Professor Juniper opened the door to her lab, stared, then covered her face with her hand and groaned.

"What are you doing here again?" she asked.

Ritchie blinked, then exchanged a look with Sparky.

"Chuuu," Sparky said.

"I guess you're right," he agreed. "Maybe it is just a weird Unovan custom I haven't run into before. I'm here on an Unova Pokémon Journey! What do you recommend?"

Further along the Decolore Island Chain, the friends had reached Capacia Island. The largest of the Decolore Islands, it had even more variety than normal, and Iris sighed happily as they trekked up the road.

"I know it's not really right for the whole Dragon Tamer thing," she said. "But there's something nice about a meadow of flowers sometimes, right?"

"Of course," Ash agreed. "Nothing says you have to be like people think at first, and even if you are most of the time, being something else instead for a bit can be a nice break… and that's before thinking about how there are Pokémon who wouldn't fit with that either! It'd be pretty silly for someone to say a Dragon Tamer couldn't have a Milotic because they're known for being pretty."

Iris frowned, raised her hand, then lowered it again. "I guess Milotic is in the Dragon Egg Group, fair enough."

"But even that doesn't have to automatically mean a Pokémon isn't a dragon," Ash said. "Anyway, some of your Pokémon aren't dragons and that's fine. Other Pokémon you have are dragons. That's fine too! My friend Whitney's a Normal-type gym leader but her main team includes a Nidorina and a Rapidash from Galar – your team only has to make sense to you."

"Which is why I have the team I do!" Cilan agreed, whole-heartedly. "Oh, I wonder if I should say that the theme for Striaton Gym is soup! That's what you get when you take plants, water, and heat and mix them all together, after all."

There was a flash, and a Dreepy came out of Iris' Pokéball.

"We had a comment to make, but this is actually quite a good result," they said. "Would we be able to join Axew in your hair and stay out for a bit?"

"Sure, go ahead," Iris invited.

The spectral gestalt vanished into her hair, then Zygarde sped up so they ended up in front of the group and held up a paw.

"There is a Pokémon nearby that I do not want to startle," they said. "There is a Dunsparce in that field over there."

"Oh, yeah," Ash agreed, quietly. "That's neat, Dunsparce are interesting Pokémon. I sort of had one once… actually, Pikachu, does that count?"

"I don't think so, in hindsight," Pikachu said. "Maybe half points."

"Huh, I wonder what that does to the number of Pokémon I count as having caught?" Ash pondered. "Does Clefairy count as one or one and a half? And I guess Purrloin was Zorua too but that doesn't help."

"Oh, this is the Pokémon your Mew has been, right?" Cilan said. "What's the full list?"

"Oh, uh…" Ash began to count off. "Unless I missed some, there was Caterpie to Butterfree, skipping Metapod… then Mankey and Primeape… Dracozolt… Clefairy was her originally but she hired another one… then there was Lapras…"

"I've only ever heard of Lapras, I think," Iris said. "What are they like?"

Ibid emerged from Ash's pocket.

"Lapras," he said, turning into a facsimile of one. "The Transport Pokémon. Lapras enjoys carrying people on its back, and it understands what humans are saying."

"It understands-" Pikachu repeated, confused. "That seems like a very unremarkable trait for a Pokémon. How do you think Pokémon understand commands in battle, if nothing else?"

"I do not always assume Mew's notes are comprehensive, correct or coherent," Ibid replied. "Possibly the humans in question are pirates specifically."

"That would make a lot more sense," Pikachu admitted.

"Another alternative is that Lapras actually understand what humans are saying," Ibid went on. "Instead of just hearing it and having to make assumptions based on the often confusing words that humans say. Humans are very nonsensical a lot of the time, and Ash is so much more so that it loops back around."

"Something about that Pokémon makes me think that it's a bit like a dragon," Iris said. "Or a dinosaur."

"Well, if it is like a dinosaur, then I guess you could just revive one from a fossil, right?" Ash asked. "Or, hold on, it's not Rock type, it's Ice and Water type. So maybe it'd have to be a fossil frozen in ice instead of held in solid rock?"

Iris considered that, then there was the sound of a Pokéball from next to them.

"She liked the idea of living in a restaurant," Cilan supplied, holding up a Pokéball. "Or, at least, I think that's what those pantomimes meant. Crustle had a bit of trouble with her accent."

"Capacia Island is a lot bigger than I thought," Dunsparce said, curled up on the part of Crustle furthest away from his tiny volcano.

"Capacia Island is a lot bigger than she thought," Crustle relayed.

"You don't have to do that any more, I've taken over translation," Lokoko told him.

"Fair enough," Crustle decided.

"I also didn't know it was called Capacia Island," Dunsparce added.

"Yes, humans like giving names to places," Cilan agreed. "Though I have to admit, this part of Capacia Island is a bit barren."

"I like it," Iris said. "It's the kind of terrain where dragons live."

"Why is that, actually?" Pikachu asked. "I get the idea, and I think you might be right given the places I've visited with Ash and seen dragons. But you'd think dragons would prefer to live in places that are… you know… nice."

"Honestly, most places are the kind of terrain where dragons live," Iris admitted. "But this kind of terrain is somehow… more associated with dragons than normal."

"Maybe I should make myself a little canyon," Crustle pondered. "Or ask Cilan for help. It'd go well near the volcano, I think."

"Crustle must spend a lot of time thinking about what to put on their shells," Dunsparce guessed.

"Actually, it's a haute cuisine addition," Cilan said. "I'm wondering about whether we could add a little snowcap as well, ice moves are good to have."

Then someone waved to them from a nearby hill.

"Excuse me!" she called. "Can you wait a minute?"

The friends stopped, and a girl came running over.

"You're Ash Ketchum, right?" she asked, slowing to a halt as she reached them. "Because I'm out looking for a Jirachi, and I've heard your reputation."

"A Jirachi?" Ash repeated, and checked Arc. "What's the lunar calendar at the moment?"

"Displaying," Arc said, and the answer flashed up on the screen.

"Okay, that might be a couple of weeks," Ash said. "Why do you need his help?"

The girl's jaw had dropped slightly.

"I… didn't really expect you to be that matter of fact about it," she admitted. "You actually could get a Jirachi's help?"

"Well, maybe?" Ash replied. "It depends what he thinks. But what do you need the help for anyway?"

"A wish, obviously!" the girl told them.

Lokoko raised a paw.

"I think it would help if we all remembered that none of us know everything about this," she suggested. "For example, we don't know your name. Mine is Lokoko, and you know Ash, but what about if we all introduce ourselves to one another?"

That took a few minutes, and by the time they were done Cilan had got out a saucepan and was heating them some cocoa over Stunfisk.

"What's your wish, then, Gemma?" Pikachu asked. "Because you could be after a lot of things, but some of them could be fixed without a wish."

"I guess that is a good point," Gemma said. "But we've tried everything, and… well, anyway, what I want is for the lake to come back. That's why these mountains are so barren, the lake that provided all our water has dried up…"

"Hmm," Ash frowned, thinking. "So I guess a short term solution would be to get Rayquaza to turn into Primal Kyogre and provide lots of rain? But that wouldn't fix it forever, because the water would just evaporate again. Or flow away, or even soak away… how did the lake work in the first place?"

"There was a spring, I think?" Gemma answered, still trying to cope with Primal Kyogre.

"Then… there might still be some spring water down there," Ash decided. "Maybe it got blocked off or something?"

He took a Pokéball off his belt. "I know who can help! Scrafty, are you available?"

"I am indeed," the Dark-type confirmed. "Sorry, I wasn't listening. What's this for?"

"We want to see if there's spring water down under the mountain nearby," Ash said. "Actually, how far away is the lake?"

Gemma pointed, mostly because it seemed the easiest thing to do. "A couple of miles that way."

"I have the exact location localized," Zygarde informed them, antenna raising. "Arc, please translate this to viewable information."

"Located," Arc said, and a three-dimensional wireframe formed out of golden light. "Scrafty, please begin here."

"What is going on?" Gemma said.

"Hang on a second, it'll be easier to demonstrate," Ash told her. "Ready, Scrafty? Nature Power!"

Scrafty punched the air, and a Power Gem came off her fist.

"Right, so that's rock," Ash decided. "Where next?"

Arc's pointer moved, and Scrafty punched again – this time getting an Earth Power.

"We're doing underground mapping!" Ash said. "Moves like Nature Power and Secret Power change depending on where you are, and Scrafty's always had a really good sense of place."

"But she's – you're saying she's using the moves as if she's miles away!" Gemma complained. "How is that a sign of a good sense of place?"

"It's really a very good sense of place if you can tell yourself where you are and you agree with it," Lokoko said, covering her muzzle with a tail to hide her smirk.

"Oh, hey, I think that one was Mud Shot," Ash said. "So there might be water down there after all!"

"We're in the right place, right?" Iris double-checked.

"Correct," Arc stated.

"In that case, go ahead, Excadrill!" she said, and her Ground-type did a Swanna dive into the ground with his claws out.

He spun up a second before hitting, and there was a grinding whirr sound as Excadrill used Dig and Drill Run at about the same time.

"Straight down, remember!" Iris called.

"You know, something about this seems slightly prosaic," Cilan mused. "I wonder why that is."

"Prosaic?" Gemma repeated. "Prosaic? I don't…"

She pointed, a bit hysterically. "That Scrafty did a map of the mountain by seeing what happened when she punched the air! You're doing this to save time over just asking a Jirachi to help! Ash Ketchum's turned into an Absol!"

"Well, of course I have," Ash replied. "If we asked Lokoko's girlfriend to come here there'd be screaming, and this was a quicker way of getting danger sense into the area. Now, uh… Servine, can you get ready to use Grass Pledge? That'll make a swamp which will spread the water out a bit to begin with."

"But of course!" Servine agreed, striking a pose. "After all, do flowers not bloom by night?"

"I don't think many flowers do bloom by night," Pikachu frowned. "But then again, you're a Grass-type, so you can sort of define that yourself."

"Of course," Servine repeated. "Though, one question. Who is catching Excadrill when he comes out of the hole again?"

"Good point, I'll do it," Iris said, and began dancing.

Gemma waved her hand. "And this! What is this? Why is she dancing?"

"Well, she had to know how to teach her Axew," Ash said. "Okay, here it comes!"

Then the ground shook slightly, and Excadrill was blasted into the air by a surge of pressurized water.

Iris ran over to catch him, Servine did a twirl, and the initial waterspout turned into a slightly muddy splat before the resultant marshland began deepening into a proper lake.

"That seems to have worked quite nicely," Cilan said. "A fine example of enough cooks not spoiling the broth!"

"Though it is still muddy," Ash frowned. "Hmm… hey, Ibid, can we get Suicune's help? Don't bother her if she's asleep, though."

"I knew you had Suicune, at least, but how casually you talk about them is just…" Gemma said, as Iris put Excadrill down on dry land.

Then a Jirachi floated over next to them.

Hello! They said. I'm the Jirachi of this area. I like what you've done with the place.

"Do you know Miracle Eye?" Lokoko asked.

Oh, no actually? Jirachi replied. Why?

"Because the group you're speaking to includes Dark types," Lokoko pointed out. "Speaking out loud would be a good idea, or alternatively Emolga can provide relay transcription."

"I've been looking for you for years," Gemma breathed. "And yet now… I actually don't need the wish I was going to ask for."

"Just between you and me, it's usually a bad idea to try and look for one of us," Jirachi said, speaking out loud now. "We're not around for long. I think the best way to think of it is that we're a beautiful bonus, not what your life is meant to rely on."

"Well said," Lokoko complimented. "Though I must ask… Gemma, do you have a way to contact your father?"

"I… don't," Gemma admitted.

"Oh, then I could probably bring him here if you wish for it," Jirachi said.

"Or you could get his phone number," Cilan suggested.

"What's a phone?" Jirachi asked.

"I'm still new to having a trainer, but I think it's the number used for a magic box that humans can use to call on astonishing powers," Dunsparce said.

"What's a trainer?" Jirachi asked, scratching his head.

"Oh, of course, you haven't been around in a thousand years," Iris said. "...hold on. Cilan, that means this Pokémon hasn't tried any of the recipes that have been invented in the last thousand years."

"You're right!" Cilan gasped. "Ash, I'm going to need help from Dragonite and Dragonite!"

"Why would you need her?" Ash said, frowning. "Are you planning on challenging Jirachi to a board game?"

Then Ibid dropped Suicune in the marsh, which turned sparkling clear as soon as she landed.

"Under these circumstances, there's only one thing I can do," Gemma decided. "Jirachi, I wish for my dad's phone number."

AN:

At that point you need to call him to let him know the problem's been Ashed.