"While you might have the same preferences as Koraidon, or different ones, I think it's best that we go ahead and test it properly," Brock said, putting down some plates in front of Miraidon.

"What does that mean?" Miraidon asked.

"This is to do with food," Koraidon explained. "So… food is what you eat to make sure you have energy to do things, and even living takes up a bit of energy… which means it's important to make sure you eat, even without thinking about how it's tasty, too."

Miraidon nodded, and inspected closely as Ash pointed to the first plate.

"This is Cheri Berry," Ash explained. "It's got a spicy flavour, which you might either like, or not like, or not mind."

The probably-an-Electric-type bent down, legs bending, and snaffled one of the Cheri Berry slices.

"It is an interesting sensation," they said. "I do not want to avoid it, but it is not the only thing I want to eat."

"Okay, so that's in the middle for the spicy food," Ash said. "And then this is some… onion, I think?"

"That's right," Brock confirmed. "Onion is used for a lot of meals."

As Miraidon kept trying them, Latias moved over next to Pikachu.

"Do you think Ash is okay?" she asked. "I've never seen him like he was yesterday."

"He was before, I think," Pikachu replied. "Once. It was… a while ago, in the Orange Islands, he got really stressed out about what was going on."

He shook his head. "There's… a couple of other times when it was a bit like that, but different? But I think it's because of how Ash is."

Latias scratched her head. "...sorry, I don't get it?"

"What I mean is, Ash is absolutely ready to believe in the idea that he's going to be important," Pikachu explained. "But that's by… doing things himself, really. Not by having been important from the start."

He shrugged. "I don't really know? But it's a guess."

"Right!" Brock said. "So… probably, this, this, this and this… and now we're going to find out if you have the same tastes as Koraidon."

He put the selections onto one half of a sliced piece of bread, and then put the other half on top.

"There you go," he said, putting the resultant sandwich in front of Miraidon. "See what you think."

"You can sit like this," Koraidon demonstrated. "Then you can use your front legs to pick it up!"

Miraidon looked back and forth between Koraidon and themselves, several times, and lowered themselves onto their haunches before picking the sandwich up in both paws.

And took a bite.

Their antennae lit up, and they looked at the sandwich in surprise before quickly eating the rest of it.

"I enjoyed that!" they said, pleased. "How did you know?"

"It was a guess, but Koraidon liked the same thing," Ash explained. "I think you two are really similar in a lot of ways… I guess you were based off her, a lot."

"What do you think Miraidon should work on first?" Koraidon asked. "I had fun with a lot of the different bits of training. Which bits would be most fun?"

"Well…" Ash began, then paused. "Actually, uh… I think I need to check something? I'll be right back."

"Hey, uh… May?" Ash said.

"Oh!" May replied, surprised. "Is something wrong?"

She looked down at Bulbasaur, who was working on Vine Whip. "Or, is it time to go already?"

"No, no, it's not," Ash said. "I was just kind of… wondering… you know what moves I can do, right? What kind of thing would be good for me to learn if I was going to be in a Contest?"

"Wow, uh…" May began. "That's kind of a big topic… I don't really know myself, to be honest. Maybe just something to give more variety?"

She frowned. "Why?"

"I was wondering," Ash said, then shook his head. "And… it might be a silly idea, but I wondered if it'd help me not think – that is, if it'd help me as a trainer if I actually did a Contest myself. Or a gym battle, but it feels better if I'm not trying to do both things at once and the next Contest is sooner than the next gym, and-"

He stopped himself.

"I… think I'd have to think about it," May admitted. "Not that I'm saying no, just that it's a bit of a surprise right now."

And Bulbasaur would have to wait to get her first go until the next Contest, but… there would be a next Contest, anyway.

What was really going on was that her friend was asking her for help.

"Maybe… you've got that Dragon Badge, right?" she asked. "You could try learning a dragon move. Latias could learn one too?"

By a kind of mutual agreement, they didn't move on to Lilycove just yet, but Ash did start working with several of his Pokémon on Dragon Pulse.

After about an hour, though, during which time the now-Dragon-typed Ash, Latias, Koraidon and Miraidon all tried to work out how to get started at once, Max held out his hand.

"I think it's starting to rain," he said.

"Good," Koraidon declared, firmly.

"Really?" Ash asked, surprised. "I thought you liked…"

"I do," Koraidon said. "Being in sunlight feels nice. But this is only the second time I've ever been rained on, and the first time was the middle of a big storm and people were in danger."

She looked up. "I want to see what it's like."

Put like that, Ash understood.

And seeing Koraidon smiling under the clouds, eyes closed and uncaring of the results of being rained on… it was sort of a good reminder of something. About being able to enjoy the world around you, or new experiences, or something like that.

Ash wasn't quite sure what it was, but it made him feel better.

"What do you guys think is important about how to do things in Contests?" Ash asked.

"Don't panic?" Torchic tried. "It feels like if you don't, then people sometimes just sort of assume you meant to do something, even if it just worked out that way by accident."

"Right," Ash replied.

They were taking a break from trying to learn Dragon Pulse, so he had his badge case ready – they were probably going to have him do the actual practice as a Fire or Electric type at first, so that Torchic or Octillery or Skitty could fire attacks at him and he could practice responding to them without being hurt, but they hadn't decided which yet.

"And… making it so it's not just an attack," Ash added, thinking. "I really hope that that doesn't mean I have to have the right badge to learn how to do a new trick with a move?"

"You should probably use the Electric Type to train, then," Max said. "Because that way you can see if you can make Flamethrower do new things, and if you can even though you're Electric type then that proves it. Right?"

"Yeah, I guess that works," Ash agreed, looking down and picking up Wattson's badge. His ring and gems changed colour, and Latias took the case to put it out of the way.

"What type are you going to be while doing it?" Miraidon asked. "And why? I would like to understand why."

"I think… probably Flying?" Ash said. "Because that's one where I can move around better, and it feels like that's important."

"If you mean in the Contest, then yeah," May nodded. "I was going to suggest that if you didn't. Move power doesn't matter as much as a good performance…"

"Umm," Koraidon said.

It was a thoughtful sort of hum, the sort of hum that said that the humming person was thinking deeply but wasn't quite sure if their thoughts were ready to say yet, and Ash stopped trying to breathe dragon-fire (or however it was that Dragon Pulse worked) by sheer force of will.

"What is it, Koraidon?" he asked.

"I was thinking about Miraidon," Koraidon explained, looking to her side at her mechanical counterpart.

They'd explained what boys and girls were to Miraidon, but so far Miraidon seemed politely baffled by the idea and certainly hadn't announced which one they were yet.

"Is something wrong?" Miraidon asked.

"I don't think so," Koraidon replied. "I was thinking about the things we found out that I could do, like… like run fast, sort of? And, swim well, and fly, or, glide I think? And I wondered if Miraidon can do the same things."

"That's a good question," Ash agreed.

"Huh?" Max asked, looking up from where Swablu was doing her flapping practice. "Do you think I can help?"

"It's about whether Miraidon can do the same kind of things as Koraidon," Ash explained. "I think… probably? But I'm not sure."

He frowned for a moment. "I'd ask Unown, but… I'm sort of afraid what would happen. And I don't know if I'd get the right answers."

Then Ash exhaled. "But, well, we'll find out later, right? If Miraidon wants to get involved in battles, then things like moving fast make sense to test… but for now we should try to work on Dragon Pulse, huh?"

"Ash?" Koraidon said. "Before we do… I want to know."

She looked nervous. "But I don't want to make you feel bad. Do… you think that I'm Miraidon's sister?"

"Yeah," Ash said, going with his first instinct. "I do, Koraidon – and I think you're doing a great job at it."

He looked down. "I didn't have – didn't know – didn't have any brothers or sisters when I was growing up, so I don't know how it works, but I… don't really see how you could be doing better."

"Brothers and sisters do sometimes end up making jokes about one another," Max supplied. "But, really thinking about it, I think it's… something where you should only do it when you know it won't hurt the other person more than you want."

Koraidon nodded seriously.

"Then I won't until Miraidon is older," she said. "If I do at all."

Later that night, well after the sun had set, Ash closed his eyes and tried to focus.

He'd seen Charizard use Dragon Rage, and some other Pokémon as well, while he'd also seen Dragon Breath and Outrage and Twister on his journey. And… there had to be something about them that was the same.

Like how all the Fire moves were different, but they were still all Fire type. Like how Solarbeam and Razor Leaf and Giga Drain were all still Grass type.

He had the Rising Badge active, now – he'd had it active for the last few days – and it felt like he was getting close, but it still took a while to get into the right mindset.

Really, now Ash thought about it, he probably should have got Charizard from the Valley and asked him to show off Dragon Rage. But… well, he hadn't thought of it, and by now it felt like it'd be silly.

Or something.

Trying to focus on that idea, Ash inhaled, then exhaled, doing his best to push out some kind of dragon energy to form into a pulse.

As he worked, Latias watched him invisibly.

It was past midnight, and her friend was still training. And when he did come to bed, exhausted, he just slept until everyone else was waking up and then got right back to training again.

It wasn't always the same Pokémon. Sometimes he was working with Marshtomp on Rock Throw, or Grovyle on Aerial Ace, or Absol on Iron Tail. But he was working himself into exhaustion every night now.

"He's still going, isn't he?" Pikachu asked, softly.

"Yes," Latias agreed, then yawned as quietly as possible. "After LaRousse… well, after the first day after LaRousse."

"I think he was having trouble sleeping, that night," Pikachu suggested. "He woke me up once…"

His ears flicked, and he sighed. "It's not a great solution, but I'm pretty sure Swablu knows Sing. I know Ash would rather get some sleep that way instead of mess up a Contest for May, so… I'll suggest it to him before we actually go into Lilycove."

AN:

Ash is still dealing with a lot.

It's sensible for Koraidon to tell Miraidon how things work, she's prehistoric compared to them.