"Alola, Ash!" Misty called.

Ash was in the middle of half-refereeing half-encouraging a training bout between Torracat and Goodra, but he turned to wave. "Hi, Misty! Brock! I didn't know you two were coming to Alola!"

"Yeah!" Misty agreed. "That's because we wanted to surprise you, like you always do to us!"

She folded her arms. "So! Let's hear it, how much chaos have you caused since last time?"

Togetic started giggling pre-emptively.

"This should be good," Vulpix agreed.

"Well, uh…" Ash began. "I guess I can't remember if I told you some of this stuff so I should just go through the lot. I got a new Pokémon, a Cosmog, they evolved to a Cosmoem and then to a Solgaleo and-or Lunala depending on their preferences at that moment. They're not around right now because they're with the other new Pokémon I got… Rowlet evolved to Dartrix… then this other Pokémon I got is called Poipole, he's a poison type and really cute! He's still in another universe right now but he's learning to make Ultra Wormholes too I guess. And I also met, healed, and made friends with Necrozma!"

"I haven't heard of that Pokémon before," Brock said. "Actually I've not heard of Poipole either, but you did say they were from another universe."

"Necrozma's the same!" Ash told him. "We found out where Z crystals come from, it's Necrozma. They're a giant dragon made of light, and in Poipole's world they're the source of light that plants grow from too. They got badly injured a while ago but they're healed now."

Misty and Brock exchanged glances.

"So… about the usual, really," Brock judged. "Well, it's good to know you're enjoying yourself here, Ash!"

"Yeah, they have a different way of doing things here, it's really neat, you do Totem Trials against local Pokémon and Grand Trials against the Kahunas, and you earn Z crystals by doing it," Ash nodded. "Oh, and I accidentally blasted myself into a parallel universe last week but we solved the problem there and Nebby and Necrozma brought me home… oh, I should mention, I'm part of a team that goes around solving problems. It's like the G men but it's also mostly the class I teach at school."

Togetic was rolling on the ground giggling now.

"Oh, I should introduce you to Sandy," Ash decided. "I can't remember, did we tell you about Mantine Surfing before? There's so many Ride Mantine in Alola that they use them to do sports, like, well, surfing! And Sandy said that's how he got to Alola."

"Sandy's an Eevee, by the way," Pikachu said, because Ash had actually forgotten to mention it and it wasn't clear from context. "Part of Lana's team."

"That could be fun," Misty admitted. "Lana's the Water-type specialist, so maybe I should give him a chance to meet a Vaporeon…"

"How are your gyms getting on without you, actually?" Ash asked. "I know Brock has the rest of his family, but how are your sisters handling it?"

"They're not," Misty replied. "I left a schedule."

"What's even going on?" the challenger demanded, then ducked as the Goldeen went rocketing past.

She hit the wall with her horn, bounced off with a whunng, refocused, and aimed up at his Corvisquire.

"I thought bringing a Flying type to the Water gym would give me an advantage!"

"Yeah, like… no," Daisy said, adjusting her helmet. "Maybe if one of us was doing it, but Misty doesn't let us do gym challenges any more."

"Which, rude," Lily agreed. "But yeah."

Corvisquire was quite unnerved (which seemed unfair) by the Goldeen now chasing him through the air over the swimming pool, especially her precise Water Pulse attacks and the occasional Icy Wind, and after a long moment the challenger raised his voice.

"Tailwind!" he called. "Get some distance, then let's go for a Brave Bird!"

In response, Goldeen's horn began crackling with electricity.

"Oh, come on! What move even is that?"

"So I shouldn't have to do much," Misty shrugged.

"And I'm here on the lookout for something for Lucy," Brock added. "How do Z crystals work in terms of how you get them?"

"Well, they're usually handed down from the Tapus to the Kahunas and the Totem Pokémon," Ash explained. "And they're really earned on an individual basis, so it wouldn't make much sense for you to get her one like that… sorry."

Brock nodded, considering. "That's fair," he admitted. "I didn't really know enough to tell if it was a good idea or not."

"You could try finding a Pokémon who's interested in joining her?" Ash suggested. "Uh… a Salandit might be nice for her, they're Poison and Fire types… I'm not really very good with what Pokémon would make sense for her to get, though."

"I'll give it some thought," Brock decided.

The ground finally gave way beneath Torracat, who'd been holding Goodra up by the foot for quite a while now.

"Hah!" Torracat yowled. "My spine, one, the beach, nil!"

"Mantine Surfing?" Sandy asked. "Mantine Surfing? Yeah, I can do Mantine Surfing!"

He ran around in a circle, possibly in excitement or possibly just for emphasis (which was different), then went bounding towards the sea. "Mantine, Mantine! New friends!"

"He's enthusiastic," Misty said. "Is he like that at home?"

"Sometimes," Lana admitted. "He's quite good at tiring out my sisters, though, and I didn't think that was possible without industrial equipment or lots of Yawn."

"Great, he's here!" Sandy called, running right back up towards them, and skidded to a halt. "My friend Mantine's bringing his friends! Who wants to come and enjoy? I can give you all loads of tips, I fell off several times before I got the hang of it so I must know all the ways you can screw up and that's like knowing how to do it!"

As it turned out, Sandy's friend Mantine knew a lot of other Mantine.

Some of them were Ride Mantine, who came over from some nearby piers – leaving enough in case there was a sudden demand for them – while others were wild Mantine, which meant that the group had to sort of split into the ones who were able to stay on the back of a Mantine without handles and the ones who felt that they'd need the handles.

Then, as Sandy announced while bouncing on his paws with enthusiasm, Surf was Up!

"I know I'm mostly relying on what Mantine said, but you seem much less prone to falling off my back than I'd have expected," one of the Mantine said, looking up at Brock's Eevee.

"Ssh," Eevee replied, tail flicking. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm cheating, I'm using Floaty Fall to press myself into your back on the flips."

"I'm sure it can be our secret," Mantine chuckled, then accelerated towards a wave. "Okay, here we go!"

He hit the wave at speed, doing a flip and spin, and he and Eevee spun around several times before Mantine splashed back into the water.

"That was great!" Eevee giggled. "I wonder if doing that enough times is a trigger to become a Skyleon! Or whatever you'd call a flying type Eeveelution. Um… Jeteon? Cirreon?"

Seeing that Eevee was perhaps a bit distracted, Mantine sculled into the shallows until she'd finished thinking.

"How is Ash so good at this as well?" Kiawe asked.

He and Marowak were doing well too, he thought, but he was holding onto the Ride Mantine's handle. Ash was just on the back of one of the wild ones, balancing perfectly as if he'd been doing this all his life.

"He's using his danger sense," Pikachu explained, skidding in alongside Kiawe on a surfboard. "It'd be obvious if he fell off, because it'd break the Illusion, but he hasn't because he's using his danger sense."

"Huh, I guess that makes sense," Kiawe said, then watched as Pikachu flicked off a tiny ripple and did a five hundred and forty degree flip. "Okay, new question, how are you so good at that?"

"I'm a Surfing Pikachu, that's how," Pikachu replied. "It's a natural talent, apparently. It's how I fly, too, because… you know, Mew."

"It's a pity I don't get to talk to Lokoko while this is going on," Togetic said, with a sigh.

"Sure, but we can do it later, right?" Misty asked. "Okay, Mantine – that looks like a big one, aim for that!"

The Mantine she was riding surged towards the wave, then flicked off with a double somersault.

"Yeah!" the Fairy-type agreed, following her trainer and nodding. "It's just, you know. Lokoko and Vulpix are both in the safety and communication crew overhead, and you don't need either."

"So that's what all the Dragonites are," Mantine said, then splashed back into the sea after an extended flight. "I wondered about that."

"It's because most people have a bit of trouble swimming after going splashing into the water," Misty said. "I don't because I'm a Water-type trainer and also amazing, but most people are just one of those."

"And your Pokémon know to come out of their Pokéballs and help out," Togetic added. "Don't forget that, mama!"

"This is really different to riding on Metang," Sophocles said, wobbling in a worrying sort of way. "I don't – uh – whoah!"

He went splash into the water, and a Dragonite overhead blew her whistle.

Then Sophocles came right back out of the water again, as Charizard boosted him up to Mantine's back.

"That just looks wrong," Kiawe's Charizard admitted, shaking his head. "I know you're really cool for being able to do that, don't get me wrong, but… I'm just wincing and thinking about my tail flame."

"It's actually pretty easy, once you learn Drill Run," Ash's Charizard replied, kicking back and lounging on the surface of the water, then rolled back over on his front again and used Dive.

"Hey, Dragonite!" Ash called. "Mantine, give me a safe path for a moment? Thanks."

King Dragonite swooped down to fly alongside Ash. "Yes? Hi Mantine!"

"Hello," Mantine replied. "You'll excuse me if I don't wave."

"Speaking of wave, I think there's a big one coming," Ash said. "Can you get everyone else to be ready to go into shore? It's probably going to hit the underwater sandbar and break there, but it could be a bit too much trouble for everyone to ride it at once… and we should probably get ready for you to do a sudden rescue, too!"

He struck three poses, one after the other, and King Dragonite did the same.

"Hey, no Z-moves while riding-" Mantine began, then stopped in astonishment as King Dragonite changed colour. "Uh. Huh?"

"Let's go!" Ash announced, as King Dragonite went off to spread the warning. "We're going to want to be, uh… over there, to get a good angle!"

"That's Ash for you," Misty said, watching as Ash's Mantine mount surfed up the side of a massive breaker. "He's always got to go one better."

"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Lillie asked, then winced as Ash overbalanced and parted company from Mantine.

She blinked, and suddenly Ash's Ash-Dragonite, King Dragonite, was holding Ash securely in his arms. "Um."

"That's Wrap," Pikachu supplied. "Everyone who can do that gets some kind of extra thing, like Silver's attack control? King Dragonite's one is something he calls Express Hugs, so when he uses Wrap or Bind it's a bit like Quick Attack or Accelerock."

"Sometimes I get reminded that Ash isn't quite crazy," Mallow said. "He's just more aware of everything than everyone else."

"No, he's crazy," Misty denied.

She spotted movement, turned, and waved. "Hi Brock! How did your search go?"

"I'm confused," Brock admitted. "I went to Nurse Joy, and I asked her what would be an ideal gift for the most lovely girl in the world."

"Right…" Misty said, now wary.

"And she said that she'd heard about me from her cousin on Valencia Island," Brock went on. "So she knew exactly what I needed."

"Okay," Vulpix nodded. "And is this the bit where Bulbasaur used Vine Whip?"

"Well, I explained that my girlfriend already had a Milotic and a Seviper," Brock continued. "And she gave me this."

He sent out a Comfey.

"I don't think they fit with Lucy's style, but I couldn't ask without Vulpix's help," Brock explained.

"I think Joy was as confused as you," Comfey announced, whirling into the air before settling around Brock's shoulders. "But I'm not an expert, I'm just a Lei, man."

Vulpix snorted. "Oh, dear..."

AN:

And that's the last of the Bond Phenomenon abilities I came up with. Priority Hugs seemed just so appropriate...