"That was… hmm," Max frowned. "Was that our most eventful visit to a Kingdom? It's not even the only one where Absol showed up."

"It's the only one where Misty wasn't around, I think?" Brock said, considering the comparison. "I think it counts as more eventful for you, anyway, though it wasn't for me."

He straightened. "So, Ash, do you know where we're going?"

"Scott said the first Battle Facility was the Battle Factory," Ash replied. "It's supposed to be somewhere around here, uh… I think there was something about how finding it was part of the challenge, but I don't have to do it myself. I can get Pokémon help."

"Which is why I've got a map in Ash's shadow," Marshadow said helpfully. "We're about three days away if you walk."

"That sounds good," Ash judged. "In fact, I wanted to give Pidgeotto some training on the way… I don't know what the Battle Factory challenge is, but Pidgeotto knowing more about battling would definitely help her in future!"

He sent the Flying-type out of her Pokéball – actually a Level Ball, owing to a minor misunderstanding. "What do you think?"

"I think learning how to battle better sounds like an excellent idea," Pidgeotto declared. "What sort of thing do you mean? I've heard more than a little about punching Pokémon."

"That's one way that works!" Ash agreed. "But I was thinking of starting with Flying-type moves, like Brave Bird."

Pidgeotto tilted her head, interested. "How does that one work?"

Ash scratched the back of his head. "Uh… actually, as far as I remember you just smash into your opponent really hard. And it's Flying type… Mew might know more about it."

"It sounds intriguing," Pidgeotto said. "As of now, I know Quick Attack and Gust, and I've heard about Wing Attack but there's something about it I don't quite get."

"Hmm…" Ash mused, thinking. "I think the thing about Wing Attack is it's not just smacking your wing into something, otherwise it's not really much different from Tackle. Quick Attack is different from Tackle because it's faster, but it's still a Normal type move, so what makes Wing Attack different might be something to do with the airflow… and it makes sense that it'd be the same with Brave Bird!"

"I see!" Pidgeotto said, nodding. "Then we should work on that first, right?"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "Or, since you know Gust we should start with reshaping Gust a bit. Then you can see how much damage it does to a Sacred Sword and that should help make sure we're on the right track!"

He frowned. "Oh, or should we work on aim first? I've got the GS Ball somewhere…"

While Ash rummaged in his bag as they walked, Max moved closer to Brock.

"Those are moves that it actually makes sense for a Pidgeotto to learn," he pointed out. "What's going on?"

"...I guess she is Normal type?" Brock suggested. "Maybe that's what's going on… though I suppose she's not Ash's first Normal type because that was Snorlax."

"Yeah, that disproves that hypothesis," Max agreed.

Meanwhile, Professor Oak opened a new notebook.

"So!" he said. "Which of you wants to go first?"

Lucario and Xerneas exchanged deeply confused looks.

"Xeern," Xerneas declared.

"Neither Xerneas nor myself actually knows how any of this works," Lucario explained.

"Well, I suppose that's something to write down anyway," Professor Oak said, duly noting it down. "I'll use this as the combined notebook, then."

Xerneas asked a question, and Lucario translated. "What is the purpose of all this?"

"Well, I'm a Pokémon Professor," Oak said, then paused. "Ah, I see. Well, the word Pokémon came about a few hundred years ago, I think… my job is to study and research Pokémon, so we know as much as we can about you. That includes things that you might not know yourself, or things which it doesn't make sense to ask about – but in this case one of my main interests is going to be finding out about what things were like for you, and what you don't understand."

"That sounds a little… odd," Lucario admitted.

"It's because there's a lot we don't know about the past, just because it was normal," Professor Oak explained. "And not in the sense of the Type, either. It's because it's not talked about – you don't think about it. So…"

He thought for a long moment.

"Ash said that you worked with Sir Aaron," he said. "And because Pokéballs didn't exist yet, where did you stay? On a day-to-day basis, I mean."

"I had my own room at Cameran," Lucario said. "It was not particularly ornate, perhaps, but it was mine. I must confess, I was a little bemused to see it as a dressing room, since from my own view I had only left it an hour previously. But…"

Understanding dawned. "I think I see. So I might tell you that my master's Pidgeot slept in a colombier atop one of Cameran Castle's towers, and that when he evolved the messenger birds had to be moved into the other colombier?"

"Yes!" Professor Oak agreed, taking notes. "Exactly the sort of thing that – believe it or not – is valuable research in the modern day."

"Xeeern," Xerneas declared. "Erne-Xern-as."

"I suppose," Lucario said. "What about the other side of the coin – the things that we do not understand?"

"How did you light rooms at night?" Professor Oak said. "We have a way of doing it today, but was it different for you?"

"I'm a Lucario," Lucario pointed out. "I can see in the dark and through solid objects… but if actual light was required, usually we would rely on a candle. Other times it was a Maiju – a Pokémon – with the move Flash."

Xerneas made a comment of his own.

"And usually Xerneas would just light up his horns," Lucario supplied.

Professor Oak turned on the light switch.

"Ways of generating and using electricity in large quantities were found decades ago," the Professor explained, enjoying the reaction of the two Pokémon. "More than a hundred, I think. I can turn this on or off whenever it's needed."

"Such convenience," Lucario said.

"Now, come on," Professor Oak added. "If we're going to talk about this for much longer, you should have something to eat while you do it. Would you like chocolate?"

"What is chocolate?" the Fighting-type requested.

"...I think it's time to show you something else modern," Oak decided.

"That must be it!" Max said, pointing at a building in the distance. "Or… sorry, I mean I think that's it. It's in the right direction, and it looks like a factory, so…"

He shrugged.

"Marshadow?" Ash asked.

The Ghost-type came out of his shadow, and inspected the map.

"Correct," he declared.

"That's great!" Ash said. "Though it's kind of late in the day… we should probably set up camp before reaching it. That way I can challenge it tomorrow!"

He frowned. "I wonder what the Battle Factory is focused on?"

"Steel types?" Max suggested. "Electric types? Fire types? That's a tough one."

"No, I think Scott said they weren't focused on Types at all," Ash replied. "It could be technological Pokémon, but if I wanted to make a really tough challenge it wouldn't be type based. So I don't really know enough to be sure."

He shrugged. "So that means it's training just on general principle!"

"That is often the best kind of training," Pikachu agreed.

"So, the way it works is, you get electrocuted," Swellow said. "And it doesn't work."

Pidgeotto listened politely, then shook her head. "No, I still feel like there's something missing there… some kind of connection I'm not making. Sorry. It's probably something to do with me, not you."

Swellow clucked her beak. "Tch. Well, let's try it again… worst case, you get a bit of experience being shocked, right?"

"Perhaps we should focus on something easier first?" Pidgeotto asked. "Can you show me that Steel Wing move again?"

As Swellow fluttered into the air, ready to demonstrate it, down below Ash took up a sort of vague martial arts stance.

"Like this?" he asked.

"Yep!" Mew agreed, nodding. "That's great! Now, the next step is to punch this tree."

Ash punched the tree.

"Great!" Mew said. "Now for the fun bit. Concentrate your fighting spirit in your fist, and do it faster than the speed of sound!"

Ash punched the tree again.

"That was faster already, but keep it up!"

"Brock, do you ever have that weird moment when you sort of refocus on your life and realize how odd it is?" Max asked. "I just told Ralts goodnight from a different region because of a psychic link amplified by a Mew that's teaching one of my friends a move that's probably Mach Punch."

"I know the feeling you mean, but it stops after a while," Brock told him. "Hmm… do you think it should be tempura and noodles tonight?"

"That does sound tasty," Max admitted.

"Hey, Max!" May called. "Can you and Brock spare Vulpix? I'm going to start working on a routine with Squirtle, and I might need her help!"

Max looked at Brock, who waved his assent.

"Go ahead," he said. "I'll send Crobat over to fetch her if I really need her."

Getting up, Max followed Vulpix over to where May was standing with Squirtle and Marill.

"So, I was thinking about how Kanto Contests let you change Pokémon between the Appeal and Battle rounds," May explained. "And I thought it might be good if Squirtle got his feet wet by doing an Appeal without the pressure of having to do a Battle. That depends if we get the Appeal routine good enough, but it doesn't matter if it doesn't work out… I just don't want your first Contest to be too stressful."

"That helps," Squirtle said. "But, really, Contests don't sound that stressful. Not after how I trained when I was growing up!"

"I don't think that came up, yet," May admitted. "And thank you, Vulpix."

Vulpix flicked her tails, pleased.

"Well, I'm actually from the Orange Islands," Squirtle said. "There's this whole group of us who train in fire fighting – Go Ascorbia! - and so I've been into burning buildings a few times. Just as practice, mind you… I always preferred the beach."

"That sounds cool!" Marill declared bouncing. "I bet that means you're a strong Pokémon!"

Squirtle flicked his tail. "Well, I do have a pretty mean ollie."

Marill exchanged a confused glance with her trainer.

"A what?" May asked.

"I'll show you in a sec," Squirtle said. "What kind of thing were you thinking of for a Contest?"

"It could involve showing off a skill you already have," May said. "Or I could teach you something. What moves do you have?"

"I can Surf, obviously," Squirtle told her. "And I've got Hydro Pump, too! Watch!"

Squirtle used Hydro Pump.

The water blast that resulted blew him backwards into a tree, which gave an ominous craak sound, and stripped the bark off the tree it hit.

"Whoa!" Max yelped, as they all got soaked with spray – except Vulpix, who swished her tail across just in time and drew the water down into a puddle in front of her. "What was that?"

"Ow," Squirtle mumbled, then extracted himself from the treetrunk. "That doesn't normally happen…"

"If you didn't mean to do that, then that's a bit of a problem…" Marill said, critically. "It was cool, but…"

"Fire fighting…" Max muttered to himself. "Squirtle, do you normally use Hydro Pump to fight fires? Because the air in fires is usually really dry."

"...one, you're really smart," Squirtle declared. "Wow! And two, I think I should probably use Surf instead. That usually works better, but normally I work with waves…"

It turned out that the Battle Factory was almost as full of Pokémon as Oak Ranch – counting the large numbers that both Ash and Gary had caught over the last couple of years, plus the smaller contributions by other Pallet Town trainers.

Unlike Oak Ranch, though, the Battle Factory was all built around a structure and had as much indoors as out. It also had workshops for working on machines and inventions, and the head of the Battle Factory – a man called Noland whose title was actually Factory Head – showed them around for most of an hour before finally getting to the point where a battle happened.

"I have so many Pokémon to give my opponents choice," he said. "Because, at the Battle Factory, you choose who you battle – you can face any of my Pokémon!"

Ash took that in.

"That's great!" he said. "Who's your strongest Pokémon?"

Noland had to stop and think about that.

"I've got a few Pokémon with Mega Stones," he said. "But… who am I trying to kid, you're Ash Ketchum! The only Pokémon that would possibly fit is the Articuno I befriended."

"Oh, that actually works out really well!" Ash decided. "I've got an Articuno too, and she didn't get a chance to have a gym battle in Hoenn. She's kind of been bugging me about it."

Articuno came out of her Pokéball.

"I haven't," she said. "Nor have I been Psychicing you. I've been Normalling you at most."

Noland smiled. "A Galarian Articuno? Or is she from somewhere else – I just think of that variant as Galarian because-"

"I'm from Galar, yeah," Articuno agreed.

"I'm actually sort of surprised that you don't know Ash's complete list of Pokémon," Brock said. "He has used her in a League challenge, it's not like… his Absol… which only appeared in the edited Elite Four challenges."

"Or Rayquaza," Ash provided.

"Honestly, you've got a known Zorua and multiple other illusion Pokémon," Noland said. "I assume. So it's mostly just confirming what you've actually got."

He tapped his foot slightly, thinking, then nodded. "Articuno should still be here, I was out flying with him yesterday. Let's go sort that out, then!"

Noland's Articuno was easy enough to find, though he was a bit startled by the idea that Ash's Articuno actually stayed in a Pokéball most of the time.

Galarticuno explained the benefits of being in a Pokéball, from how relaxing they were to the fact that there was literally no practical downside, then everyone went up to the roof to have the actual battle.

Noland's apprentice Sergio announced that he would be the referee, and laid out the rules – since it was a battle with one Pokémon on each side, withdrawing a Pokémon would count as conceding the battle. In addition, if one of the two flying Pokémon crashed they had ten seconds to visibly return to the sky, or they would be considered defeated.

Then, with everything ready, both Articuno took off and faced one another in mid-air.

"Begin!" Sergio said.

"Ice Beam!" Noland called immediately.

"Psycho Cut!" Ash retorted, and Galarticuno sliced the attack in half. "Mystical Fire!"

"Mist!" Noland countered. "Use Powder Snow to keep yourself cool!"

"...so, um, question?" Max said, as the two Articuno exchanged attacks high overhead – Galarticuno sweeping her wings across like a conductor's batons to use Psycho Cut and Mystical Fire, sometimes blatantly flying backwards instead of using her wings to do it, and Noland's Articuno showered her with Ice Shards one minute before sweeping his wings together to launch a Hurricane the next. "Brock, you're a Gym Leader."

"Last time I checked," Brock agreed.

"Well, aren't both Pokémon kind of a long way away?" Max pointed out. "Does becoming a good trainer of Flying type Pokémon mean getting really good at shouting?"

Brock laughed, then actually thought about it.

"...it might?" he said. "I guess Pokémon just tend to have good hearing?"

"Water Pulse!" Noland said, and his Articuno fired out a watery burst. Ash's Galarticuno cut it in half, reducing it to a spray of fragments, but Ash was frowning.

"He's planning something!" he called. "Look out!"

"Icy Wind!" Noland ordered.

Articuno's wings gathered a swirl of frost under them, and he beat them hard at Ash's Galarticuno – and the attack drew together all the water and moisture already in the air, freezing it and amplifying it, and suddenly Ash's Galarticuno had ice forming on her wings.

It didn't actually stop her flying, but Noland's Articuno promptly fired an Ice Beam at her as well, and this time she couldn't get her Psycho Cut up in time.

"Don't use Mystical Fire!" Ash said. "He'll just freeze the water again! Dodge – left, right – and use – down! Use Expanding Force!"

Galarticuno's feathers glittered with psychic energy, then with a crash the ice burst off them. The wave of psychic energy carried all the broken ice away from her, as well, getting it far enough away that Noland's Articuno couldn't just refreeze it and cause her the same problem again.

"Very quick thinking," Noland informed him. "Articuno – Ominous Wind!"

"Agility!" Ash countered. "Close in – Steel Wing!"

"Steel Wing yourself and block!" Noland called.

Several chaotic minutes later, Ash snapped his fingers.

"Got it!" he said. "Articuno – over here!"

His tired Articuno disengaged, wings curled up in defence against any future attacks, and hovered for a moment over Ash. "That sounds like you've got a plan."

"Mystical Fire," Ash instructed. "On yourself – set yourself on fire!"

Surprisingly, Galarticuno didn't immediately reject that suggestion.

"Bloody painful, but good plan," she said, promptly using Mystical Fire. She burst into flame, and Noland's Articuno blinked.

"Are… you cosplaying as Moltres?" he asked, a little confused.

"Psycho Shift," Ash ordered.

"No, for it is you who is on fire," Galarticuno said. "Boosh."

Articuno caught fire, and the flames around Galarticuno vanished.

"Now that's just not baseball," the Ice-type said, then fell backwards and hit the ground with a wham.

There were a few minutes taken up with administrative issues, after the formal end of the battle had been called.

First, Articuno had to be extinguished, which was a task May's Squirtle took on with considerable enthusiasm.

Then, once that was done, they had to sort out a minor flooding problem.

Eventually, though, Noland shook Ash's hand.

"That was a great battle!" he declared. "You've earned the Knowledge Symbol!"

Rummaging in his pockets for a moment, he handed it over.

"I have to ask, though," he added. "How did you meet your Articuno?"

"She teleported in from Galar by accident as I was starting my Johto journey," Ash told him. "Then I helped her recover from a crash!"

"That's surprisingly similar to how I befriended my Articuno," Noland said, thinking. "Well, the crash was the same anyway. There wasn't any teleporting involved."

"Teleporting saves time, but I usually prefer to walk," Ash told him. "Or fly. It's much easier to know how big somewhere is when you do that… and to see all kinds of amazing Pokémon, as well!"

Noland nodded. "I'll agree with that. Good luck with the rest of the Frontier, Ash."

"...what about Ice Beam?" May suggested to Squirtle, as they walked. "I know you said you dealt more with waves, but shaping solid objects could give you more variety and it'd show good control as well."

"That could be pretty cool," Squirtle agreed.

Max sniggered.

"We'd miss out on so many puns if we couldn't understand Pokémon," he said. "I'm really glad Ralts is going to be there to do it for me once I go on my own journey."

"Actually that wasn't meant to be a pun," Squirtle said. "But yeah, Ice Beam sounds rad."

"Now!" Ash called. "That one!"

Pidgeotto swept down, hitting the tree Ash pointed out with her wing, and the impact half-stopped her in mid-air. She swiped at the tree with her other wing, then unravelled the air currents around her wings and used them to resume flight.

"That's working a lot better," Ash said. "Well done."

Pidgeotto flew up above the trees, then turned around and came back down to Ash.

"There's about six Dragonite headed this way," she said. "Two of them have passengers."

"Well, there's a clearing over there," Ash suggested. "Can you let them know we'll be there in a minute?"

"Sure," Pidgeotto agreed, flying back up again.

As Ash had sort of guessed, the passengers included Professor Oak. Tracey was the other Dragonite-rider, and Oak explained that an invite had arrived at the Labs for him.

"There's a Pokémon scientist who wants to do a demonstration," the Professor said, getting down from his Dragonite as King Dragonite gave Ash a tight hug. "He invited me, but he also invited you, because he'd like to demonstrate with the help of a highly skilled battler… and, well, you are Hoenn's Grand Champion, technically."

Ash thought out loud, still hugging King Dragonite back. "If he needs help with that kind of thing, then that probably means it's important research, or there's a chance for a good battle, or even both. So… that sounds like it'd be a good idea, and it might be a lot of fun as well!"

"There was going to be one of us bringing you the invite," another Dragonite explained. "But then we realized that we could just come and pick you up, and transport the Professor and his assistant to the demonstration as well."

The Kings-Rock-wearing Dragonite finally let Ash go, and he turned to the others. "What do you think?"

"I'm intrigued, now," May said. "Let's go and find out what this mysterious demonstration is!"

AN

The lack of an AN on original posting was in error. Those responsible have been reminded that they're also the author.

I think what Professor Oak is doing there is Lucariological studies.