"What do you think, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"Pika-chuuu, Pikapi!" Pikachu answered cheerfully.

"Yeah, you're doing great!" Ash told Noivern.

"Noiiii!" Noivern said cheerfully, waggling his wings a little, then beat them hard twice to gain momentum. His ears hummed faintly, cancelling out a little of the wind from how fast they were moving, and Ash kept his hat firmly on his head with one hand as he gripped Noivern's fluff with the other and looked out over the mountains of Sinnoh below and around them.

"I always forget how big Mount Coronet is," he said, and Pikachu nodded agreement. "A lot of mountains look big from down below, but Mount Coronet is one of those ones that looks big even from the air!"

Noivern tilted his head a little, letting him look up at Ash. "Noii-vern?"

"Pika-Pika!" Pikachu contributed.

"I don't know," Ash said frankly. "We might head up there, it's a bit cold but maybe that's just what we need to test how you're doing! I guess it might work better if I had Charizard along to take us back down, but right now I'm just happy you can move so fast carrying me!"

He made sure his hat was on snugly, then reached down and patted Noivern's flank. "You're definitely up there with Pidgeot and Dragonite, Noivern! It really shows how hard you've worked!"

"Noiii," Noivern cooed, then returned his attention to the landscape ahead. "Noi-vern?"

"Huh?" Ash asked. "What was that, Pikachu?"

"Pika-Pi-pi, Pikapi," Pikachu provided.

"I guess flying around Mount Coronet," Ash decided. "Either way will do! We're not heading anywhere in particular, so it doesn't really matter which way you pick."

The Dragon-type banked around, and behind them a little transparent shimmer in the air also changed course a little.

Ash leaned over again for a look, spotting a Staraptor coming up towards them and then giving up as Noivern went past at an obviously greater speed. "Huh… you know, I kind of think that place might be familiar."

"Veeern?" Noivern said.

"It was way before we met, but I think Pikachu knows!" Ash replied. "If I'm right, anyway. What do you think, Pikachu?"

"Pikaa," Pikachu said, then his ears perked up. "Pi-pi! Pika!"

Ash followed Pikachu's paw, and saw a dark shape rising up to meet them.

"There's a Pokémon on the way, Noivern," he warned. "If it wants a sky battle, I'll use Unfezant."

"Noiii," Noivern complained.

"I'd love to use you in a battle, but I'm riding you at the moment!" Ash pointed out. "Unfezant gets the first choice, okay? Her and Pikachu if it's serious."

The Dragon-type sulked for a moment, then banked around, and Ash got a better view of the Pokémon coming up to meet them.

And immediately relaxed.

"It's okay, Noivern!" he said, as Pikachu chirped a greeting and waved from Noivern's back. "That's a friend!"

"Pikaka, chuu!" Pikachu confirmed.

The Garchomp swooped up to fly alongside them, and Cynthia waved from the back of her own big Dragon-type. "Ash, what a coincidence! It's great to see you in Sinnoh."

"It's great to see you too!" Ash replied. "I guess you saw Noivern flying over, huh?"

"Actually, Lucario recognized you from the ground," Cynthia replied. "In hindsight, anyway… he just encouraged me to come up here. Are you going anywhere in particular?"

"Pi-chuu," Pikachu answered, shaking his head.

"Yeah, Pikachu's right, we're just giving Noivern some practice as a Ride Pokémon!" Ash replied. "Is something up?"

Cynthia considered that, then shook her head. "Not exactly, but if you've got time I'd love a chat… on the ground, that is."

"Sure!" Ash agreed. "Okay, Noivern, it's time to practice landing again! Let's see if we can get this one perfect!"

"Noi!" Noivern agreed, banking around to follow Cynthia and her Garchomp as the other Dragon-type responded to her trainer's shifting weight.

Noivern stuck the landing with finicky precision, flaring his wings to cancel out the last of his momentum just before touchdown, and Ash patted him on the head as he dismounted. "Great work, Noivern!"

"Chaaa!" Pikachu agreed, then turned around and pointed. "Pikapi, Pikaka!"

"Dawn?" Ash said. "Oh, wow, it's great to see you again!"

"Likewise, Ash," Dawn agreed. "When Cynthia took off after her Lucario said something, I thought I maybe recognized your Pokémon from the Lumiose Conference but I wasn't sure."

"It's actually really helpful that you were passing by, Ash," Cynthia said, giving her Garchomp a Pokéblock before returning her. "Did you know I actually considered giving up competitive battling after the World Coronation Series?"

Ash blinked, shocked. "Huh? No, I didn't – really?"

"I changed my mind, of course," Cynthia assured him. "Because of my battle with you… but at the same time, I did think about what I'd do if I wasn't spending most of my time training for competitive battling, and I realized that there's a lot that people don't know about Legendary Pokémon… and there's a lot that Dawn could tell me. And there's a lot you could tell me, too."

She rubbed her chin. "The only thing is, I haven't decided whether I should write a book about it or not… but either way, Dawn and I are having a walk together for a few days while we talk about what happened during your Sinnoh journey, and having you along as well would really help out."

"Huh, I guess if it's interesting," Ash said, thinking about it. "You were there for some of it, but not the other bits, so maybe that's the interesting bit?"

"Noii?" Noivern asked.

Ash looked embarrassed. "Oh, yeah, that's a good point… hang on a minute while I get some of Noivern's favourite berry slices out, okay?"

"I guess we didn't really realize that there was anything about it at the time that wasn't just… meeting a cool Pokémon?" Ash said, glancing at Dawn for confirmation. "I don't know if it was different for you, but Azelf was just a Pokémon that was curious about me."

"Yeah, I had the same sort of thing with Mesprit," Dawn agreed. "It's not until they actually needed something and teleported us that I realized it was a big deal."

Cynthia wrote some of that down. "That's interesting – the Lake Guardians appear so rarely that it's great to hear about something they did."

"Fez!" Unfezant said, landing on Ash's arm. "Unn-fezant!"

"How are you enjoying Sinnoh?" Ash checked.

"Zant!" the Flying-type said, then took off again in a whirr of wings, and Cynthia smiled.

"Our battle was impressive, Ash, but what really continues to impress me is that you've got such a huge team and you manage them all well," she said. "It's really hard to handle over… what is it, over thirty Pokémon?"

"Counting just the Tauros herd leader, I think it's… about fifty-four," Ash replied. "Though that does include Butterfree, Lapras and Goodra, and they're all in the wild these days, but I have visited them again!"

He frowned. "Actually, does Rotom count? And Nebby? I guess Nebby might count."

"I don't know how Ash does it," Dawn said. "I've got a great set of friends, and I might add one or two more, but that's far more than I could ever handle."

Ash shrugged. "I guess if you include friends there's more… I think Azelf counts as a friend! Though we didn't meet for long, but you don't need long to make a friend, right?"

"…maybe I'm biased, but I think that Togekiss is one of your best Pokémon," Cynthia said, as they walked along a cliffside path. "You've got a whole team, of course, but Togekiss is the one I'm familiar with."

"She's the last member of my team so far," Dawn said. "I really haven't picked anyone up in a while, I guess – unless you count that I went and got Ambipom again."

She exchanged a nod with the Normal-type bounding along the path ahead of her, then looked to the side to see Togekiss soaring in the breeze rising up the cliff.

"It's funny how our teams work out, isn't it?" she said. "I don't think I could ever have picked out my Pokémon from a lineup before I got started, but now… I couldn't imagine missing even a single one."

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "When I went out on my Pokémon journey, I was thinking of Squirtle, but I got there too late and Gary took him."

He gave Pikachu a scratch, and the Electric-type leaned into it with a "Chaaa~" of affection.

"And now he's my best friend," Ash went on. "Well, Pikachu is, not Gary."

Cynthia chuckled.

"Of your Pokémon, I'm most familiar with Lucario and Gible," she said. "But your whole team is fascinating… I don't mind admitting that I've never heard of a Dracovish apart from yours."

"He's a fossil!" Ash said. "I've never really understood how reviving fossils works, so I'm just glad to have him!"

"I think that's a place where we're different," Cynthia admitted. "I'd always want to know how something like that works… speaking of them, though, how's your Lucario?"

Ash grinned. "Lucario's been working on some cool tricks! Since last time we met Greninja he's been trying to work out how to copy some of what Greninja does!"

"...don't actually have any Pokémon who haven't evolved," Cynthia said, looking back and forth between two food boxes as she tried to decide which one to have that evening. "I don't exactly push my Pokémon to evolve if they don't want to, but everyone's fully evolved now. Kommo-O was the last to."

"That's cool," Ash nodded, then took a basket of berries from Bayleef. "Thanks! Really making that Vine Whip work to reach up in the trees, huh?"

"Baay!" Bayleef nodded proudly.

"And obviously you're not the same, as I could tell just from looking at you right now," Cynthia said. "Even before considering Pikachu… actually, Pikachu is Gigantamax, isn't he? I don't think they can evolve."

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, curious.

Ash patted him. "I wouldn't have tried anyway unless you wanted to, Pikachu. But it's great that an accident isn't likely to make you evolve."

"Chaa!"

Ash threw a Sitrus Berry into the air, and Pikachu neatly cut it in half with an Iron Tail. "With my team I guess… they evolve if it's natural for them, and not if they don't. Which sounds really simple, but for some Pokémon evolving is a goal they work towards and for others it just doesn't fit them. Like Bulbasaur."

"Buneary doesn't want to evolve," Dawn contributed. "Which… I don't mind? A little part of me thinks it would be really cool to see her Mega Evolve, but I know it's up to her. And Piplup's got an Everstone pendant so you know he doesn't want to evolve."

"Pip-piiip-lup!" Piplup agreed, puffing his chest out.

Pikachu giggled.

"Quilava, though, that's different," Dawn went on. "She's thinking about it, but she isn't sure yet."

"You know, there's actually two forms of Typhlosion?" Cynthia asked. "One of them is the one you're all familiar with, but the other one's from Ancient Hisui."

Her Glaceon tapped at one of the food boxes, and Cynthia put the other one away. "Thank you. And nobody's seen a Hisuian Typhlosion in a long while, but… that doesn't mean your Quilava couldn't bring them back."

"Like Lycanroc!" Ash volunteered. "Nobody had ever seen a Dusk Lycanroc before her!"

"I'd like to hear about that one, actually," Cynthia said. "How did that happen?"

"Well, uh… so you know about Midday and Midnight forms, right?" Ash began. "So, we were on Akala island I think…"

Ash, Dawn and Cynthia ended up talking into the night, about a dozen different things, and got to sleep well after the stars had come out under a wispy sky.

Then, early the next morning, a green-and-white Shaymin came flying down into the camp. Noivern's ears twitched, the Dragon-type muttering something to himself, but the Shaymin landed right next to Ash before inspecting him carefully.

"I knew it!" they said. "Wow, imagine what-"

"Huh?" Ash asked, rolling over and blinking a few times. "Who said that… huh? A Shaymin?"

"Yep!" Shaymin agreed, as Dawn and Cynthia began to stir as well. "Surprised to see me?"

"I'm surprised you can talk," Ash said, still sounding a bit sleepy. "Huh, so we must be near Gracidea, right… oh, yeah, now I remember!"

"Pika-chuu, Pikapi!" Pikachu agreed.

"Yeah, this is Shaymin who we met not far from Gracidea," Ash confirmed. "How have you been?"

Shaymin shrugged, twitching her antler wings. "Pretty good! Well, you know, I went on an adventure, and that turned into another adventure, and sooner or later I was experiencing this whole new thing!"

"Oh, you know this Shaymin?" Cynthia asked. "And they can talk? That's fascinating!"

"It's telepathy!" Shaymin said. "But I've made sure to speak out loud at the same time, because it's only polite in case someone can't hear telepathy. There's a surprising number of Pokémon who are Dark-type, you know."

"Noiii-vern!" Noivern waved.

Unfezant chirped, waving her wing as well, then Sirfetch'd bowed.

Snorlax was still asleep, but that was Snorlax for you.

"Baaay?" Bayleef finished, as Dawn and Cynthia's own Pokémon started saying hello, then once they were finished Shaymin raised a foot.

"Oh, wait!" she said. "I just realized – hold on, I won't be long!"

She turned and set off again, and Cynthia smiled.

"Does this happen to you often, Ash?" she said.

"It's still cool when I can really properly speak to Pokémon, unless they're Team Rocket's Meowth," Ash replied. "I get a good idea what Pokémon are saying, usually, but it's not the same."

"Feetch'd," Sirfetch'd said, picking up her leek.

"Yeah, it's still nice to think about," Ash defended himself. "But you guys are way too close friends for me to treat you differently!"

"Leeeaf," Bayleef said, brightly.

"Well, we're awake now," Cynthia said. "So… what did you mean by Gracidea, Ash? It's a plant, but you made it sound like a place."

Ash waved his hands. "Oh, I sort of noticed it on the way in, but I didn't realize what it meant at the time – it's the place where Shaymin gather before flying off all over the world again. Dawn and I saw lots of Shaymin there, that was the time we stopped this guy who stole Giratina's powers!"

He frowned. "I guess it's probably okay if you know, but I think it's one of those places that's better off secret, okay?"

"Gaar-chomp!" Cynthia's Garchomp said.

Noivern nodded. "Verrrn!"

Cynthia hid her mouth with a hand. "I can assure you, Ash, the most I'd do if I found a gathering place of Legendary Pokémon is camp out there to get first-hand information. And probably interview some."

Dawn laughed, then pointed. "Hey, look, Shaymin's back."

The Grass-type was, indeed, back.

She circled a point on the ground, pointing, and dipped out of sight before flying up again.

"See?" she asked. "I told you! Is this that guy you were talking about, or what?"

Ash shaded his eyes against the morning sun, then blinked.

He knew that guy.

"Tobias?" he said, surprised. "I haven't seen you since the Lily of the Valley Conference!"

Cynthia's hand went up to her mouth again.

"Actually, now I think about it…" Ash added. "I don't think I ever saw you in the World Coronation Series. Did you take part?"

"...no," Tobias replied. "I missed the sign-up window."

He nodded to Cynthia. "Champion."

"Oh, yeah, since Tobias did win the Lily of the Valley Conference, he challenged the Elite Four, right?" Ash asked. "How'd he do?"

"He got to me," Cynthia replied. "Then he didn't get any further."

Tobias smiled slightly. "That's one way to put it."

"It's a correct way to put it," Cynthia said. "I surprised him with Togekiss as well… not Dynamax, not that time, but Togekiss did good work that day."

She patted her Garchomp. "Everyone did well."

"Hmm…" Ash said. "Hey, does that mean you know his team?"

"I know some of his team," Cynthia replied. "But I'm only guessing that Shaymin is part of it as well."

"Yeah, we met since then," Shaymin agreed.

"Then what about a battle?" Ash asked. "I've got some Pokémon here, we can have a bit of fun!"

"Pika-kachu!" Pikachu agreed, cheeks sparking. "Chuuu!"

"Feetch'd," Sirfetch'd said, saluting with her blade. "Sirr!"

"Nooi-vern!" Noivern cheered.

Snorlax mumbled something in his sleep.

Unfezant took off, circling the area, and Bayleef stamped her foreleg firmly. "Bay!" she said. "Baaay-leef!"

Tobias blinked.

Then smirked.

"What a good idea," he said.

"Darkrai, Dark Void!" Tobias called.

"Detect!" Ash retorted, and Sirfetch'd swung her leek.

She swiped it across, slicing the Dark Void ball to pieces, and Ash whooped.

"All right!" he said. "Now, Focus Energy – and keep a look out!"

"Dark Void," Tobias said, again, and this time Sirfetch'd blocked it with a shield bash. She sprang backwards at the same moment, and she avoided the dark explosion that tried to tug her into sleep.

"Siir," she said, flicking her leek forwards to point directly at her opponent, then hopped sideways. This time the attack simply missed, and Tobias nodded to himself.

"That's quite the tribute," he said.

Ash frowned, confused for a moment, then brightened. "Oh, yeah – you're not the only one, but sometimes after I battle someone I really make sure not to make the same mistakes again!"

He pointed. "Okay, Sirfetch'd – keep an eye out for what Darkrai's going to try next, but use Fury Cutter!"

"Ice Beam," Tobias countered.

Darkrai raised a hand, firing out a beam of ice, and Sirfetch'd blocked it with her shield before advancing.

"Watch out for his other hand!" Ash said quickly, and the Fighting-type adjusted her stance so her shield could cover her from both angles. It came just in time, as a second jet of ice flashed out at her, and Cynthia nudged Dawn.

"Did you see that?" she asked. "Ash managed to spot that Darkrai's stance meant he could use Ice Beam with both hands, but was only using one."

"Only once he said something," Dawn admitted, then watched silently as Sirfetch'd sprang forwards. She used her leek as a vaulting pole, getting close to Darkrai with a sudden jump, then swiped three times in quick succession.

"Dark Void!" Tobias called, but the reason why Ash had called for Fury Cutter was immediately obvious – it meant that Sirfetch'd had her leek in constant motion, instead of the single overwhelming blow of a Meteor Assault, and it meant she could slice the Dark Void ball in half with the tip of her leek instead of having to try and dodge it at close range.

The Fighting-type retreated, then considered, and Ash nodded. "Brutal Swing!"

"Why-" Tobias began, then Darkrai got clonked in the head by a shield. "-wait, dodge!"

Darkrai had to guess whether Tobias had simply given a warning late or not, and the moment of extra thought cost him. This time Sirfetch'd used Meteor Assault, lunging in for a hammer-blow with her leek while Darkrai's vision was momentarily obscured, and the two-winged blow knocked Darkrai into the ground.

Sirfetch'd panted as she landed, then Darkrai finally hit her with a Dark Void attack.

"Hey, uh, how are we handling switching out?" Ash asked. "I just realized, I forgot to ask…"

"I think switching out counts as a loss," Tobias suggested.

"Great!" Ash said. "Sleep Talk, Sirfetch'd!"

Darkrai did not appreciate this turn of events.

"Yeah, I teach a lot of my team now…" Ash added, as Darkrai got hit by a second Meteor Assault in less than a minute. "You really helped me learn how to beat strong Pokémon!"

"Dream Eater, Darkrai," Tobias instructed. "Then Ice Beam!"

"Sleep Talk again!"

Latios shot past, firing out a ball of light, and Ash pointed. "Bayleef, avoid it! Use Vine Whip!"

"Baay!" Bayleef agreed, flicking out a vine to her right, and snagged a tree without even looking. She yanked herself out of the way, and the Luster Purge attack turned into a beam of light just a moment too late.

"Kick off and get in the air!" Ash added.

"Steel Wing," Tobias countered, and Latios banked around to hit Bayleef with a powerful wing-slam.

Ash called out his next instruction at the moment of impact. "Sweet Scent!"

That close, Bayleef couldn't miss, and Latios coughed a little before rolling and swerving away – back up into the air, as Bayleef dropped towards the ground.

"Body Slam to handle the impact!" Ash called. "Now, Razor Leaf!"

Razor Leaf attacks shot up at Latios, fired both at him and at the places he could go, and Tobias flicked his hair out of his eyes. "Latios, dodge – left! Now right! Aim down and Luster Purge!"

"Left, Bayleef!" Ash called, and Bayleef ran for it.

She didn't quite get out of the blast radius this time, but she got close, and Ash shaded his eyes and watched as the Grass-type picked herself up – glancing between Latios and Bayleef, judging.

"How are you doing, Latios?" Tobias checked.

"Laaa-ios!" Latios called back, rubbing his eyes for a moment, then dodged out of the way again as Bayleef shot up another Razor Leaf attack.

"Don't want to risk being vulnerable… Zen Headbutt," he said.

Latios banked around and sped into the distance at great speed, then rolled and turned in on an attack run. He got closer to Bayleef quickly, and Ash judged his moment-

"Razor Leaf!" he said. "Make him run into them at full speed!"

"Dodge away!" Tobias called.

Ash clenched his fist. "Vine Whip Latios and a tree!"

"What-" Tobias said, and Bayleef used Vine Whip.

One vine went around Latios's wing. One went around a nearby tree. Then Bayleef yanked.

The twang as her vines went taut was audible, and sounded painful – but it also pulled Latios into a high-speed crash, going straight through three more trees and sending up a cloud of annoyed Starly.

When the Dragon-type rose back up into the air, it was noticeably slower and wobblier than before.

"Great one, Bayleef!" Ash praised. "Keep it up, okay?"

"Baay-LEAF!" Bayleef agreed firmly, her gaze focused on her opponent as Tobias considered how to attack next.

"This is quite something," Tobias said, recalling his Moltres.

It hadn't been quite like any Moltres Ash had seen before, with seething purplish-pink plumage on a black body instead of the orange and cream he was used to, but it was the Galarian version of the Pokémon and it was such a cool sight that Ash had almost been distracted from the battle.

Well, maybe he had been distracted a bit, but Unfezant had done him proud. She'd dodged and rolled and danced away from attack after attack, fighting through the ones that had got through, and her Air Cutter attacks had finally outlasted her opponent.

"Yeah, this is a great battle!" Ash agreed, holding out his arm for Unfezant to land on, and the Flying-type gratefully touched down and panted. "Think you can keep going, girl?"

Unfezant considered, then shook her head, and went over to gratefully flop next to the fire.

"Noiii?" Noivern asked.

"No, not yet, Noivern," Ash replied. "I know who's next!"

Tobias smirked. "Ah, at last, your Pikachu? In all honesty, knowing what I know now I think beating that Pikachu is one of the achievements I'm most proud of."

Pikachu puffed out his chest, giggling. "Pika-ka-Pika-chuuu!"

"Yeah, you did great then, Pikachu!" Ash said. "But I'm using Snorlax next!"

"And you're battling me!" Shaymin replied, flying forwards. "We agreed on this already, so let's go for it!"

"Shaymin is correct," Tobias said, giving the Grass-type a look and shaking his head. "Really, though…"

"Let's do this, Snorlax!" Ash said, and the big ursine yawned. "Open with… Ice Punch!"

"Oh great!"Shaymin winced, dodging away from the Ice Punch, then rolled and headed for the sky.

Tobias pointed. "Energy Ball," he said. "And stay away from those Ice Punches."

"Hey, Snorlax!" Ash said. "Let's make sure she can't stay away from those Ice Punches! Face down and use Hyper Beam!"

That made Tobias do a double-take. "What-"

Snorlax underwent liftoff.

"That's Ash, for you," Dawn said, watching as Shaymin tried her very best not to be punched by a falling Snorlax. "He loves the open road, but he really thrives in a battle where he's got to pull out something unexpected."

"Or…" Cynthia said, drawing the word out. "One where what matters is determination and willpower. Everyone who battles at the highest levels has had that moment where our Pokémon managed to pull out all the stops at an important moment, but with Ash… they seem to happen all the time."

She looked at one of the spectators. "You'd know all about that, then?"

Azelf giggled, hands over their mouth, then nodded firmly.

"Actually, do you help him?" Dawn asked, curious. "Ash, I mean."

The Willpower Pokémon shook their head, then made a sort of gesture, and Dawn frowned.

"Uh…" she began. "You pay attention… but it's all him?"

A nod.

"I wouldn't have got that," Cynthia admitted. "Do you think that's something to do with Mesprit?"

She looked like she was itching to get out a notebook, and Dawn laughed.

"I don't think so," she said. "I'd guess it's the same as with Azelf, right? They're interested in us, but… that's because of who we are, not who they made us."

Next to her, the other unexpected spectator flinched back slightly as Snorlax slammed down not far from them.

Shaymin bounced as she landed as well, muttering something fortunately untranslated, and Ash whooped.

"All right!" he said. "Now she's in Land Form, use Mega Punch!"

"Substitute," Tobias replied.

"Iraaaaa," said the Pokémon watching.

"I guess it's hard to decide who to root for in this one, right?" Dawn asked Giratina. "Yeah, I don't think either of them would mind!"

She shrugged. "Don't forget to say hi once the battle's over, though! I don't think he's noticed you…"

AN:

Sinnoh now!

I kind of like the idea of a conversation involving Cynthia just wandering over absolutely every topic under the sun.

Also, Tobias! Because I'm trying to hit a lot of the loose ends, and because touching on how Ash's style has changed and not changed since that battle at roughly the halfway point of his journey is interesting.