"Okay, guys!" Ash said, sending out the Pokémon he'd got from Oak's Lab. "It's been a while, huh?"

Pignite immediately jumped up to hug him, and Ash patted the Fire-type on the back. "I know, I know, I missed you too!"

"Pig pig," Pignite said, hugging, then backed off and waved to Pikachu. "niiite!"

"Pika-chuu," Pikachu said politely.

Then Gliscor landed on Ash to give him a hug too.

"Aww, I missed you as well, Gliscor!" Ash said, then put the Flying-type down with care. "What about you, Kingler, Noctowl?"

"Nooct," Noctowl said, perched on Kingler's claw, and the Water-type waved her smaller claw in greeting.

She stepped a little to the side. "Kin-in-ler," she explained.

Ash smiled. "Well, I'm glad you two are getting on well together!" he said. "I guess Noctowl might find it a bit familiar, actually, because we're back in Johto! Everyone else, welcome to Johto, and I've also got a new team member to introduce you to!"

Gliscor gasped, taking off with a flap of his membranes and looking around. "Gliis-cor?"

Pignite looked interested as well, then looked around. He pointed at Pikachu, then himself, then Kingler, Noctowl and Gliscor. "Pig… pig… nite… nite… pig? Pig niite?"

"Ready?" Ash asked, and got an enthusiastic chorus. "Okay, Latias, come on out!"

He held up a Pokéball, and Latias emerged with a white flash.

The rest of Ash's team stared for a moment, then Gliscor cheered. "Gliis-glis!" he said, bounding up, and glomped Ash.

"Hey!" Ash laughed. "Latias is the new one, not me!"

Latias giggled.

"Kiin-gler," Kingler said, and Latias thought about that for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, it's new to me, too," Ash admitted, letting Gliscor hang off him. "It's amazing to think… you know, that I've actually got a Legendary Pokémon on my team."

"Pika-ka-kachuu, Pikapi!" Pikachu advised.

"You're right!" Ash agreed. "I won't forget Latias is a Legendary Pokémon, but I'm going to treat her like any other member of my team. That's just how it should be, right?"

Latias nodded, squeaking. "Iii-as!"

"Then – oh, hey, I should ask!" Ash said. "Do any of you have anything you want to show me? I don't remember if I asked last time I met you all."

"Piig!" Pignite said, posing, then stepped back a few paces. "Pig-niite?"

"King!" Kingler agreed, turning to face him.

Noctowl took off in a whisper of wings, then Pignite took two steps forwards and used Heat Crash. He hit Kingler with a crash and a flash of flame, and Ash clapped.

"That's great!" Ash told him. "I guess that was Hawlucha who helped you out, right?"

"Pigg-nite!" Pignite confirmed.

"I don't know how much you want to work on training your battle skills," Ash said, as they walked along the road. "But if you want, then when we stop for lunch we can see how you get on against Noctowl and Gliscor. Noctowl because she's a flying Pokémon with some psychic moves and tricks, and Gliscor because he's got some powerful moves to watch out for like X-Scissor!"

Latias made an interested noise, then glanced at Pikachu. "aa-ti?"

"Pika-kachuuu," Pikachu shrugged.

"Yeah, we'll move up to Pikachu some time!" Ash replied. "Maybe straight away, maybe not for a while. Pikachu's really strong, but I already know what he can do, but I haven't given Noctowl or Gliscor a battle in a while so I can see how they're doing too – plus Kingler's a ground-bound Pokémon who beat a Flying-type in a League battle before, so she's a good choice to see how you cope with that."

Another interested squeak, then there was a hoot from up ahead.

"Huh?" Ash asked. "Noctowl, is something wrong?"

Noctowl hooted again, flying back towards them, and Pikachu brightened before looking at first Ash then Latias. "Pika-Chu, Pikapi! Pika, kachu, chuu."

Ash glanced at his starter. "What, really?"

Then Brock came around a bend in the path.

"Ash!" he said. "What are you doing in Johto?"

"I was visiting Larvitar, and things kind of… happened," Ash replied, slowing to a halt.

"And who's this?" Brock replied. "Latias, huh?"

He stroked his chin. "So, is she, you know. Into you?"

Ash looked puzzled. "Huh?"

Pikachu laughed awkwardly. "Pikaaaa… chu…"

"It's a real treat to see you using your older Pokémon again, Ash," Brock said, smiling as Noctowl and Crobat went swooping past overhead. "And the ones I hadn't met before, too."

"Pig niite!" Pignite said, turning around to wave.

"Yeah, it's funny!" Ash admitted. "You were around for so much of my journey, then you weren't for almost as long, but I'm still used to you being there."

"Chuu, Pika-Chu!" Pikachu said.

He tilted his head, then jumped off Ash's shoulder, and landed on Latias's back. The Psychic-type glanced back, smiled, then sped off to where Noctowl and Crobat were circling, and Ash laughed.

"It's great to see Pokémon having fun, huh?" he asked. "How have you and your Pokémon been doing?"

"Well, you know," Brock shrugged. "Gym Battles, for some of them… obviously a lot of my team can't be used doing that, for one reason or another. But I still find things for them to do."

He smiled. "Like helping out at the local Pokémon Centre, sometimes! Though, then again, sometimes I go travelling to help out at other Pokémon Centres too. I like to make sure I keep up to date with my medical training, you know?"

Ash nodded, then crouched down to pick up Pignite.

"It's something I've been thinking about, after the World Coronation Series," Ash admitted. "What I'm going to do, I mean. Because… if I had to make a choice between battling and my Pokémon being happy, then making sure my Pokémon were happy is the obvious choice. And a lot of my Pokémon do enjoy getting stronger, and battling, without it having to be because of a challenge that's in front of us… I guess I'm still working out what to do. Right, Pignite?"

"Piiig!" Pignite agreed, and Ash let him down again.

"Is that what it was like for you?" he said.

"Croo-a," Croagunk mused.

"Well, sometimes," Brock answered. "Moving on to a new part of your life can be scary. Switching to doing something else can make it feel like you're not sure where you're going any more. But in my experience… you don't have to have a goal. If you don't have one, you can just find a way of living that works well for you."

He shrugged. "I don't think you should be afraid of maybe… doing it wrong, or something, Ash. It'll work out."

"If you say so!" Ash said, accepting that, then looked up as Pikachu called out.

Latias did a roll, evading an Extrasensory attack from Noctowl, then the Dragon-type flipped over and pointed at Noctowl. "Iii-as!"

"Pika-kachuu, chuu!" Pikachu judged. "Kaa-chu."

"Looks like Latias is picking up some tips already," Brock laughed.

"Yeah, looks like," Ash agreed. "Maybe I should send Gliscor up there to join them…"

He reached for his belt, then stopped as there was a rustling in front of them.

Without any fuss, a Suicune walked out of the brush.

"Huh?" Ash said, as he and Brock stopped and Pignite gaped. "Suicune?"

He frowned. "We are in Johto… are you Goh's Suicune?"

The Water-type shook their head, then beckoned to the friends with a paw.

With that, they turned – facing back towards the brush in the way they'd come – and looked over their shoulder, waiting patiently.

Ash finished reaching for Gliscor, and sent him out.

"Can you get Pikachu and the others?" he asked, pointing. "Looks like there's a Pokémon who'd like us to help with something!"

Brock had covered his mouth to try not to laugh. "Ash, how does this keep happening with you…?"

"Laa-ti?" Latias asked, looking at Brock's Marshtomp.

Marshtomp shrugged. "Toomp."

Suicune was leading the group on a path that… wasn't quite a path that was taken regularly, maybe, but it wasn't just going through the trackless woods instead. There was definitely a trail, and Ash looked around as they passed through the close trees.

"So, uh…" he began. "Is this an urgent problem, or, not? Because if it's urgent then I've got Latias, and if it's really urgent then you could bring Brock and I could keep up with Latias…?"

Suicune looked back at him, shook their head, then kept going.

"I guess it's not urgent, then!" Ash decided, glad to have that sorted out. "I still wonder what is going on, but if you want to show us this way then there's probably a reason for it."

"I wonder where we're going, actually," Brock said, rummaging around and pulling out a map. "We were there, and… hmm…"

"Pika-chuu?" Pikachu asked, interested, as Latias floated up to look over Brock's shoulder.

"Well, about all I can tell is that we're going somewhere near Ecruteak," Brock admitted. "But that's because we were already near Ecruteak."

Suicune led them over the brow of a low hill, still surrounded by trees, and as Ash and Brock reached the hilltop a large, furry shape stood up.

It was Entei, or an Entei, and it nodded to them before pacing ahead to walk alongside Suicune.

"Huh," Ash said, thinking. "I wonder if that's the same Entei that that guy tried to catch with his Misdreavus?"

"Laa-ti?" Latias squeaked, but Entei had heard as well. They stopped, snorted, then accelerated briefly to follow Suicune.

A moment's blurred speed, and Suicune vanished. Now only Entei was leading them, and Ash turned his attention to Latias.

"I guess you were asking about that, huh?" he said. "There was this guy we met in Johto a while ago, not long after I visited Altomare the first time, and he really wanted to catch an Entei. I guess this Entei, right, Pikachu?"

Pikachu nodded. "Pika-chuu!"

"Anyway," Ash resumed. "He tried to stop Entei from running away with Mean Look, but it didn't work out too well. I guess that's one reason I think that Goh and his Suicune must really have worked out okay, because Legendary Pokémon have a lot of ways of leaving if they don't want to stay around you… poachers are terrible because they don't respect that kind of thing, right?"

"You could have left it at 'poachers are terrible'," Brock chuckled.

Ash got out his phone, thinking. "Actually, I just realized… I never did get to hear Entei's Pokédex entry before. I forgot to… what is it?"

"Entei," his phone replied. "The Volcano Pokémon. It is said that when it roars, a volcano erupts somewhere around the globe."

Brock sniggered.

"There's volcanoes that never stop going off, not really," he said. "I guess that means it's true."

"Pika-chuu, Pika-Chu!" Pikachu chirped, as they walked down the slope.

Entei crossed a stream in a single bound, then turned to wait for them, and Ash and Brock splashed across after Marshtomp had checked that it wasn't too deep for them.

Then a yellow-and-black striped form moved ahead of them, and turned out to be a Raikou.

Raikou took over leading them from Entei, who loped ahead, and Ash glanced at Brock.

"I don't think I've ever seen a Raikou that wasn't shiny, before," he said. "I never really realized that, before."

Raikou vanished as well a few minutes later, but by then they were on an obvious path, and Ash and Brock exchanged a glance before wordlessly deciding to continue.

The undergrowth got thicker, though the path was still clear, then it turned a corner around a big bush and suddenly they were out in the open.

There was a traditional wall in front of them, and behind it was a mighty tower, and Ash shaded his eyes to look up at it.

"Whoa," he said. "Brock, that's the Bell Tower, right?"

"Beautiful," Brock breathed.

"Iii-as!" Latias said, looking up as well.

Then Pikachu pointed at Brock. "Chuu Pika-Chu, Pikapi!"

Brock wasn't looking at the tower. He was looking at five girls standing in a line in front of the tower, each of them wearing formal clothing and with an Eeveelution by her side.

"Seeing all five of you at once dressed so divinely is a vision from heaven!" Brock said, taking a step forwards, then fell forwards with a thump as his Comfey tripped him up.

"Coomf?" the Fairy-type asked, unwinding herself from Brock's leg, and Brock's Croagunk patted her on the plume forming the back of her head.

"Gunk-croagunk," he said, nodding.

"Welcome, Ash Ketchum," Satsuki bowed. "We have been expecting you."

Ash scratched his head.

"You have?" he asked, as Brock picked himself up again. "I didn't know I was going to be here until just now… did Suicune, Entei and Raikou ask you somehow?"

"Something like that," Sakura said. "Please, come with us."

"It is important," Koume agreed.

"Sure!" Ash agreed. "If it's important, then why not?"

The five Kimono Sisters led them not just into the Bell Tower, but all the way up to the top.

It was a lot easier than when Ash had come up this way with Goh, mostly because there weren't any Pokémon causing trouble along the way, though Noctowl did take flight to scan the tower once Ash mentioned that had happened on his previous visit.

Brock sent out Crobat as well, just in case, and Ash looked around for some kind of clue about what was going on – but there didn't seem to be anything, as they climbed floor after floor to the very top.

"Is this going to involve a battle?" he asked.

"Hmm," Satsuki said, pausing. "That, I think… is not our decision."

"Though we do not intend to battle you," Tamao clarified. "At least, not as part of this."

No wiser, Ash followed right to the apex and out onto the platform at the top of the tower.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu alerted him, pointing, and Ash glanced up before looking to see.

Raikou, Entei and Suicune were sitting in a neat row on the platform, all three sleek Legendary Pokémon no more than ten feet away and watching Ash calmly.

Then, in a swirl of golden sparkles and rainbow light, Ho-Oh landed on the very peak of the Bell Tower's roof.

"Wow," Ash said, staring.

"That's amazing," Brock agreed. "I never thought I'd be this close to Ho-Oh!"

He glanced at Ash. "Though maybe I should have."

Ho-Oh furled his wings, adjusting his perch a little, and Satsuki reached into the folds of her kimono – bringing out something very familiar.

A Pokéball with a golden top, and a pair of small markings over the fastener.

"The GS Ball?" Ash said, surprised, then looked up at Satsuki. "Do you know what it is?"

"That's a question I should ask you," Satsuki replied. "Do you know what it is?"

Ash frowned. "Uh… no, actually. I carried it around for a bit to take it to Kurt here in Johto, but I never heard back what it was."

"Pi-kaa," Pikachu said. "Pika-kapi?"

"The GS Ball is ancient," Sumomo told him. "Far older than any true Pokéball. It is in the shape of a symbol."

"That symbol has been around for thousands of years," Sakura agreed. "Nobody knows where it first came from."

Brock made an ah of realization, but Ash was still stumped.

"I… guess I still don't know," he admitted.

"It means Pokémon Master," Satsuki told him. "But what do you think Pokémon Master means?"

Ash frowned.

"I… don't really know?" he admitted, after several seconds of silence. "I've wanted to be one ever since I started my journey, but… I guess I never thought about exactly what being a Pokémon Master would mean. It was a reason to get better, to win battles, it was a reason to catch more Pokémon… to get more friends… but, I don't know."

He glanced at Brock, then out over Ecruteak City below, and finally off into the distance.

"All my friends do different things with their Pokémon," he said. "Goh, Dawn, May, Iris… Clemont… I've got so many great friends, and they all do different things with their Pokémon, and none of those things is quite right for what I want."

Satsuki was silent, so Ash kept going. "What I want is… I don't know if it even counts for being a Pokémon Master. But what I want is to be friends with Pokémon, and to help my friends be as strong as they want to be, and to help out anyone I meet. Especially any Pokémon I meet."

The Sisters waited to see if Ash had finished, then Satsuki looked up at Ho-Oh.

Ash's gaze followed hers, and he saw the Rainbow Pokémon nod.

"Here," Satsuki said, holding out the GS Ball.

Ash took it, automatically.

"Your answer was a good one," she said. "So that's what it's going to represent to you from now on. It's what Pokémon Master means to you."

Ash stared down at the ball.

"Thanks," he said, his voice cracking for a moment, then put the ball in his pocket. "You're right. Being a Pokémon Master means what I decide it to mean, and that's what I'm going to do!"

"Ash, you realize how that symbol got started?" Brock said. "We took Pokéballs with us when we went to Michina!"

Then, before they could think about that, an enormous weighted net landed on Suicune, Entei and Raikou.

"What the-" Sakura asked, but Ash was already turning.

"Prepare for trouble, for one more go!" Jessie said, striking a pose on the far side of the roof.

"And make it double!" James agreed. "It's our last rodeo!"

"Team Rocket!" Ash gasped. "I thought you'd finally vanished!"

Meowth snorted. "We've always been part of this, you ain't cutting us out of things that easily!"

"To protect the world from complacent writing!" Jessie announced.

James brought out a large bazooka loaded with Pokéballs. "To give us a reason for all the fighting!"

"To make an audition for the next big role!" Jessie said, taking out a remote control.

"And shoot to the top of the character poll!" James asserted.

"Jessie!"

"James!"

They made a combined R-pose. "Team Rocket, gloves off for the final fight!"

"Surrender now, at the speed of light!"

"That's right!" Meowth finished. "Now, up and at 'em!"

Jessie and James had brought a lot of support for their attempt to take the Legendary Beasts of Ecruteak – and possibly even Ho-Oh – and within moments, they'd sent out a full team of six each. Ash counted Wobbuffet, Seviper, Yanmega, Woobat, Gourgeist, Mimikyu, Mime Jr., Carnivine, Yamask, Amoonguss, Morpeko and Mareanie, plus Meowth who was trying.

Very trying.

Brock sent out the rest of the Pokémon he had on hand, and so did Ash, and within moments the top of the tower had descended into chaos.

"Crabhammer, Kingler!" Ash called, pointing at Yanmega, and Kingler swiped at the Bug-type as she went buzzing past. The attack missed, but came close, and Kingler clicked before raising her other claw.

"Yeah, good idea!" Ash confirmed. "Bubblebeam! Noctowl, use Foresight!"

Noctowl swept overhead, eyes glowing, and her Foresight neutralized the ability of the Rockets' many Ghost-types to phase out of being hit. Ash immediately took advantage, boosting Pikachu off his shoulder with an order to use Iron Tail on Mimikyu, then James struck a dramatic pose.

"Carnivine, Vine Whip!" he commanded.

Carnivine used Vine Whip.

"Not on me!" James wailed, flailing around. "Vine Whip on them!"

Carnivine used Vine Whip on Brock's Marshtomp, whip lashing out to hit the Water-type, and Marshtomp ducked just in time to avoid an especially Super Effective hit.

"Pignite, jump!" Ash called. "Gliscor, grab him and take him higher!"

"Gliiis!" Gliscor agreed, swooping overhead, and snagged Pignite before beating his wings frantically to gain a little height.

Koume's Flareon fought back against an attack from Woobat, ducking away as the little bat swept his wings and used a surprisingly powerful Air Slash, then retaliated with an Ember that Jessie's Pokémon dodged in turn.

Satsuki's Jolteon hit him with a Thundershock a moment later, though, and Woobat yelped before flying away to try and hide behind Jessie.

"Keep it up!" Meowth called. "We're winnin', I assume, probably!"

"Pignite!" Ash said, waving to get his attention, then pointed at Gourgeist. "Heat Crash!"

"Shadow Ball!" Jessie said, and Gourgeist used Shadow Ball.

So did Mimikyu and Yamask, which went right through Noctowl, and Jessie blinked.

"So how do the Twerps order attacks that more than one Pokémon knows?" she asked, then Pignite hit her Gourgeist with a crash and set her on fire.

"Geiist!" Gourgeist wailed, then used Frustration and knocked Pignite into the air. Ash jumped up, catching his Pokémon, then set him back down and pointed at Morpeko.

"Brick Break!" he said.

Pignite saluted. "Nite!" he said, breaking into a run, and Ash looked around to spot Gliscor overhead.

"Gliscor, Stone Edge!" he said, pointing at Seviper this time, and the Poison-type spat out a stream of poisonous projectiles at Brock's Comfey before being hit by Stone Edge and knocked sliding backwards.

"Aromatherapy," Brock ordered, then spotted Yanmega flying in to attack. "Blissey, Mega Punch!"

Blissey used Mega Punch on Yanmega, knocking the Bug-type off into the middle distance.

"Now dat ain't statistically possible!" Meowth complained.

Pignite hit Morpeko with a crash, then Noctowl used Sky Attack and successfully knocked Yamask out of the sky despite Yamask doing his best to block the attack with his mask.

"Mimic!" James said, and Mime Jr. used Heat Crash himself – though it didn't work very well, as he more-or-less bounced off Brock's Crobat.

"Mimic something better!" James amended. "Mareanie, Sludge Bomb!"

"Thunderbolt to block it!" Ash said, and Pikachu sped over. He used Thunderbolt, hitting the Sludge Bomb attacks as Mareanie fired them, and there was an explosion of foul-smelling smoke.

"Now, Spore!" James added. "Mime Jr., mimic that! Morpeko, Stomping Tantrum!"

"Brick Break!" Brock told his Croagunk, and Croagunk knocked the attacking Electric-type back towards the rest of Team Rocket.

Ash glanced back and forth, taking in the situation, then pointed at the two Spore-using Pokémon as Noctowl beat her wings to keep the area clear of the Spore attack for now. "Kingler, get ready!"

He slotted his Normalium Z, striking the poses, and Kingler raised her claw to point it at Amoonguss and Mareanie – and, behind them, the rest of Team Rocket.

"Hey!" Meowth complained. "Foul! We ain't used our ones of dose since Alola!"

"Mirror Coat!" Jessie said, quickly, then physically picked up Wobbuffet and shoved him into the way because it didn't look like he was moving quickly enough.

"Latias, Headbutt!" Ash said, and there was a shoom from next to him. Latias hit Wobbuffet with a Headbutt, which didn't get Mirrored but more importantly knocked him out of his Mirror Coat stance.

Then Kingler's Hyper Beam-based Breakneck Blitz hit home, aided by a powerful Electroball from Pikachu and an Air Slash from Crobat.

There was an almighty explosion.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off for good!" the Rockets wailed, soaring into the air, and vanished into the distance.

Some minutes later, with the Legendary Pokémon safe, Ash and Brock left the Bell Tower's grounds.

Ash looked at the GS Ball, turning it over, and frowned.

"A Pokémon Master, huh…" he said, mostly to himself.

"Pika, Pikapi?" Pikachu asked.

Ash shrugged, then put the GS Ball in his bag.

"Just thinking," he explained. "Where are you heading now, Brock?"

"Probably back home to Pewter some time soon," Brock replied. "Travelling is nice, but I think it works better for me when it's a short holiday. You?"

"Not sure," Ash replied, then shook his head. "No, actually, I do have an idea."

He turned to Latias. "Hey, Latias – want to see Galar?"

Latias looked interested.

And, a few miles away, on a mountainside overlooking Ecruteak, thirteen Pokémon and two trainers leaned back on deckchairs and sighed.

"Now, dis is the life," Meowth said, picking his teeth with a claw. "How come you knew how to get into dis place, anyway?"

"It's a summer house my family owns," James replied. "But they've never actually been here… Nanny and Pop-Pop told me once that they thought it was too small to be worth their time."

Jessie, Meowth, and all the Pokémon looked up at the four-storey tall mansion, then at the pool they were all resting next to.

"Yeah, dat sounds like 'em," Meowth said. "Well, let's say we think about things and plan here until we got an idea how to steal Pikachu!"

"Oh, that sounds like a good idea," James agreed. "How long do you think it'll take?"

Jessie and Meowth exchanged glances.

"A while," Jessie said. "We'll need to come up with an absolutely foolproof plan."

"And if there's one thing we do well, it's bein' really inventive fools," Meowth agreed. "So, you know, could take ages. Could take years!"

"And we'll just have to live here in the meantime," Jessie sighed.

Wobbuffet saluted. "Wob-buffet!"

AN:

One more episode to go, and Team Rocket bow out. Some nice double meaning in the chapter name for this one… well, at least double.

Naturally, the reason why the GS Ball and the Pokéball symbol represents that is a certain group of travellers who went back in time…