They had a bit of a weird time the next day, helping out a Darmanitan which had gone into Zen Mode to save its friends, but Zekrom quickly volunteered to help by holding up the collapsing building so the Psychic-type Darmanitan could leave.

Once that was done, though, the friends resumed their journey to Nacrene City – and then Ash ran into someone he'd met before.

"Oh, hi Trip!" he waved. "How's your journey going?"

Trip looked faintly baffled. "...are we friends?" he asked. "You're acting like we're friends, but I didn't think we were."

"You learned a lesson about assumptions after a Pokémon battle, right?" Ash replied. "I think that means we're probably friends… do you want us to not be?"

"That's a Mythical Pokémon behind you," Trip said, which wasn't really an answer. "Where did that come from? Did you seriously catch a Mythical Pokémon since we last met?"

"No, Keldeo is just along for the ride," Ash replied. "I did catch a Legendary Pokémon, though – I caught Zekrom! And do you remember that Oshawott that Professor Juniper showed us, because he followed me and he wanted to join me as well."

Trip's mouth opened, he said nothing, and closed it again.

"Oh, yeah, do you want a battle?" Ash added. "My Snivy's still working on getting Moonblast right, she's getting help from Bayleef but Bayleef is a solarmancer which is similar but not quite the same and Cresselia can't really help because she doesn't believe in moves…"

"I don't really think I can put into words how much I don't want a battle," Trip said.

"That's fine," Ash replied. "Oh, what Pokémon have you got so far? I guess you probably battled Striaton Gym already-"

"Actually, why is there one of the Gym Leaders with you?" Trip interrupted. "That is one of the Striaton Trio, right?"

"I'm on sabbatical," Cilan told him with a smile. "So technically I'm not at the moment, my place has been taken by Dragonite."

Trip stared, then rubbed his temples. "Right, uh… look, if I tell you what Pokémon I've got, can we move along?"

Ash shrugged. "If that's what you'd rather do!"

"Thank goodness," Trip murmured. "Well, I evolved my Snivy into Servine, and I caught a Tranquill and a Frillish. I still need a Fire-type though."

Ash nodded, thinking about that. "I don't know what Fire types are common in Unova, but I hope it goes great for you!"

"That was an interesting conversation," Iris said, once they were on the move again.

"It seemed like you knew that trainer," Keldeo agreed. "Did you meet him before?"

"Yeah, he got his Snivy at Professor Juniper's lab while I was there," Ash said. "We had a discussion about where counted as the countryside, and it turns out that anywhere that isn't the moon is countryside now because of what Mirage Mew is doing."

"Mirage Mew?" Keldeo repeated. "You mean some kind of… invisible Pokémon? Isn't your Mew sort of invisible sometimes?"

"No, this is a Pokémon made of computer information," Ash explained. "Or, possibly, computer information made out of Pokémon. Their hobby is constructive art sculpture, which means building working cities on the moon."

"I, um…" Keldeo began, thinking. "I… is there a rule around that? I don't think I even read those rules."

"Clause two forty-six of the Lunar Agreement," Arc said. "Unauthorized development of the lunar surface by non-natives is prohibited."

"Oh!" Keldeo said, suddenly looking conflicted. "I'm sure Ash's friend isn't doing anything bad, but… are they violating the law?"

"Clause two forty-six amendment b," Arc went on. "And Mirage Mew."

That just made everyone look confused.

"And Mirage Mew what?" Iris asked, then nearly tripped over her own feet.

Arc waited until she was no longer falling over, then resumed. "Clause two-forty-six amendment a. Blanket permission is granted to repatriated Cleffa, Clefairy and Clefable to build within one hundred miles of their landing site."

As Keldeo let out a little sigh of relief, Zygarde tapped him on the flank.

"If there is one thing I have learned on this journey, it is how much fun it is to spend most of my time as a dog," the Dragon-type said. "But I learned more than one thing on this journey. Another one is that sometimes it is useful for a Legendary Pokémon to simply relax a little."

"I guess that's a good point," Keldeo admitted.

"And you're coming on pretty well, Iris!" Ash said. "You've nearly got it!"

"How will I know when I've got it?" Iris asked.

"You'll speed up," Ash replied, as if it was obvious. "That's part of how Dragon Dance works, after all."

Iris blinked. "I thought I was learning how to teach it."

"It's the best way to teach something!" Ash replied brightly. "Though not the only way. I taught Snorlax how to use Agility before I could do Agility myself."

Iris mouthed the word before, then shook herself and tried again.

"Hmm…" Cilan said, over a big lunch. "I think this soup is just about perfect! Excellent work!"

"My pleasure," Dragonite replied, with a bow. His antennae held his toque on, stopping it from falling off, and he straightened it before taking a seat.

"Which, of course, means it's time to see how it compares to my sandwiches," Cilan added. "Beetroot and Gogoat-cheese paninis, specially pressed!"

He took the cover off the cloche, and hands and paws reached in for slices of panini.

"Where did you fit that in your bag?" Iris asked.

Cilan smiled, and pressed a button that made the cloche fold up into a single wedge-shaped piece of metal.

"I make sure I'm always prepared," he explained. "You never know when a culinary situation might develop!"

Any further comment was interrupted by Axew spinning around in a circle and thumping down on his back.

"Did I do it right?" he asked. "Was that Dragon Dance?"

"No, you're not supposed to fall over," Iris told him.

"But you did a lot," Axew protested. "And I bet my Dragon Rage is stronger now!"

He blew out a jet of blue and black energy the shape of a dragon, and Purrloin yelped before jumping between Axew and the sandwiches.

Their currently-Fairy-type absorbed that part of the blast, but everyone still looked a bit put out and Iris especially rounded on her Dragon-type.

"Dragon Dance doesn't make Dragon Rage stronger, Axew," she said. "And even if it did, that was a really rude thing to do!"

"Sorry," Axew replied, looking briefly contrite. "Do I still get a sandwich?"

"Not yet," Iris decided. "Instead we're going to try and have you do Dragon Dance properly… can I get your help, Lokoko?"

Excadrill watched them go, then huffed. "I don't get that kind of personal attention."

"You got it first time," Pikachu replied. "Axew's a weaker Pokémon right now so he needs more work."

The Ground-type considered that.

"Good point," he admitted.

"So, where are we heading after lunch?" Ash said. "Is there anywhere interesting on the way to Nacrene?"

"Well, the Restaurant Guide says there's a lab nearby?" Cilan suggested. "It's a centre for Meteonite research."

"Meteonite?" Ash repeated. "How's that different from a meteorite?"

"Maybe they fall up from the ground," Pikachu suggested.

Axew did eventually manage to do Dragon Dance right, though it took long enough that Lokoko offered to reheat lunch for him and Iris.

That also led to meeting a Dwebble, who was trying to carve himself a rock to use as a home but every time he tried it got stolen by three other Dwebble.

"Hey!" Ash protested. "Why are you doing that?"

"Because we can?" one of the aggressive Dwebble said. "What's it to you?"

"I mean, on a purely logistical basis," Ash pointed out. "How many times have you stolen them from him?"

"At least four," the rockless Dwebble said.

"Yeah, see," Ash said. "There's only three of you, so by the time you've stolen four of them you're not even using them for anything."

"And it's a violation!" Keldeo burst out. "There's too many laws against stealing for me to even count, and that's before considering how you're just doing it to be mean! It's just wrong!"

The Dwebble exchanged baffled glances.

"But… we're Pokémon," the leader of the thieves said.

"So?" Keldeo replied. "That doesn't mean you should be horrible!"

He stamped a hoof. "I'm a Sword of Justice! That's meant to be about protecting Pokémon from humans, but now I'm going to have to protect Pokémon from Pokémon!"

"Yeah, whatever," the head thief said. "You're not going to be around forever."

"Umm…" the rockless Dwebble began. "If they're going to be around here, what about if I'm not around here? Couldn't I just go somewhere else and see if I like it there instead?"

"That's a great idea!" Cilan declared. "And I've got an even better idea!"

He leaned down to the slightly startled Bug-Rock type. "What about if you try out being around a Pokémon trainer, and see if it fits your milieu? If not we could drop you off anywhere you like!"

Dwebble considered that, frowning and with one pincer up to his chin, for almost a minute.

"What's a milieu?" he asked.

"Helping a Pokémon get away from abuse by finding it a trainer feels really weird," Keldeo admitted. "But that just means these Dwebble are going to bother someone else, too!"

"Hmm," Zygarde pondered. "Preparing scan. Parameters: parents of local Dwebble."

"Wait, you can do that?" asked one of the thieves, suddenly sounding worried. "Uh… bye!"

They scuttled off.

"No, actually," Zygarde added, once they'd gone. "But it scared you a lot."

AN:

I could switch to larger chapters but they'd be less frequent; I've got the impression that people can enjoy the more frequent chapters.