"It seems like there's a lot of Galarians on the team these days," Articuno said, stretching her feathers out and yawning. "Don't you think so?"
"I think I'm eating breakfast," Zacian replied, sticking her tongue out. "But there's not that many, right?"
"There's you and me," Articuno said. "And there's Moltres, who I think counts. I know he hasn't decided whether to be a battle Pokémon with Ash, but functionally speaking I think he counts."
Zacian shook her head. "I disagree, actually. I don't think Moltres counts."
"What are you on about?" Articuno asked. "He looks like one of the locals, but he's a Shiny Galarian Moltres. It's just an odd quirk, right?"
"It's not whether or not he's a Galarian Moltres, it's whether or not he's a Moltres who's Galarian," Zacian answered.
Next to her, another Zacian was eating her breakfast, and Articuno contemplated the double-image for a moment before deciding that it was fair enough for Zacian to make an illusion of her talking while she ate.
"I don't follow," she confessed.
Zacian sighed.
"He is from Sinnoh, is he not?" she asked. "As in, both, was born there, and was reborn there in the same sense as how Rayquaza is Hoennian. Hoennese. Hoenese. The word for Pokémon from Hoenn."
Articuno thought about that, and hovered in mid-air until she'd finished.
"You make a good point," she allowed.
Now finished, Zacian shook herself out. "All that is not to say that he could not be Galarian as well, of course."
"...now I'm confused," Articuno said. "Didn't we just go through how he's Sinnoh...ian… why is it so much fiddlier to form the adjectival versions of these regions?"
"Good question," Zacian replied.
She flicked her head. "But I am fairly sure that he could become a naturalized subject. I suspect it might not even require anyone else, and I can do it with naught but his consent… not that he's shown any actual interest, it's just a curiosity."
"I'm not sure that type of naturalization actually works," Articuno said, critically. "Anyway, if you're going to go that way why not make Pikachu a naturalized Galarian?"
"Hmm…" Zacian mused, then shook her head. "No, no way to actually check."
"I'm going to avoid asking," Articuno decided. "Want a bit of blade practice? I want to make sure my wings are still up to it."
"Once I've put the breakfast things away," Zacian agreed.
"What do Cresselia actually have to do?" Cresselia asked. "I'm afraid I didn't come with any kind of guide."
"Well, uh…" Ash began, thinking. "Cresselia is one of the Pokémon associated with the moon, but it's Lunala who's really about the moon as a big ball of rock. I think Cresselia are more about the light side of the moon, and restful sleep and healing, and things like that?"
Cresselia nodded.
"And how does my being ten feet tall and fifteen long tie into that, if at all?" she asked.
"I don't think it does," Ash shrugged. "But that doesn't mean you have to be defined by what your Pokémon species is. Articuno is pretty nice, and according to the Pokédex Galarian Articuno are considered to be the Cruel Pokémon. And you know Moltres, right? He's not malevolent."
"Most of the time," Cresselia said, but she was thinking. "How many healing moves are there? And how many defensive moves?"
"You don't want to use attacking moves?" Pikachu checked.
"I want to see if you can win a battle through pacifism."
"So… there's something I've been wondering about," Whitney admitted. "How exactly is it that Ho-Oh decides what comes out of a reincarnation?"
"Hold on, I'll get Suicune," Ash said, taking the Safari Ball off his belt and closing his eyes for a moment. "Ibid, can you swap Raikou out with Suicune, please?"
"Complying," Ibid agreed, and the Safari Ball vanished.
"You're getting good at that Aura thing," Pikachu said.
"It's mostly easy with Pokémon I know," Ash admitted. "Seeing through things sounds cool, but that's before you realize that it doesn't really know when to stop."
"That's something that Shinx will probably want advice on, if she evolves to Luxray," Dawn mused. "They can see through solid objects too, right?"
Ash nodded. "Yeah, I think it tires them out a bit though?"
The Safari Ball reappeared, and Suicune came out.
"Is there trouble?" Suicune asked.
"Not really, but Whitney had a question you might be able to help with," Ash replied.
"Yeah!" Whitney said. "I was wondering how Ho-Oh decided what came out when he did his reincarnation thing? Because Rayquaza and Moltres are tiny and that's super adorable, and I was wondering why they came out tiny and Cresselia came out giant, and Yveltal and the others came out normal. Or, Shiny, or Dark, or whatever."
Suicune sighed, but it turned into a snigger.
"That's a very interesting question," she said. "Because it contains the assumption that he decides. My father, though he is an ancient and noble Legendary Pokémon, is… not exactly the best at making his desired result happen."
Ash put a hand on her foreleg shoulder. "You don't have to give the obvious example if you don't want to."
Suicune smiled up at him. "Your protective attitude is honestly endearing, Ash, but I have lived with this for a long time. It is long past being something which brings me more than annoyance, and these are your friends; I do not fear their reaction."
She took a calm breath. "Once, long ago in Johto, there was a tower which burned down, and three Pokémon were slain in the fire. A male Flareon, and female Vaporeon and Jolteon. And Ho-Oh brought them back to life, including the Suicune you see before you now."
Suicune shook her head. "Unfortunately, he got the gender balance… wrong, in my case. Biologically, at least."
Whitney winced. "Oh, dear… that's terrible!"
"It wasn't his fault," Suicune added. "And he is very sorry, and I do love him dearly. But you can see why the idea of Ho-Oh actually deciding what happens is a little amusing."
"Yeah," Ash said. "And he's been doing really well, too, I don't think he's made a mistake since. He's just had happy accidents!"
"That is very true," Suicune agreed.
"What I was actually wondering was if he did requests," Whitney asked. "I was wondering what a tiny Arceus would be like!"
Even with how her Pokémon journey had gone so far, Dawn retained enough perspective to wince at that one.
A few days later, they encountered a place called the Mountain Hut Maid Cafe, where three milkmaids called Spring, Summer and Autumn sold fresh Moomoo Milk.
Whitney said that it was a brilliant idea and that she felt like she was at home, before exchanging recipes for milkshakes, but after that they heard that Autumn's Miltank Ilta didn't actually like her very much and that Pokémon and trainer didn't have a strong bond.
"Well, that just means you need to learn a closer bond!" she said. "Let's try and help out! So, Ilta, what's the problem you have with Autumn?"
"She doesn't know the first thing about Pokémon training," Ilta complained. "And she doesn't know the second thing either… why should I do hard work for someone who doesn't put in even a little effort?"
"Hmm," Whitney said, while Autumn stared at her Miltank. "That's a tricky one… perhaps-"
"Did you just talk?" Autumn asked. "How did that happen?"
"Rapidash are magic!" Rapidash said. "So are Ninetales and, to my understanding, certain Vulpix. And the occasional royal sword dog, but that's unconfirmed."
"I know!" Whitney decided. "I'll teach you how to train a Miltank for battling – I'm an expert! And then we'll see how well you've learned!"
She tapped her nose. "The trick is momentum! Miltank do great with momentum!"
The trick was, indeed, momentum, though the fact that Phanpy found a Miltankite in the middle of the training helped.
On their way to Veilstone, the friends ran into a large sandy area, and one where they met the very same Hippopotas who they'd helped out earlier on.
That Hippopotas was looking for a Hippowdon, and Ash frowned.
"So… a Pokémon who hides in the sand," he said. "I think Larvitar might be able to help, he knows sand."
"Or maybe Chatot?" Whitney suggested, sending the little Normal-type out. "He can use echolocation, probably… Mega Evolving has got to help, right?"
"It's hard for it to hurt," Pikachu said. "Not impossible, perhaps, but hard."
"Right, then," Whitney said, catching Ash's Mega Ring as he tossed it over. "I should really get myself one of these… maybe a Mega Brooch?"
It lit up with rainbow light as Chatot Mega Evolved, and he settled down on the sand.
"Ahem," he said. "PING."
Mega Chatot listened carefully to the results, then took off in a whirl of feathers just before a giant Rhydon robot emerged from the sand.
"We'll teach you to mess with Team Rocket, punks!" a voice said, from inside it, and then the mouth opened.
To Ash's mild surprise, it was a different group to the ones he was used to.
"Hand over that Hippopotas!" Butch demanded. "Doctor Namba ordered us to find a Hippowdon so he can study the sand they use for weather conditions, and that one's going to help us do it!"
"That's right," Cassidy agreed. "And you'll find we're more than ready for you this time!"
"This time?" Ash repeated. "Did we meet before?"
"You're that kid from the daycare thing," Butch scowled. "The one that those incompetent suck-ups have been making up field reports about!"
"I don't know why the Boss trusts those reports," Cassidy said. "They completely violate the known laws of probability, just for a start."
She held out a Pokéball. "Granbull, sort these idiots out!"
In reply, Ash sent out Cresselia.
Granbull used Howl.
"...why did you do that?" Cassidy asked. "I didn't order you to do that?"
"Well, excuse me," Granbull grumbled. "That's a moon Pokémon, so I howled. It's sort of a thing."
He shook his head.
Cassidy blinked a few times. "Right… Bite!"
"Cosmic Power," Cresselia replied, glowing as she absorbed energy from a nearby celestial body.
"How did that work?" Pikachu asked. "You said Cosmic, but all I saw was light from the ground."
"You mean from the literal planet which we're only a few feet away from?" Cresselia replied. "It seemed easier than drawing it from any of the other sources. They're much further away."
"She's got a point," Pikachu admitted.
"Bite again!" Cassidy said.
"Recover," Cresselia declared, light sweeping over her and carrying away her injuries. "Cosmic Power. Agility. Reflect. Light Screen. Barrier."
She slid back and forth, evading Granbull's attacks, but didn't launch any of her own. "Do you ever wonder how you came to this point in your life?"
"Not especially," Granbull replied. "I've always known I'd be involved in biting things a lot."
"Try Thunder Fang!" Cassidy commanded. "Slow that Pokémon down!"
Half an hour later, Granbull fell over and began snoring.
"Well, that was interesting," Cresselia said, using Recover again and doing a sideways roll which brushed the ground. "I think there's a definite possibility with this strategy."
"In a League Battle, the audience would object," Chatot pointed out, having reverted from Mega form twenty-five minutes ago. "There's something called the Endless Battle Claws, which they use to remove you from the field if you take too long."
"That's clause C-L-A-U-S-E, sweetie," Whitney told him. "Not claws as in Shadow Claw."
"That does make more sense," Chatot conceded.
"Huh?" Butch asked, looking up from a magazine, then straightened up. "Hey – hey, Cassidy, your Pokémon got knocked out!"
"That implies I did it," Cresselia said. "He simply agreed not to continue battling, by falling onto his face with exhaustion."
"Well, whatever!" Butch replied, as Cassidy hurriedly put away the phone she'd been playing on. "I know just how to stop that nonsense and get at that Hippopotas!"
He frowned. "Wait, where's the Hippopotas?"
"Hippowdon met him about a quarter of an hour ago," Dawn supplied. "I think you were reading."
Butch's rage was building, and he grabbed one of his Pokéballs. "Solrock! Heal Block!"
"Come back for a rest, Cresselia!" Ash said, holding out a Moon Ball, then swapped it for a Dusk Ball. "Your turn, Yveltal!"
Butch looked at Yveltal.
"Should we actually do the bit where I say Oblivion Wing?" Yveltal checked. "If I overdo it we have to get Xerneas to help, and he's a bit irritable if it happens too often."
"Maybe those reports were right," Butch conceded, reluctantly.
AN:
Ho- "Bob Ross" -oh.