick. "But here's the thing, okay? I don't know a great deal about your personality, at least not enough to give me a good idea of where to go from here, but then again what I do have is something entirely new to teach you!"

She flicked her tails. "So! There's this move called Dazzling Gleam, and the way I've heard it suggested you learn it is to start with Flash and work up from there. The people who say this are cowards, because it's way easier in my book to go the other way!"

"Are you sure that's a move I can even learn?" Snowy asked. "I've, um, no offence, madam… sir…? But you're Mew and you're able to learn every move. That's part of who you are."

"Oh, you wound me, metaphorically speaking!" Mew said, then giggled. "Firstly, I'm not a Madam or a Sir, I'm me! I don't demand respect, though I do enjoy playtime! But, more importantly, I'm not able to learn every move. I have learned every move, and I know how to teach every move."

Another giggle. "Besides, this is actually one that boring normal Alolan Vulpixes without any special training can learn just fine. Add all that up and you should have it ready by the end of the journey… how far are we going?"

"It's through this cave," Sandshrew said, looking back. "Did she say you're Mew?"

"That's me!" Mew confirmed., now speaking for no readily discernable reason in Pikachu despite still being an Alolan Ninetales. "Really, you'd think the shapeshifting would have confirmed it."

They moved quite quickly through the caves, with Ash and Pikachu on alert for any sign of troublesome Pokémon, but Lillie and Snowy were listening with rapt attention to Mew as the old-but-young Mythical Pokémon rattled off a comprehensive theoretical explanation of how to do Dazzling Gleam.

Mostly this seemed to involve starting with absolutely anything that made Snowy's fur shine, glitter or sparkle, then focusing specifically on that and doing it more. Then more and more, refining the move so that she could do just the sparkly bit, then having her do that plus the move, and ratcheting up the light generation a bit at a time.

"All right!" Mew declared, as they passed through the entrance of a cavern into a much larger one – which contained a kind of ice palace or castle in the distance, lit by luminous walls. "So, the final step is, just do that all at once from all your fur."

"All of it?" Snowy repeated. "But we were focusing on just my headfluff!"

"Yeah, of course!" Mew confirmed. "Now you should be able to do it much brighter!"

"Boss!" their Sandshrew guide called, breaking into a run and then rolling over around a corner. "Boss, we've got help!"

There was a roar.

"That sounded like an angry Tyranitar!" Ash said. "Let's go and try and work out what's making them angry!"

He and Pikachu ran ahead, with Lillie and the two foxes following behind, and they all found that the other lobe of the cavern had the Tyranitar in question facing off against a Totem Sandshrew and four or five other Sandshrew. Or possibly Sandshrews.

"Hey!" Ash called. "This is their home, right? Why are you here?"

"I found it, it's mine now!" Tyranitar declared loudly. "All this ice has to go, I'm moving in!"

Pikachu's cheeks went fzzzrt. "Well, that answers whether this is going to lead to a fight."

"This was our home first," the Totem Sandshrew protested. "We'll defend it as many times as we have to!"

"Can't defend it if it's not here any more!" Tyranitar roared, and a Sandstorm whirled out from their body. It began battering at the ice structures, including the large icy castle, and the Sandshrew yelped and complained.

"Snowy, let's do this!" Lillie called. "Hail!"

Snowy darted ahead and spread her tails, sending out a pulse of icy energy, and the sandstorm rippled before changing to whirling snow.

"Oh, go away!" Tyranitar growled, then hurled a Rock Throw in Snowy's direction. The Ice-type dodged out of the way just before being hit, panting a little from how close the attack had come, then shook herself and focused.

"Aurora Veil!" Lillie reminded her Pokémon, prompting Snowy to surround herself with a veil of shimmering rainbow light. "Now, get in close!"

Tyranitar used Stomping Tantrum, making the ground tremble slightly, and the Totem Sandshrew glanced at Mew.

"Why aren't you helping?" she asked, then did a double-take. "Wait, you're not a Ninetales-"

"Now, Snowy!" Lillie called.

Snowy lit up like a miniature star, and the torrent of Fairy light lifted Tyranitar several inches into the air before sending the Armor Pokémon crashing back to the ground with a wham of impact.

"Great!" Lillie said. "Keep it up!"

Once the dust had settled, and the Tyranitar had been first defeated and then transported to a place where they'd probably get on better, the Totem Sandshrew thanked Lillie and Snowy for their brave help.

Specifically, she thanked them with an Icium Z.

"And if you want an Island Trial… we might need to wait until our castle's been checked for damage first," she added, turning to Ash. "Sorry."

"It's fine, we were here to help!" Ash said. "Okay, Arc, let's fast-travel back to Melemele!"

AN:

Yes, this edits the Minior life cycle slightly, but it also makes them significantly more odd and I think that's fair.