Now that the crisis was over, it wasn't really necessary for Pikachu to blast power into anything that was blocking their way, and Tory told them that the lift didn't go all the way to the roof anyway.

Which meant taking the stairs. And, as they did, Koraidon took it upon herself to answer any of the new Pokémon's questions.

Possibly before the Pokémon had thought of them.

"These are stairs," she said. "They're so you can go up and down, inside buildings. Sometimes there are some outside as well, but you don't always need them there."

"What's a building?" the new creation asked. "Is that where we are? What's outside?"

"So, a building is like a big box," Koraidon told them. "It's got a roof so that you don't get weather coming in, and it's got walls to keep it separate from the outside. There's sometimes lots of floors, too, which means you can have more things on the same bit of ground."

Ash snickered, because… it was right, but he'd never thought of it like that before.

"Did you get their name?" he asked.

"They're mostly using the same syllables as Koraidon, actually," Pikachu said. "But instead of kor they're saying mir. So I think they're Miraidon."

"Right," Ash said, nodding slightly. "Thanks, Pikachu. For – well, for everything, really."

He moved ahead a bit, so he was next to Miraidon as they climbed the stairs.

"Hey," he said, getting their attention. "I just talked to Pikachu, and we think your Pokémon species name is Miraidon. Does that sound right?"

"I don't know," they replied. "But Miraidon is made of the things I'm saying. So it's probably right."

They reached one of the landings, and Ash swallowed slightly.

"Miraidon – I'm sorry," he said. "I said why already, but I still mean it. And – I don't know how to say this, but I think it'd be the right thing for you to come with me. But only if you want to. It – it wouldn't seem right if I made you."

"What would happen if I wasn't?" Miraidon asked, worried, and tilted their head in the same way Koraidon did.

"I guess… Professor Oak would take you, and there's other places you could go," Ash replied. "I just – I don't want you to think that you only have one option."

That got a nod from the semi-mechanical Pokémon, who then looked quite confused.

"Why did I do that?" they asked. "What does it mean?"

"Oh, normally doing that means yes," Koraidon said. "It's like saying yes without using the word. I'm not sure exactly when you're supposed to do one or the other so I usually guess, unless there's a reason someone can't hear or see me."

Miraidon absorbed that, most of their attention on their paws as they climbed the final flight of stairs.

"I'd like to come with you," they said. "If that's okay?"

"Of course!" Ash told them.

Then, because the staircase was an emergency staircase and didn't have automatic doors, instead of Pikachu charging it up deliberately or Miraidon doing it by mistake Koraidon just reached up and pulled the handle down.

"Ash can't do everything," she said, in what was probably meant to be a whisper. "Sometimes we have to help him do things."

The first thing that happened, when they got out onto the roof, was that Ash hurried over to see the two Deoxys and make sure that they knew what was going on.

The purple-cored one, the one which had probably been causing all the chaos, floated down a bit.

"I am sorry," they said. "I was afraid for my friend."

"I understand," Ash told them. "But – yeah, you have things to be sorry about, but it's good you're sorry."

"We will come to visit my friend in future," the green-cored one said. "We cannot stay, but we will be sure to visit."

"That's good," Ash nodded. "He'd like that."

Then he turned to Rayquaza.

"I… guess you might have already worked it out, but I didn't know anything about who or what I was," he told the flying Pokémon. "Not really anything at all – I grew up thinking I was human, and Mom thought that my dad was human, too. So… I don't know what to do, or think… I don't know the first thing about myself."

Rayquaza nodded, solemnly.

"Ask, and I will answer to the best of my abilities," he said.

"Do you know – uh, do you know how long I'm likely to live?" he asked. "I guess… or, you'd probably only know that Arceus is the creator, right?"

"I know I was created millions of years ago," Rayquaza answered. "And the Lord of All has never looked different to any of my knowledge."

"R-right," Ash said.

It was… almost too much. Almost… but he sort of had an idea of what it meant.

It meant he'd probably live longer than anyone else he knew, right now. Maybe even Rayquaza, if that counted as knowing them.

"I… guess I shouldn't think about that too hard," he decided, voice a little shaky. "I – do you know why my dad didn't stay with my mom?"

That made Rayquaza pause.

"I do not know," he confessed. "Arceus can be stern, if there is a need for it, because he is responsible for so much. But I do not think he would have left without some reason. Whether it is a good reason or not, I cannot say."

"Right…" Ash said, blinking a few times. "I… guess that makes sense. Mom said he wasn't ready to be a father, so…"

"That is… possible," Rayquaza frowned. "But I do not think it is the whole story, for he has already created many children… in a sense."

"Like how Ash created me, and Miraidon, right?" Koraidon asked, pointing at first herself and then the other quadruped – whose lustrous scales were still crackling with latent electricity.

"Yes," Rayquaza agreed. "As far as I am aware, there are a number of Pokémon who are direct creations of the Creator. If you had asked me an hour ago if Arceus had any children, I would have answered that I was one of them, as I was a direct creation."

Ash wanted to dance around that point, and not think about it. He really did.

But… it felt like it wouldn't be right. Not for Koraidon, who'd already as good as said it herself… not for Rayquaza, who'd been thinking of himself that way for so long…

Not for Ash, really.

"I… don't really know if there's different words for it," he said. "I don't know if there should be, even. But… I don't think you should think of yourself differently just because I'm here."

That got him a nod. "Thank you, ...Ash."

"Sorry if this is all… mixed up and weird," Ash added. "I'm not sure how to think – I don't know how to…"

He shook his head sharply. "Okay. Okay, uh… you said Arceus could use all the types? How?"

"I do not know from where they came, but Arceus possesses the Plates of Creation," Rayquaza said. "Each one is associated directly with a Type. Combined they allow the Lord of Creation to fully master anything that those Types make up."

"Because I… think I've got some," Ash told the big Pokémon. "I've been doing the Pokémon League challenge, and – and the badges are to do with Types as well, I guess? And each one I've earned lets me turn into that Type, but only when I'm holding it."

Rayquaza smiled.

It took a moment to work out what that was, but once he did Ash felt… comforted, in a way.

Just knowing he wasn't annoying a Legendary Pokémon was- and Ash's thoughts skipped a beat as he realized he was probably an even more important one than Rayquaza.

"I'm glad to hear that you have found a way to earn your own Plates, Ash," Rayquaza said.

"How do you do it?" Ash blurted out suddenly. "I – how do you just… cope with something so important? Something that's about who you are? And – and how do you make sure you're doing things right?"

After the outburst was finished, Ash took a step back, blinking rapidly.

"I feel like I keep making mistakes," he added, softly.

"Ash," Rayquaza said. "My responsibilities are, on the whole, simple. I am to protect this world from those objects outside it that could threaten it, and I am to prevent the weather from becoming too out of balance. And I have been doing those things for millions of years."

He waved towards the two Deoxys floating nearby. "And I made a mistake. Today. Ash… to not make any mistakes may not be possible. But what is important is that you do your best, and that if something goes wrong, you then do your best to fix it."

"To fix it," Ash repeated, frowning. "Right… right, that does make sense…"

He looked at Koraidon. "Because, creating Koraidon was an accident, I didn't mean to do it, but… I'm really glad to have her on my team."

Koraidon looked very happy at that.

"I do not know what responsibilities you might have, Ash," Rayquaza said, but Ash was already frowning.

"I… actually wonder if maybe I have one, and it's… helping with things like this," he said. "I've helped Legendary – that is, other Legendary Pokémon, loads of times now. Even before I knew I was one."

"If that is truly your responsibility, Ash, then you have done marvellously."

Ash swallowed past a lump in his throat.

"...do you know how to contact Arceus?" he said. "Is there a way?"

"There is supposed to be a way, but I do not know it," Rayquaza said. "I am sorry, Ash. You have helped me today, and you are young, and I can see you are lost and hurting. But I do not have the answer you seek."

After that, Ash was silent for a long moment.

"I've got a question," Pikachu said. "What else do you think Ash should know?"

"That is an excellent question," Rayquaza complimented. "Unfortunately, for the most part I think you have already heard it…"

He raised a claw to his chin, clearly thinking hard.

"The other direct creations that I know of are called: Groudon and Kyogre, my trio mates, whose domains are the land and the sea," he said. "The original Mew, whose domain is the blossoming of life in endless variety. Dialga, Palkia and Giratina, whose domains are time, space and symmetry. Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf, whose domains are knowledge, emotion and willpower. And… I believe that Xerneas and Yveltal, whose domains are life and death, may be direct creations, but I have never had that confirmed."

"What is a domain?" Miraidon asked.

"I think it's what you're responsible for," Koraidon replied, in a whisper. "I don't know what mine is."

"I… can't think of anything else," Ash said. "And… thank you, Rayquaza."

"Thank you, Ash," Rayquaza replied, giving him a deep aerial bow that made Ash vaguely uncomfortable.

He knew Rayquaza was saying Ash, but it felt like he was bowing Prince.

"I cannot promise that we will meet again, but if I see you I will be sure to come down and say hello," the flying Pokémon added, then twisted in mid-air and ascended into the sky.

As he left, Koraidon gasped.

"Oh!" she said. "I just realized – while he was here, my sunlight power wasn't working, but now he's going it's turning on again. But that means…"

She looked like she was about to sneeze, and the sunlight that had begun to intensify again… faded back to a normal day.

"It itches a bit, but I can stop it," she announced.

The city was still mostly evacuated, probably because the Legendary Pokémon who'd been causing problems or hovering threateningly had literally just left, but the power was quickly coming back online because Deoxys and Deoxys had left.

The cube bots were all completely offline, though, something about the sudden shutdown having badly scrambled their programming, and the moving walkways were still erratic as well.

Tory looked around with a frown as they headed to the nearest Pokémon Centre.

"This is… weird," he said. "I don't think I'd realized just how much I'd got used to all the robots here until now, when they're not working…"

"It is weird how much you can get used to things," Max said. "By now I think I'd be weirded out if I didn't have Swablu on my head."

The Flying-type chirped. "Sorry I couldn't help…"

"Hey, you sound sad," Max chided. "It's okay."

"Ash?" Brock said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Ash replied, then shook his head. "No. I don't know?"

He sighed. "I just… I don't know what I think. Not yet, maybe not at all?"

"Ouch…" Max winced.

"I still can't believe it," May said. "And I've known you were an unknown Pokémon since I first met you. But… your dad is the creator."

"I know!" Ash said, then winced. "I… I know, okay? And it keeps going around and around in my head, and…"

He stopped talking, and they kept going in silence.

"Ash?" Brock said. "I know we haven't been together for your whole journey. But we have been together for a long time, and… honestly, I don't know what it's like to find out something like that. But the idea of someone being… that?"

He sighed. "I'm… really not putting this well. But I think you're maybe the best person it could have turned out to be."

"Really?" Ash asked, dubious.

"Really," Latias said, before Brock could. "Ash, for as long as I've known you you've been trying to help. And – and it's like Rayquaza said. The fact you're trying is as important as anything else."

"I don't know what Latias said," Brock told Ash. "...obviously. But I agree with her."

Ash looked confused.

"How can you agree with her if you don't know what she said?" he asked.

"Because we're all trying to tell you the same thing," May said. "Ash… this changes what we know about what you are. I don't think anyone would say different! But we've always known who you are, and that's just the same. You're our friend."

"I…" Ash began, then blinked several times. "Thanks, guys… that means a lot to me."

When they reached the Pokémon Centre, it was – fortunately – staffed, though they were running some of the systems off batteries as the power grid wasn't fully up yet.

Miraidon's arrival corrected that with surprising ease, their electrical field spilling out to activate a lot of the smaller systems in the Pokémon Centre, and the Nurse Joy gasped.

"Thank you!" she said. "Ah… is that deliberate? Because it's helping anyway, and… I think the batteries are recharging?"

"I think we'll have to wait a bit before working out how to turn your ability off," Koraidon decided.

"What Pokémon is that, by the way?" Joy asked.

"Miraidon," Ash explained. "I just got them, but I haven't registered them yet – I need to transfer a Pokémon out to do that. Pokéballs are working again, but – is your transfer system?"

"Let me check," the Joy requested. "...ah, the satellite uplink is working, I think."

"Why are you still here?" May asked. "Didn't the city get evacuated?"

"Yes," Joy confirmed. "But I'm a Nurse Joy. That means different things to different Joys… for me, it means making sure that anyone who does need help in a disaster gets it."

She smiled slightly. "I'm… a bit extreme, I know."

"...I should probably call Professor Oak," Ash realized. "And Mom…"

The video phones were off to the side, the same as in a lot of places, and Ash and Latias between them placed a call to Oak Labs.

Both Koraidon and Miraidon crowded in to see, as well, and Pikachu sat on top of Ash's head, and really between them there wasn't any space in the video phone's booth that wasn't taken up by Ash or his Pokémon.

Then Professor Oak answered.

"Ash!" he said. "Is everything all right? I know you were heading to LaRousse City, but the news was saying that…"

His voice slowed down, then stopped.

"What Pokémon is that?" he asked.

"Miraidon," Miraidon said.

"Hi, Professor…" Ash replied. "Can – can you get my Mom, please? It's… kind of urgent."

Professor Oak looked at Ash's face, then ran off.

"How does this work?" Miraidon asked, pointing at the screen.

"It's like a picture of somewhere else," Koraidon told them.

"Yeah, that's right," Ash agreed. "Sometimes people use cameras to record things, and screens to show them later. But this is using a camera to show what's going on now, somewhere else, and then the camera up there shows them what's going on here."

He nodded. "That's Professor Oak's lab, it's in the town where I grew up. Pallet Town."

"Do they have a Deoxys there as well?" Miraidon said.

"No, but you're sort of right," Ash explained. "A lab is a place where smart people think about things a lot, I guess… and Tory's dad was thinking about Deoxys, but Professor Oak thinks about Pokémon in general. A lot of my Pokémon are there, actually, you'll probably meet them some time."

Miraidon nodded.

Then a head popped up on the other end of the phone call.

"Hi, Ash!" Swellow said, waving. "Oh, they're new, right?"

"That's right," Ash agreed, then stopped as he saw Oak get back – along with Mom.

"Thanks, Prof," he said. "So, uh… I'm probably going to miss things out, but here's the simple thing… there was, some, stuff that happened here in LaRousse City, and I met Rayquaza."

"Rayquaza!" Professor Oak said, astonished. "My word, Ash… you certainly do meet a lot of Legendary Pokémon."

"Are you all right, Ash?" Delia asked. "Professor Oak said you seemed like you weren't yourself, and I can see what he means… did you get hurt?"

"No!" Ash replied, quickly. "No, I'm fine, I'm just… freaked out?"

He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself.

"Mom, Professor… Rayquaza recognized me on sight," he said. "But he thought that I was a Pokémon called Arceus… who created him. And who created the entire world."

Ash swallowed. "There's – there's a lot Rayquaza didn't know. Like, how to get in touch with Arceus, or – or why he left, Mom. But he said that Arceus was a creator, and he called me prince and – and – it's too much."

"Oh, Ash," Delia said, and Ash started crying.

"I think that's why I could create Koraidon and Miraidon so easily," he said. "I think maybe the Unown were meant to be used by Arceus, and Molly used them by accident, but-"

Professor Oak looked like he wanted to say something, but Ash kept talking – the words almost tripping over themselves as he tried to get them out before he lost them or forgot them or lost his nerve or something. "Rayquaza said something about how Plates let Arceus use all the Types, and that there were only a few other Pokémon that were directly created, he listed them off, and – Koraidon already said that it was like she and Miraidon were my children– I don't know if I can remember all the ones Rayquaza said, but there were, Groudon and Kyogre, and Dialga, Palkia and Giratina, and… the original Mew…"

"Ash, please," Professor Oak said, when Ash tried to remember the next. "I'm very grateful for all this information, but I don't need to know you as well as I do to see that you're in a state right now. Your own health is more important than making sure you get everything right."

"Professor Oak is right," Delia said, as Ash screwed up his eyes and tried not to fall apart completely. "Ash, it's going to take me a while to know what I think about all this… and for you it's everything about you. But there's one thing that hasn't changed, Ash. Do you know what that is?"

She kept going before Ash could answer – if he could answer through the feeling in his throat, and it sounded like she had the same thing going on. "You're still my baby boy, Ash. I love you. Don't ever forget that."

AN:

Ash has had

A Day.

This is about the boundary between the first and second "phases" of the story, where the first is 'Ash, I think there are a few more steps than that' and the second is 'I don't know, Pikachu, being a God is a big responsibility'. I'll be slowing my posting down again, but not stopping.