"Welcome back again, Ash!" Delia said. "You have some very polite Pokémon. Did you catch the Latias and Latios as well?"
"Oh, they were over?" Ash asked, interested. "No, not really, they just show up sometimes – like Silver used to do, and like Keldeo does too."
Delia smiled. "I don't really follow what you're up to these days half the time, but you're happy so that's what matters. And I hear that you won a tournament!"
"I think the operative term there would be 'we' won a tournament," Pikachu said, twitching his ears. "If I'd been involved!"
"Hey, Pikachu, you helped with the sled race," Ash pointed out. "That was part of it too. It was really a team thing – everyone did something, including Mew!"
The conversation had to pause for a few minutes after that, because Ash was swarmed by Dratini and Dragonair.
"Ash, there was something I had for you," Professor Oak said, once Ash had said hello to all the little dragons – and the four bigger ones. "I've been looking for these for Gary, but he can't use this one and you can."
He put a small box in Ash's hand, and Ash opened it – Pikachu leaning over to have a look as well.
"That looks like that thing Gary's Blastoise had," he observed. "What was it called, again?"
A Mega Stone! Mew announced, paws grabbing the edge of Ash's hand so Mew could haul himself up and take a good look. Hmm, not sure who it's for, but I bet Professor Oak knows… oh, wait, there's only one option it could be!
Mew scratched his head. Unless when I'm transformed I can Mega Evolve. I've never tried that before!
"How long have you been there?" Pikachu asked.
I can teleport, Mew replied. So honestly… since I got bored with the last thing I was doing. Hey, Mr. Professor Oak, is there a Key Stone with this Charizardite? And what kind is it?
"And, Ash," Professor Oak went on. "I recommend you do the Johto gym challenge. There are gyms there with different types to the Kanto gyms, and the Silver Conference is run by the same Elite Four as the Indigo League. Plus, it'll mean you're not that far away from Kanto, so you can come back here if I need help dealing with your Pokémon team."
"Why my team?" Ash asked. "Isn't Gary off to, uh, Alola is it? He's far enough away that his team could make trouble without him."
"Gary's team isn't composed almost entirely of ridiculously rare Pokémon," Professor Oak replied, then watched as Mew got bored and zipped off towards the rest of the ranch. "Or whatever Mew does to the Pokémon they get their paws on. Ash, until a few months ago I'd never seen a Charizard fly underground, and that's just the start of it."
He sighed. "Please. Stay nearby enough I can get your help if they set the pond on fire."
"Actually, I think you could probably do that," Ash said, already thinking about it. "Uh… is there a Pokémon that has an attack that's a mixture of fire and electricity? That might make hydrogen from the water and set it on fire at the same time-"
"I can't tell if it's you or Mew who started this trend," Pikachu said, shaking his head. "But at this point you're both doing it."
Ash stayed in Pallet Town for long enough that Professor Oak could have a proper look at the GS Ball – a process which involved trying every analysis device in the book, then an hour or two of headscratching, and eventually asking Mew to hit it with the strongest attack they could think of.
Once everyone's ears had stopped ringing, though, Ash set off west.
With Brock and Misty.
"Are you guys sure you want to come with me?" Ash checked.
"Honestly, Ash, I learned more about taking care of Pokémon when travelling with you than I ever could have learned any other way," Brock told him. "It's been fun so far, and you're a good friend."
He looked expectantly at Misty.
"You're not getting rid of me that easily," Misty sniffed. "Hmph."
She shrugged. "Besides, I hear there are some great Water types in Johto!"
"I don't think there are many places that don't have good Water types, right?" Ash replied. "Uh… I guess maybe somewhere far inland might not have many, but even then, if you're a Water type specialist then most Water types will work for you, right?"
He frowned. "Unless it's somewhere where you've already got most of the Water types. I guess then you'd want to go somewhere else…"
Shrugging that thought off, Ash sent out Shaymintwo.
"I've been wondering if we can get you some Gracidea," he said, arranging things so he was carrying the Grass-type in the crook of one arm. "But apart from that… you did great against Drake's Dragonite, but it seemed like you were having a lot of trouble doing damage. Especially against Dragons."
"I could handle it," Shaymintwo said.
"Yeah, and I can handle Ground types eventually with enough electricity," Pikachu said. "That doesn't mean picking up a new way to handle them isn't a good idea."
"And… there we go," Brock said, checking the map. "We've just passed into Johto."
No sooner had he spoken than there was a whoosh, and Ho-Oh passed overhead so low his feathers nearly brushed the trees.
He pulled up, wings flaring, and spun before alighting in the clearing.
"I'm quite sure I dropped a Rainbow Wing that time," he said. "And Marshadow is around, so you should be able to head on your quest now."
Marshadow waved from inside Ho-Oh's shadow.
Ash waved back, then frowned. "Uh… one question, though. Isn't that a Kanto thing? Because I'm just setting off to do the Johto gym challenge."
Ho-Oh sighed, deeply.
"Fine," he said. "In that case, I am modifying the quest. Marshadow?"
The Ghost looked up.
"Different destination," he said. "The other one instead. It'll spoil some of the aesthetics but I've already spent months trying to organize this."
With that, he took off, leaving Marshadow behind.
"What was that about?" Misty asked.
"I'm… not really sure of all the details," Ash admitted, picking up the Rainbow Feather. "I guess Marshadow is going to follow us around, though, so I could just ask him."
"You're meant to work a lot of it out by yourself," Marshadow provided, slipping across the clearing and dropping into Ash's shadow. "I can't give hints."
"I guess it's a challenge, then," Ash said. "I can work with that!"
Not long after their encounter with Ho-Oh, Ash was challenged to his first Pokémon battle in Johto.
"That's right!" Casey said. "I'm challenging you to a battle!"
"Okay, this isn't going to go well," Pikachu muttered.
"Go!" she added, sending out her first Pokémon.
"Wow!" Ash said, taking out his Pokedex. "An actual Pidgey!"
Casey blinked a few times, her momentum completely gone. "...what?"
"Oh, actually, are you sure it's a Pidgey?" Ash continued, which made the Pidgey look baffled and offended as well. "Because in my experience what looks like a Pidgey usually turns out to be a Mew."
He aimed his Pokedex at the Flying-type, and it beeped. "Well, I guess that's working, so maybe it's not a Mew?"
"Is this some kind of joke?" Casey asked, looking at Ash's travelling companions. "Is he crazy?"
"...you're not wrong," Brock admitted. "Under normal circumstances, Ash absolutely would seem crazy. The problem is just that… it doesn't seem like normal circumstances knows Ash."
"Wait, hold on," Ash mumbled to himself. "Lapras scanned as normal, and that was Mew, so maybe they worked out how to hack the Pokedex database too?"
He pointed at the Pidgey. "Hey, can you use a move that a Mew wouldn't know?"
"That's literally impossible," Pidgey complained.
"Have you seriously never seen a Pidgey before?" Casey asked, as the Flying-type landed on her outstretched arm. "They're the most common Flying-type in Johto."
"Thanks," Pidgey chirped, fluffing irritated feathers, and Casey patted her Pokémon absently.
Ash looked politely skeptical. "I don't know… if they were common I'd see them a lot, but most other Flying-types turn up more often."
"Like what-" Casey began, then ducked as a big purple blur went overhead before crashing with an almighty thump into a nearby thicket of bushes.
"Whoa!" Ash yelped. "Come on out, Charizard! Let's see if we can help that Pokémon out!"
"...I think I'm glad I didn't get a battle," Pidgey decided. "Also, what the everloving-"
It took a couple of minutes to extricate the crashed Pokémon from the bushes, and once that was done Ash got some food out of his supplies to help them recover.
"I've never seen a Pokémon like that before," Casey admitted. "It looks kind of like an Articuno, but not quite."
"I'm not an expert on regional forms," Brock said. "But I think it's a Galarian Articuno."
"Wouldn't she be a Johtoian Articuno, though?" Ash asked. "If she's from Johto, I mean."
He looked up at the Articuno. "Do you know which you are?"
"As far as I'm concerned I'm an Articuno," the Articuno said, still sounding a bit dazed. "Where's Johto?"
"You're in Johto," Pikachu told her. "Only just, though. Where are you from?"
"A bit north of Hammerlocke," she replied. "In Galar, so… I suppose I am a Galarian Articuno if you want to think of it like that. I was looking for a bit of a change, and this very helpful Pokémon taught me how to teleport."
"Hmm," Pikachu said. "This Pokémon… was he called Keldeo?"
Articuno blinked.
"You know him?" she asked. "That's a bloody coincidence."
"Well, I guess if you were looking for a change you got one," Ash told her. "Hmm… Hoopa could probably get you home again…"
"Which would be useful if I was planning on going home," Articuno told him. "I was looking for a change, not a holiday."
Ooh! Mew announced, appearing from nowhere anybody actually noticed. If you're looking for a change, I can probably teach you transform.
Her tail coiled around like a spring. I mean, you already know Teleport… I do need to teach you the short range version by the way, I'm better at teaching that one… so all it would really be is rearranging yourself en route!
Misty blinked. "...suddenly teleport sounds less appealing."
Oh, don't worry, Mew assured her. Abra do it, and they're asleep when they do!
"I've not been involved in the whole Trainer thing before," Articuno said, orbiting over a point a little to the west of New Bark Town. "So obviously the food's good, and these Pokéball things aren't half bad, but what about the rest of the experience?"
"Wait, the Pokéballs are what?" Zapdos queried.
"Not half bad," Articuno answered. "You know. Good."
Zapdos gave her a slightly weird look, wondering why you wouldn't just say good, then twitched her beak and discarded the thought. "Well… obviously, like a lot of things, there's a trade off. You know, some things get more limited, but other things become possible."
She banked to the right a little. "Firstly, you go where your trainer goes, or you go to the Oak Ranch back in Pallet Town… though Ash did say that he'd let any of us go somewhere else if we felt like we needed it. Then, secondly, there's battles. Which are massive fun, a lot more than I was expecting."
"Oh, the things in the stadiums, and all?" the Psychic-type queried. "Where's the nearest one?"
"They're called gyms here," Zapdos corrected her. "And it's not just those, there are battles on the road and training battles… battles with wild Pokémon sometimes… and Team Rocket, when they show up. I'll tell you about them later."
"Complicated?" Articuno asked.
"No, I just think it'll be easier with an example," Zapdos answered. "And, obviously, battles can involve getting hurt. I got a mild concussion from an Arcanine moving faster than the speed of sound, once, and then there was the time I got suplexed by a Metagross… but they're honestly exciting. At their best it feels like you and Ash are kind of having the same thoughts, and he's alerting you to something so you realize it quicker."
Little bolts of lightning fizzed over Zapdos' wings. "It's a real rush. And when something just clicks together and you realize how to do a tricky move, or a difficult tactic, or you work out how to beat an enemy tactic, it's brilliant."
Articuno was quiet as she assimilated that, and as they drifted a little further west.
"And what about the Mew?" she asked. "Are they common here?"
"...the sad thing is, I actually have trouble telling any more," Zapdos confessed. "Our trainer's caught the same Mew five times. Which reminds me, his luck is kind of crazy… if you're looking for a way to stave off boredom, then Ash is the way, and training back at the ranch is hardly boring either."
She banked to the right. "Hold on a minute...do you see by that big river, going between the forests? Where there's those flashes of light?"
"I see…" Articuno began, then blinked. "I see a dozen Butterfree trying to set a giant Pinsir on fire, and the rest of the Pinsir and some Heracross are helping the Butterfree?"
"That's Team Rocket," Zapdos summarized, waggling her wings. "Hold on up here for a moment, I'll go let Ash know what's going on, and then we can stop them…"
Dealing with the latest Team Rocket mecha was always a bit of an art of improvisation, especially when it had been built to endure the attacks of very tough Bug and Fighting Pokémon.
Fortunately, Articuno's wings were just right for the job, slicing through the armour once she got close enough, and once that was done it was only a matter of time before they got blasted off once more.
"So, that's Team Rocket for you," Zapdos said, as Ash recalled his Snorlax. "You can see why I thought they needed an example."
"You're not wrong," Articuno admitted. "And… how often do you have to deal with them?"
"...maybe twice a week, recently?" Zapdos said, considering. "It kind of goes up and down. Like the weather."
"Your five day forecast is sunny, with a 78% chance of bozos," Pikachu said, by way of example, as Ash came over from the Bug-types.
"So they both wanted to complain about what had happened earlier," he told the rest of the group. "But I think that was all caused by the Mecha Pinsir in the first place, so it got sorted out easily enough."
He took off his backpack and began to open it. "Also, one of the Heracross wants to come with me."
"…that's something else I've missed," Brock said. "Ash's unique way of acquiring Pokémon."
A little pink paw held a Pokéball out of the bag, and Ash took it. "Thanks! Okay, Heracross-"
"Did you just see that?" Articuno asked.
"Honestly, at this point I think my attitude to Mew is the same as my trainer," Zapdos said. "Just let him do what he wants."
There was a squeaky pop from inside Ash's backpack.
"Seems healthy," Professor Oak summarized. "All right, Heracross, I told you the rules, don't cause too much trouble. Especially don't forget to only do your training in the area that's set out for it."
Heracross nodded slowly, then went out the door, where he immediately encountered Mew.
Also, Misty's Goldeen.
Hi! Mew announced. I've been giving Goldeen a refresher course on how to Levitate!
"Isn't that-" Heracross began, and Mew zipped over to his ear.
Sssh, he sent, still telepathically. I've not told Goldeen it's not a move and I don't think she knows.
The Psychic-type then hovered back a bit, contemplating Heracross, and rubbed his paws together. Ooh, I've got some great ideas for you! Quick question: how do you feel about being able to punch things so hard they catch on lightning?
Strangely – and inconveniently – there was a forest on the route from New Bark Town to Violet City that was pretty much stuffed full of illusion-causing Ghosts.
On the plus side, Ash and friends were unusually well equipped to handle it.
"Illusion," Zorua announced, turning left. "Illusion. Actually there but made to look like it isn't."
"Hey, do those illusions still stay there if Pikachu shocks the Ghosts?" Ash asked. "Because he could just shock everything?"
"No," Misty told him, firmly. "That would include shocking us. You might have helped a Zapdos learn where to carry her charge while carrying a rider by trial and error, but we're not Ground types."
She eyed Pikachu. "Not that it would necessarily help."
"Would it help if I was a Dark type?" Eevee asked.
"Nah, I've got this," Zorua assured her. "Hey! Get this illusion out of the way!"
The tree didn't move.
Zorua snarled, a Night Daze fizzing around his teeth.
The tree moved.
"There you go," Zorua said, then frowned. "...wait, hold on. That was a Sudowoodo with an illusion to make it look like a tree… well, either way."
"And there you go!" Zorua announced, on the other side of the forest. "Easy!"
"So… was it necessary for you to be impersonating Solgaleo for the entire forest?" Pikachu asked.
Zorua tilted his head. "It depends how you define necessary. Was it required for us to get through? No. Did I find it funny? Yes."
AN:
And here we go into Ash's second proper region! You can tell it's a proper region because he gets a bird Pokémon at the start.
I think that's how that goes.