"Do you ever get the feeling that our trainers aren't quite the most diligent about completing their journey on time?" Pikachu asked.

"Ssh," Latias chided him. "I like watching the magic show, don't interrupt!"

"Sorry," Pikachu said.

"I get what you mean, though," Torchic agreed, more quietly. "But even if the point of a journey is to get stronger, that doesn't mean you have to spend the whole time racing to complete it."

Then the magician's assistant brought out a funny looking crystal, and Max frowned.

"Did someone say something?" he asked. "I heard a voice…"

"Jirachi," Marshadow said immediately, before eating another handful of popcorn. "That crystal is Jirachi in Sleep Mode."

"Pardon?" Torchic said. "Isn't Jirachi a-"

Latias sighed. "Can we discuss this later?"

When later arrived, the friends got the full story from Marshadow – then got it again from the magician Butler and his assistant Diane.

The crystal was, indeed, Jirachi's cocoon, and the Psychic-type was a particularly powerful example even of the Wish Pokémon who was tied to the Millennium Comet – so named because it came around only once every one thousand years.

Jirachi was destined to awaken that very night, when the Comet appeared in the sky overhead, and when he was in the presence of a best friend (also chosen by destiny).

"...that doesn't sound very fair," Ash said, thinking about it. "Only seven days with a best friend?"

"Jirachi is a deeply mysterious Pokémon," Butler replied. "Though, admittedly, I've never actually met anyone with any Legendary or Mythical Pokémon before."

"And then Jirachi sleeps for a thousand years again," Ash went on, turning the idea over in his head. "I wonder if that's because of the comet, or it's just a thing that Jirachi do and the comet's kind of a coincidence?"

Butler frowned. "I think it's because of the comet, because otherwise I don't think it would line up quite so well."

Brock counted under his breath. "But it can only really have happened one or two times in the past that anyone could keep track of…"

"Do you know anything more, Marshadow?" Ash asked, looking at the Ghost-type. "Or Zygarde, is this anything you know about?"

"Best information is that Jirachi wake according to celestial cycles," Zygarde replied. "Records indicate that some Jirachi sightings fit a one thousand year sequence. Other sightings fit other sequences, with one observed sequence at 248 year periodicity; this sequence indicates a planetary alignment."

Ash was frowning, thinking about that, but then the crystal twitched.

Twitched again.

And, with a flash, turned into Jirachi.

"Wow…" Max said, seriously impressed.

Jirachi yawned.

"That's so cute," May smiled. "Hey there, Jirachi."

Hi! Jirachi announced, telepathically. What's your name?

"That's my sister, May," Max announced. "And I'm Max, and these are our friends Ash and Brock."

Oh, your mind feels familiar! Jirachi announced. I sort of felt you earlier!

"Ooh, this is where the fun bit starts!" Cranidos announced. "I met a Jirachi once, ages ago… their wish powers take the easiest or funniest approach! It's hilarious!"

"The easiest approach?" Max repeated. "So… what would happen if I wished I could understand what a Pokémon is saying without help?"

Let's find out! Jirachi said. I wish Max could understand what a Pokémon is saying without help!

Ash turned into an Absol, and his backpack went thump onto the floor. Pikachu nearly followed it, but managed to swing himself into a graceful landing.

Max stared. "...what the heck?"

"Oh, this again," Ash said. "Well, I guess I do count as a Pokémon like this, so you can understand me?"

"...what on earth do you mean, again?" Butler asked. "Has this happened to you before?"

"...so it's kind of rude to use your wish powers for some things," Max said. "It's fine sometimes, but because they're kind of weird about it you need to be careful."

Jirachi nodded.

Does this mean we get to keep the candy?

"Only the stuff we actually pay for," Max replied. "Which is a bit of a pain, but it's only fair… and no, I don't think it's a good idea to wish for more money, it'd just take it from people's pockets or something."

Aww… you don't even know that's what I was thinking of, anyway, Jirachi pouted.

"I mostly just guessed," Max said.

He looked around. "Once we've got the candy sorted out, though, do you want to go on one of the rides? There's dodgems, Mightyena loves those."

What's a dodgem?

"Yeah, I think it'd take longer to explain than it'd take to just show you," Max decided. "Mightyena, I think we're going on the dodgems again!"

"Sounds good to me!" the Dark-type said, wagging his tail.

"I can't believe you're not even using your Illusion ability," Brock said, shaking his head as they watched Max on the dodgems.

"Yeah, but how often do I get the chance to look at things from down here?" Ash replied. "It's great to get a reminder."

"Ash, you've done this three times in less than a year," Brock pointed out. "The answer is more often than usual."

Ash nodded, seriously. "Right, but it's still good to think about – like how because Treecko isn't as tall as I am, he's got a much flatter view across a battlefield. So I need to think about that because he won't have the same view as me… same for Dratini, and Pikachu, and just about anyone who can't fly!"

"Never change, Ash," Pikachu said.

Then paused. "I mean, never change who you are on a fundamental level. At some point I'd like you to go back to having human-altitude shoulders."

"I wonder if I can get some help from Zacian, some time," Ash pondered. "I'd sort of like to get Swords Dance right… or that thing she does where she fires Sacred Swords, that's really cool… but that'll have to wait until we've got Jirachi sorted out!"

He jumped up onto a roof. "I wonder whether-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Ash jumped again, this time in surprise, and fell off the roof. He rolled upright as he landed, one paw going to the Pokéball belt slung around his middle, and he looked up as the yell finally faded. "Latias? What was that?"

"I don't know," Latias replied, shimmering into visibility. "I can look around?"

"Good idea," Ash agreed. "Wait – take Zorua, he can talk to people for you. And let May know where we are."

Latias nodded firmly.

"Ash, look!" Brock said. "There's another Absol!"

Mudkip sidled over to Vulpix. "Should I be finding this unutterably hilarious?"

"You don't have to," Vulpix judged. "But it helps."

"I have never seen another Absol who actually fit the stereotype of bringing chaos and disaster," the new Absol declared, flanks heaving slightly.

"Ash is actually human," Pikachu supplied. "He just got turned into an Absol for… I think it's the third time, unless I lost count."

Absol stared for a moment, then shook her head. "I'm… not sure how to react to that."

She took a deep breath, muttered something about how she'd really have appreciated it if Ash happened to be female, then shook her head. "Well, it's… extremely hard to concentrate, right now, but there's danger. Jirachi is in danger."

"He is?" Max said, worried. "How? From who?"

"It's Butler, isn't it?" Diane asked.

She stepped out from behind a tent. "He was part of Team Magma, once… we took Jirachi's crystal from Forina. I'd hoped it was just to fulfil the prophecy, but it seems likely that he's the cause of the danger."

Absol frowned, concentrating hard. "I… think so. It's hard to be sure, but I think you're right. And we should… no, I can't tell."

"If Jirachi was taken from Forina, then we need to go back there, right?" Ash guessed. "And even if we don't, then we can think about what to do there as easily as we can here… hey, I just realized!"

He nodded to Absol. "This is a great chance for me to learn how disaster sensing works!"

"I simultaneously think that's a good idea and wish you hadn't said that," Absol sighed.

"Hmm…" Ash said, the next evening, looking at Jirachi playing with Max and Shroomish – flicking a frisbee around, with Bullet Seed in Shroomish's case.

They were a lot closer to Forina than they'd been the previous day, but they could only go so far in one day, and it wasn't long until they'd have to go to bed.

He got Ibid out of his bag. "What moves does Jirachi know?"

The Pokédex transformed into a miniature Jirachi, which waved.

"Jirachi knows Teleport, Wish, and Doom Desire," Ibid said.

Ash thumped his paw on the ground. "That won't work, then."

"Something I should know?" Pikachu asked.

"I'm trying to work out how Jirachi can stay awake, or wake up," Ash explained. "I had the idea of teaching him Sleep Talk and Aromatherapy, but Jirachi knows Doom Desire too and that's a really powerful move. So doing Sleep Talk randomly until he gets Aromatherapy probably isn't a great idea…"

He tapped Ibid. "You can change back now."

"Understood," Ibid said.

"Oh, and… can you get Zacian for me?" Ash added. "I'd like to get in some Sacred Sword practice."

"Fetching," Ibid informed him, and vanished in a Teleport.

He reappeared fifteen seconds later with Zacian's Repeat Ball, and the Heroine of Many Battles emerged.

"Training, is it?" she asked, and reached into her mane to draw her sword. It was only a normal sword, this time, not the Rusted Sword that changed her form, and she held it with an easy confidence. "Very well, let us begin with the high guard."

Ash shifted his stance a little.

"That's quite good, given how long it's been since you had the chance to practice," Zacian informed him. "Bring in your left forepaw a little… good. Now, deal with this strike from the high guard."

She swiped her blade across low, and Ash skipped back two steps.

"Good," she said. "Never be afraid to open measure if it is the best solution… next, a parry."

It took two days to reach Forina, in total, and – because it was what he considered entertainment, job and relaxation all at once – Ash spent almost the whole time training one way or another.

It wasn't always the more conventional type of training, though.

"Okay, so… this is how my parents taught me," Absol said, and took a deep breath. "Just need to not focus on the fact you feel like a walking Trick Room… so I'm going to be putting you in different and quickly changing amounts of personal risk. That should be something that alerts you to your disaster senses. Ready?"

"Of course!" Ash agreed, readily. "That's what this training's for!"

"I had to ask," Absol said. "Okay. So I know four blade moves… Psycho Cut, which is completely ineffective, Night Slash, which you resist, Slash, which is neutral, and X-Scissor which is super effective. Your job is to tell me which one I'm switching to with your eyes closed."

"Right!" Ash nodded, duly closing his eyes. "I'm ready!"

Absol lit her horn with X-Scissor, then flicked from that to Psycho Cut and back to X-Scissor.

Back and forth.

"I think I feel… something?" Ash said. "It's coming and going though."

"Good," Absol said. "The difference should get stronger now… Swords Dance."

Her horn lit up brighter. "Tell me when the feeling comes and goes."

"It's there, now," Ash said. "Kind of an itch? ...now it's gone."

"That's good," Absol told him again. "That itch is your danger sense. As you continue to work on it it will get more detailed, and stronger… though I'm not sure if you'll have it when you're not an Absol."

She snorted. "I'm not sure why you have Illusion as an ability at all, though admittedly after meeting some of your team I can't think of what else you'd have."

They were camping for the night, and Forina was visible on the horizon, when Absol padded up to where Zacian was lying a little way from the fire.

"Excuse me," she began, brushing her paw against the ground. "And, don't take this the wrong way, but… might I inquire as to your preference in partners?"

Zacian turned her head, and gave the Dark-type a long but not unkind regard.

"I am afraid that, if your preference includes me, mine is not the same as yours," she said. "Though I do not begrudge you the question."

Absol took that in, and nodded.

"Thank you for the simple answer," she said. "I am afraid that as a Pokémon normally associated with disasters, it is… not as easy to socialize as it could be."

Zacian chuckled.

"Then, rest assured, I can and will count you as friend," she said. "If I were my brother I'd mention the word shieldmaiden here…"

Eventually, and with Ash still mulling over the Jirachi question, they reached the beautiful landscape of Forina itself.

"Observation," Zygarde said, as they reached an overlook and a cliff-top path that provided a lovely view of the valley interior. "Thousands of years of enhanced energy has sunk into the soil here. This area is more fertile than it would be otherwise owing to the presence of Jirachi and Jirachi Sleep Mode."

Jirachi drooped. You mean… I have to stay here or this place would dry up?

"Correct determination," Zygarde said. "I estimate that without you being here, the climate would begin to deterioriate in only a century."

Max stopped mid-stride, and May bumped into the back of him.

"Did you translate that right, Vulpix?" he said. "Only a century?"

"That's what I heard too," Vulpix huffed. "Don't blame me."

"A century is a long time, by human standards," Ash said. "I guess it's different for an ecosystem?"

"Correct," Zygarde told him.

"Then I guess it's not going to be a problem if we do work out a way to keep Jirachi awake," Ash said. "And, uh, at worst Max could just move here or something? Or Jirachi could visit Max, or… there's loads of options?"

"It's a lot better than having no options!" Latias squeaked.

"Right!" Ash agreed. "So we just need to work out a good way to keep Jirachi awake… I've got a few ideas, but I guess either we need a really foolproof one or a good idea which can't be beaten."

He frowned. "Hey, I feel kind of itchy…"

Then Butler appeared in a flash of light as his Kirlia used Teleport, shouted that he wished for Groudon, and everything got complicated.

"This… isn't what I wanted," Butler said, staring up at the enormous monster he'd created. "That's not Groudon!"

"Yeah, that's really really not good!" Cranidos yelped. "How is that the easiest option?"

Zygarde howled, and green flashes lit up all over Forina.

"Alert!" they barked. "The construct is draining energy from the area! It has been created without sufficient energy to sustain it!"

"Ohh, that's how!" the Fossil said, pleased to have that answered at least, then darted out of the way as a pseudopod of energy crashed down in front of them.

Ash activated his Illusion, and scrambled around in his bag.

"This should keep it busy!" he said, and threw something into the pseudopod as it came in again.

The entire Meta Groudon flashed brilliant white, then vanished.

Everyone stared at the result.

"...Ash?" May said, eventually. "Why did you just throw a Heavy Ball at that fake Groudon?"

"I thought it was the GS Ball," Ash replied. "I don't even know why there was a Heavy Ball in my bag… I thought trying to drain from an invincible Pokéball might keep it busy."

"That was probably there because Mew was fiddling with it," Cranidos guessed.

Ash walked over, and picked up the Heavy Ball before sending the contents out again.

The enormous Groudon roared, extending pseudopods to try and drain the landscape again, and then Ho-Oh burst out of his Timer Ball.

"Stand back!" he declared. "This pseudo-Pokémon is ill, and I am the next step up from a doctor!"

"Well, at least I've got them off being stuck on cat," Ho-Oh said, proudly. "You've got to admit that that's an achievement."

Ash patted the two-foot Shiny Rayquaza now cuddled around his torso, who didn't seem inclined to shift any time soon. "I guess so! So that's sorted out one problem, anyway!"

Butler was just staring at them both.

"So, I guess… oh, hey, I just had an idea!" Ash said. "So… the way Jirachi work is that they're tied to an astronomical cycle, and they have to sleep until the astronomical cycle comes around again. And they're only awake for seven days around the middle of it… so can't we just wish that Jirachi was directly linked to the full moon?"

He shrugged. "It might make Jirachi's wishes less powerful, but he'd be around a lot more of the time, and that's better, right?"

"I… actually can't think of a reason that wouldn't work," Cranidos admitted. "At worst you'd need to get a Cresselia to help out or something, but that's about it, and they've got Lunar Dance anyway."

Ho-Oh examined Ash.

"How do you even do this?" he asked. "It took you more than a year to get around to challenging me, and I had to seek you out personally to do it… and it took you less than a percent of the time to solve Jirachi's problem."

"I think that would have gone faster if Ash had known he was meant to be challenging you and where," Brock said. "Though we might have got lost on the way."

A day later, Norman picked up the phone. "Maple residence."

He smiled. "May! It's good to hear from you. How are you doing?"

Pause.

"That sounds like quite a scare. I hope you're all safe?"

Another pause, and Norman nodded. "That's good. And how is your new Dratini doing?"

He smiled. "That's lovely. And let the others know I haven't forgotten them… a seventh Pokémon? So one of them will be coming back here, I suppose. Is that one yours or Max's, really?"

Caroline leaned around the door, and Norman nodded to her while holding up his hand.

Then paused.

"...Jirachi?" he repeated. "And he'll be… asleep for three weeks in the month. Oh, very asleep for three weeks. Like you before school?"

Caroline held in a snort of laughter.

"I'm just teasing, May," Norman told his daughter. "And yes, that won't be a problem. We'll probably put him in Max's room, but for the others it depends what they are… oh, and you are going to catch a Normal type at some point, right? One of you at least?"

He laughed. "I suppose Azurill does count, at least until she evolves. Well, take care – shall I pass you over to you mother?"

At about the same time, Giovanni – and, miles to the south, Professor Oak – both stared at differently framed but otherwise very similar photographs of the same tiny Pokémon.

Neither the crime boss nor the Pokémon Professor knew it, but they were both almost exactly united in how much they wanted a drink at that moment.

AN:

Because nobody stopped me, that's why.