A boat ride took them from Slateport to Ever Grande, in keeping with the schedule that Brock and Max had worked out between them, and as the friends disembarked Ash turned to Brock.

"So… how many days is it until the Conference, again?"

"It's one week," Brock told him. "The torch run is already happening, it'll finish in the next couple of days, and registration is already open – but you'll have enough time to do some last minute training."

"Some last minute training sounds good," Ash agreed, already thinking about it. "With a week, I guess… hmm."

He began muttering under his breath, going through the Pokémon he planned to use, and thinking about where they might be missing something.

"What are you saying?" Miraidon asked. "I heard my name, but I do not understand the context."

"Oh, right," Ash said. "So, I'm thinking about my expanded Hoenn team – you know, everyone from Hoenn plus Pikachu, Latias and Unown, and maybe Phanpy as well. Then I'm trying to work out the most important thing they're missing, and if it's possible to get that sorted out in the next week."

He nodded to the Electric-type. "So, you for example, you worked really well with Koraidon in a double battle, but your main options are either Electric attacks or using Solarbeam. And Solarbeam is good for handling Ground types, but it works best when Koraidon is there to support you… which means the question is, should I try and get you sorted out with a Dragon type attack, or something else."

"I now understand the context," Miraidon stated. "Thank you for explaining."

"Should we head to the Pokémon Centre to get Ash registered now?" Max asked. "I know we've got days to do it in, but it's better to do it early, right?"

"Yeah, probably," Ash admitted. "Unless one of you guys thinks differently?"

"I did hear about a really good noodle shop around here," May told them. "But, I guess it's not lunchtime yet, so we can come back."

The Pokémon Centre wasn't hard to find, but as they approached Ash got two surprises in quick succession.

The first was that some people recognized him, and came over to wish him luck. Ash had never met them before, and it was sort of a new thing to him, but once he actually thought about it for a bit he realized that it was way easier to recognize him now than it would have been when he was human.

It was still weird to have fans, but Ash was still processing that when someone else came over.

"Ash!" Mr. Goodshow said, with a smile. "It's lovely to see you again, dear boy!"

"Oh!" Ash replied, blinking slightly. "Uh – hello, Mr. Goodshow. I… didn't really think you'd come over and say hello to me, we last met a while ago…"

"Well, of course I came over to say hello, Ash," Mr. Goodshow replied. "It would be pointless of me to forget that you've been through a lot since the Indigo Conference where we first met, of course, but that doesn't change that I'm glad to see you here. The variety that we see in the trainers who take part in a League Conference is always amazing."

He considered. "You know, it's a shame that the torch race has already been sorted out… it would have been nice to have you taking part! But I suppose you were at the Grand Festival, if you're arriving today."

"Is this someone who met you a long time ago?" Miraidon asked. "It sounds like he knows you."

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "Yeah, we met back when I was a human… back when I wasn't who I really am? The words for it are weird. But, I just kind of thought he was like that to everyone…"

"Only the ones who have the kind of determination I look for!" Goodshow said. "It's always marvellous to see how a trainer grows between Pokémon Leagues, whether that's by refining their existing Pokémon to a new level of skill or training up new Pokémon to compete at the Pokémon League. And who's this? I'm not familiar with this Pokémon."

"Miraidon," Miraidon said, introducing themselves and holding out a paw.

"Delighted to meet you," Goodshow said, taking the paw and shaking it. "You have amazing luck with Pokémon, Ash."

"It's… a bit more complicated than that," Ash admitted, not sure how Mr. Goodshow would take this. "You see, uh… I'm still trying to work out exactly how all the abilities I have work, as the kind of Pokémon I am now, but I actually… created both Miraidon and their older sister, with the help of my Unown. I don't think there are any other Koraidon or Miraidon in the world."

"My word," Goodshow said, and he sounded absolutely delighted. "What a treat! To be able to see the performance and skills of entirely new Pokémon! I'll be sure to catch your matches, Ash!"

Ash registered himself at the Pokémon Centre, to get that 'chore' out of the way, and Max promptly claimed his copy of the guidebook for competitors to the Pokémon League.

"Let's see…" he said, flicking through it. "Oh, I thought so. There's a map of the torch route, we should go and see it."

"But there's that restaurant I wanted to eat at," May complained.

"We've got a week," Max countered. "Before the start of the League…"

He continued in a different tone. "And, if I've got this right, there's a spot not far from here where the torch goes past in about three hours. So we have time for lunch."

"Excellent," May decided.

The noodle shop had excellent noodles.

A lot of Ash's attention still had to go on floating the cutlery when he was eating, but he wasn't over the simple pleasure of being able to eat with cutlery after such a long period of having to do things differently, and they all took enough time to avoid rushing lunch before heading to the place Max pointed out for them.

"I… really don't know how you did it," May admitted. "I'm really impressed, little brother. You found a place that's in easy walking distance and it's not crowded. How did you do that?"

Ralts giggled.

"Did it involve Ralts?" May asked.

"Yep!" Ralts nodded.

"I got his help," Max admitted. "I guessed, but I had about… six guesses, and then I asked him to help out by teleporting to each one. This one is the one that was the least crowded, I guess because the route here was over a field or something."

"That would do it," Brock agreed. "Even for people like us who spend a lot of time travelling, we prefer to go along roads when possible."

"I can see the torch," Latias announced, floating a bit higher.

There was a trainer holding the torch as he ran along the road, accompanied by a chase car with Mr. Goodshow in it, and with an extraordinarily dapper Meowth pacing alongside him.

"Huh," Pikachu said. "Didn't I ride on your shoulder back when we did that?"

"Yeah," Ash agreed, nodding.

Then there was a sudden crash, and a tree fell over.

The giant robot that had been hiding behind the tree rose up, spreading a pair of big orange wings, and Ash groaned at the sight of a mecha Charizard.

With no tail flame.

The trainer and his Meowth both slowed to a halt, staring, and Ash reached for his saddlebags to get Grovyle and Marshtomp ready to go.

The Mecharizard's mouth opened, and a speaker system gave a feedback screech.

"Prepare for trouble, for you've got a flame!" Jessie declared.

"And make it double, our tail's all lame!" James agreed.

The Mecharizard began striking poses.

"To protect ourselves from chilly mornings!" Jessie said.

"To heat up this robot's inbuilt awnings!" James told everyone.

"To provoke a battle that earns us clout!" Jessie gloated.

"And makes it obvious what we're about!" James declared.

"Do they ever get tired of doing this?" Pikachu asked, as the two introduced themselves.

"What is this?" Ralts said, astonished.

"Oh, yeah, you haven't seen this," Max realized.

"Everyone's welcome to feel the fire," Jessie explained.

"But that's how a Moltres should… aspire," James finished, sounding a bit dubious about that one.

"Meowth!" said Meowth, leaning out of the front. "Open fire!"

"You can't rhyme fire with fire!" Jessie complained.

"Oh, Moltres!" Goodshow said. "Because it's the Moltres flame!"

"You must be a returning neophyte!" James gasped. "I don't think we have a procedure for that."

"Grovyle, Marshtomp, let's go!" Ash called, sending both Pokémon out. "Grovyle, aim for that tail! Marshtomp, get a Muddy Water ready!"

The weird thing was, there was something soothing about doing this again.

He'd never have even thought it before, but… he'd missed doing this.

AN:

I've had a couple of reviews recently on ff where people were criticizing how quickly this story was going, especially in the Grand Festival.

I wanted to take the time to address these anonymous reviewers in the only way that is available.

This story is about Ash Ketchum and how he comes to terms with his sudden and accidental apotheosis, and how he grows into his new power.

It is not an attempt at providing a full length anime rewrite – I have one of those already, or two if you count Legendarily Popular.

It is not focused on May. It's focused on Ash.

It is not intended to spend huge amounts of time on blow-by-blow battle accounts, except in those cases where the battles form an important part of Ash's growth for one reason or another.

It is not something where I want to be trapped in the "oh no, big all-battle events take ages to write" doldrums which I've struggled through for Ashes and LP alike.

I hope this adequately explains why this novel-length-and-counting story is not spending over 3,000 words on the Grand Festival specifically.

With that out of the way, the Trinity is back! I'd say Trio but...