"Ready?" Mew asked.

Zorua nodded, watching intently.

Mew clapped their paws together, and produced a little sphere of darkness that pulsed outwards before dissipating.

"There you go!" they said. "Do you want to see it again?"

"Again," Zorua requested.

Mew used Night Daze for a second time, and Zorua tilted his head before sitting back on his haunches and raising his paws.

They went bap together, and Zorua looked at them in puzzlement.

"Didn't work," he said.

Mew did their best not to laugh.

"It's not just clapping," they tried to explain. "That's part of how you use the move, but the move itself is a sort of… pulse of darkness."

"Dark Pulse?" Zorua asked.

"No, not Dark Pulse," Mew replied. "You make a ball of darkness, and make it flow outwards in all directions."

"Dark Void?" Zorua checked.

"Not Dark Void either, it's… a purple black ball of energy that flows outwards."

"Energy Ball?" Zorua said.

Mew blinked a few times.

"You're being funny, aren't you?" they asked.

"Yes," Zorua agreed, then bapped his paws together again. This time there was a little crackle of energy, and Zorua looked down in concentration.

Bap.

"Sounds like it's working out well, Mew," Ash said.

"It's actually quite strange," Mew admitted, reaching for their tail and coiling it around their paw. "Because so many of the moves I know, I just… know them. They're there, I can do them, but I have to think quite hard about how they work before I know how they work instead of just being able to do them."

"I wonder if that's like egg moves?" Ash wondered. "I guess I didn't even know I was using Recover in the past… Koraidon, you came with Sunny Day, does that count?"

"I don't know because I didn't use it for a long time," Koraidon replied. "I'm not sure if I ever have used it, if I want it to be sunny I just use my Ability."

She sniffed. "Hey, is it me or is there a nice smell in the air?"

"I smell it too," Buneary said, from Ash's back, leaving off trying to learn Thunderbolt from Pikachu. "I think it's… honey?"

He sniffed again. "Yeah, that smells like I think of honey as smelling."

"Maybe we should get some for Heracross," Ash suggested. "He likes honey… well, he likes plant sap, and honey's similar, right?"

"Don't let any Combee hear you say that," Garchomp advised. "Or Vespiquen, mind you. Unless you want to provoke a fight, then do let them hear you say that."

They followed Buneary and Koraidon's noses, and found a tree with honey slathered on it. There were several Pokémon taking an interest, mostly Bug-types, and even as they watched a Burmy fell out of the tree as a couple of Caterpie shoved it aside.

"Hey!" the Burmy complained.

"Aha!" a woman said, stepping forwards, and sent out a Chansey. "Let's see if that Burmy's the kind of Pokémon we're after!"

"What kind of Pokémon?" Burmy asked. "Wait, did you put the honey there? Do you mean a hungry Pokémon?"

"We mean a male Pokémon, dear," Chansey replied. "Attract!"

"Um," Koraidon began. "How do you mean male?"

The Burmy got hit by the Attract and turned towards Chansey with hearts in his eyes, but Chansey mostly looked puzzled.

"What do you mean, how do you mean, male?" she said.

"Well, if you want a Pokémon who's affected by your Attract then they're not automatically a boy, right?" Koraidon said. "Because Pokémon can be attracted to Pokémon who are girls even if they're girls. They can be attracted to both. And if you want a Pokémon who can evolve into a Mothim then they might be a girl, or a boy might evolve into a Wormadan… I know a male Froslass."

"That… is not something we'd considered," Chansey admitted. "I suppose I just never thought about that side of things, and nor did Cheryl."

The Egg Pokémon looked contemplative. "Am I a boy and never thought about it?"

Zorua used Night Daze a bit.

"Sorry," he said, once the crackling wave of energy had dissipated. "Got it right."

Chansey's trainer, Cheryl, turned out to be after a male Burmy specifically to evolve him into a Mothim, so she could seek out the Amber Castle in the depths of Eterna Forest and search for the Enchanted Honey there.

"It's said to be sweeter than any other honey," she explained. "But I mostly want to find the Amber Castle because of the adventures my grandfather went on… he found so many amazing things, and even if I'm only following in his footsteps for now I'd love to see those places myself."

Then she smiled. "And maybe find something amazing for myself, too."

"There's a lot to be said for independent research," Cynthia said. "Even if everything you find is based on things that other people have said, then your own perspective has meaning, and the synthesis you provide can be completely new."

She considered. "For example, maybe nobody's asked the kinds of questions you have… or maybe everyone nearby considers something mundane, even though it's actually special to anyone not used to it."

"Oh, like Professor Oak?" Ash asked. "I used to think when I was younger that it was just… normal to live in a town with a famous professor, but then I realized that most people don't do that."

"Wow," Latias said. "That must have been a surprise."

"Yeah, I wasn't much younger than now when I realized," Ash said. "I hadn't really thought about it until just now…"

Pikachu sniggered.

"Hey, I know May's actually from Petalburg but we met her in Littleroot," Ash defended himself.

"That kind of thing happens a lot, and it's actually very valuable," Cynthia said. "As I was saying – being able to get that kind of perspective on yourself and your situation is very useful."

She shrugged. "Though I'm sure you've found that out already."

"I guess, yeah," Ash agreed, then bent a knee so he could address Burmy. "So… Burmy, are you interested in joining in on the hunt for the Amber Castle? And are you a Burmy who could evolve into a Mothim?"

"Um," Burmy began. "The second one yes, the first one… I think so? Or, yes, but I'm not sure about after that, because becoming someone's Pokémon is a much bigger deal than just helping with something. Right?"

Ash translated that, and Cheryl considered.

"That makes sense," she admitted. "If Burmy really did want to leave, I'd let him, but it'd be… well, I'd think it was a shame. But it's not just up to me."

Evolving Burmy to Mothim was a bit of a puzzle at first, but after a few attempts at training battles Mew volunteered.

"I think I will be able to do this," they said.

"You don't have to, Mew," Ash assured them.

"I know, Dad," Mew replied. "But I think I can do this, and – I don't think it's going to be too much for me."

Ash nodded his understanding, and Mew floated forwards.

"Swift!" they said, and fired out a barrage of golden stars. The stars hit all around Burmy, and the Bug-type yelped in surprise.

"What do I do what do I do?" he asked.

"What moves do you know?" one of Cheryl's three Wormadam asked. "Because one of those would be a good start!"

"Oh, um, I know… Tackle?" Burmy replied. "Protect? Hidden Power?"

"Hidden Power, let's see what it is!" called the Grass Wormadam.

Burmy threw out a shower of Hidden Power orbs, one of which hit Mew, and they floated backwards before firing out a Shock Wave.

Again, the attack hit all around Burmy without actually hitting him, and Koraidon leaned a bit closer to Ash.

"Dad, Mew's deliberately missing, right?" she asked.

"I think so," Ash agreed, just as quietly. "That's clever, using moves with that much control to do that… I'll have to thank Mew for that once they're not busy any more."

"Hmm," Mew said, then changed to a Zigzagoon. The Hidden Power hit them again, and they switched between three more Pokémon in quick succession between Hidden Power hits.

"Okay, I think this one's going to be the right one," they said, and turned into a Snover.

Then caught fire.

"Oh!" Burmy gasped. "Sorry!"

"Don't worry, you're winning," Snover-Mew replied, then used Heal Bell. "That's the point, after all."

"Mew?" Ash said. "When you're done, don't forget to use Transform to turn into something big… you're getting a hug for being so brave!"

Then he frowned. "Uh. I mean, I think you should have a hug to let you calm down after that? Is that a better way of putting it?"

"I still can't get over that you've got a Mew helping with training Burmy," Cheryl admitted.

Burmy evolved to Mothim a little later, then Mew turned into a Snorlax, and Ash made sure to give them a proper hug (as did Latias, as she was shaped better for it).

Then, and after clearing up the honey from the original tree, they followed Mothim into the depths of Eterna Forest.

"It's kind of crazy to think that a place like this is just… there," Dawn admitted. "I know it's off the beaten path between Eterna and Floaroma, but…"

She shrugged. "I guess that's the good thing about cities? We keep to them a lot so there's still room for wild places in the world… if everyone lived in villages like Twinleaf, it'd take up more space. And even Oreburgh was nice looking, while Jubilife was great and I remember Eterna looking amazing… are the cities in other regions like that?"

"I guess, yeah," Ash agreed. "Kanto has some really big ones, Johto not so much, and Hoenn… yeah, there's cities where people live and then there's countryside places which are way more calm. And have more Pokémon!"

Mothim fluttered overhead. "This way, I think," he said, pointing down a path, and Ash turned to follow.

Everyone else turned to follow Ash, and he felt it as Buneary climbed up to get a better view from the top of his ring.

"I think I can see-" Buneary began, then pointed at something up ahead. "Look there! What's that?"

"What is that?" Ash asked, getting out his Pokédex.

"That's a Combee Wall," Cheryl told them, as they got closer and saw that it was made up of a mass of Combee. "That means we must be getting close to the Amber Castle."

"Oh, you're headed to the Amber Castle?" one of the Combee asked, disconnecting from the wall. "Why are you going there?"

"Cheryl wants to see it, because her grandfather did and she wants to see how it looks," Ash said, summarizing. "And she'd like to get some Enchanted Honey as well, if possible."

Cynthia waited a moment, then added her own contribution. "And the rest of us are helping, because we're curious and helpful."

"That… is not the normal response," Combee admitted, a little puzzled. "I might need to get the Queen's opinion."

They flew off, wings buzzing.

"Combee's going to ask the Queen," Ash translated. "Probably Vespiquen? So we should… wait, I guess."

"I've never actually had a Bug type," Cynthia said, as they had lunch. "I've had a lot of other types, but I've not had… let's see…"

She counted off. "I've had Normal, Fighting, Flying, Poison, Ground… not Rock or Bug… Ghost, Steel… not Fire… not Electric or Psychic… no Ice, but I've got plans… and I've got the others."

"I'm missing, uh…" Ash began, thinking. "Well, I think I'm my only Fairy type, which is a weird one. Mew's Psychic… I don't have a Rock type unless you count me… and I guess Steel is the only type I can't get hold of at all."

"You two have such diverse teams," Cheryl said. "Counting the three Wormadam, Chansey, and Mothim, I've got… six types total, I think."

"And I'm only at three, but that's okay," Dawn shrugged. "Having a diverse team mostly helps if you want to avoid there being an obvious solution to what you do, right?"

"And there's ways to get around that, even so, right?" Latias asked.

"Yeah, that's right," Ash agreed. "If you know what someone's going to do against you, you know what you have to work on to stop them. Right?"

He passed Koraidon her sandwich, and she broke off a bit to share with Zorua before eating the rest.

"Thank you," Zorua said, politely, and began nibbling.

Then a trio of Combee buzzed towards them, along with a Vespiquen, and a Pokémon Ash didn't recognize.

"Oh, that's quite a sight," Cynthia breathed. "Now that's a Pokémon I didn't know was still around."

The burly Pokémon looked a lot like a Scyther, but had a pair of axes instead of scythes and a brownish colouration. It was also angular, made up of facets, and stopped in front of them before bowing.

"Lord," he said. "It is unexpected to see you here. Not in the time of many Nobles have we seen you in Sinnoh, which was Hisui, and when Combee described you I had to come to see for myself."

"Uh," Ash began. "You… might be thinking of my dad?"

"You're a Noble Pokémon?" Latias asked, interested. "How do you use it? Pikachu, Charizard and I have sort of been working it out for ourselves, but did you get taught by the previous Lord Kleavor?"

Kleavor, if that was the strange Pokémon, looked distinctly confused.

"...your dad?" he began. "You mean – this Latias is a Lady? That Pikachu is Lord Pikachu?"

"I guess we're going to have to explain a lot," Ash said, then glanced at Cynthia.

She was resonating slightly.

"And then ask you some questions?" he went on. "I think Cynthia wants to hear about your traditions…"

Though Kleavor had only risen to the Noble position himself about fifteen years ago, he'd heard a lot about the past of the position from his mother, the Lady Kleavor before him, and she'd heard the same from her father and so on and so forth.

One of the things he said he wasn't comfortable explaining was exactly how it was that a Scyther evolved to a Kleavor, which was a bit disappointing for Cynthia, but then again he did explain about other things from oral tradition and that was more than enough to leave Cynthia extremely pleased with the day's research.

Kleavor also told Ash that at least some of the other Nobles were still to be found around Sinnoh, though he could not say if they all were because he hadn't actually met or heard of them all – just who they should be.

"In truth, it's a great relief to have met other Noble Pokémon, even if they were not the Noble Pokémon I was expecting," Kleavor added, with a chuckle, once they were done. "And I hope that my advice has helped you out in turn."

"It absolutely has," Pikachu agreed. "Both in how I can do this more easily, and how we can help out anyone else who Ash ennobles."

Then the Vespiquen coughed.

"I did not wish to interrupt the Lord Kleavor in such an important discussion," she began. "But I must ask – is Cheryl here for the honey, or the visit, or both?"

Ash translated that, and Cheryl frowned a bit.

"I guess… if I had to pick one of them, I'd say the visit," she said. "Yeah, I'd definitely say the visit… but I bet my Pokémon would all like to try the honey. I know I'd like to have a taste, but… mostly as a reminder."

"A good answer," Vespiquen declared. "This way, if you please."

The Amber Castle was beautiful, a massive construct built into a network of caverns, and Cheryl stopped to make a hasty sketch on three different occasions.

"I know it's not great art, but it's making sure I remember how it looks," she said, before resuming.

That got another nod, and right in the heart of the Amber Castle Vespiquen presented her with a jar.

"The Enchanted Honey," she explained. "Adventurer, you have come for the right reasons and have found what you sought. Be proud."

"Thank you," Cheryl breathed, once Ash had provided translation. "I'll – I'll make sure I use it sparingly, but I know it's meant to be used, not just kept in a jar and never touched."

She took a tiny spoonful, holding it out for Mothim, and the Bug-type sipped some.

Then fluttered his wings.

"...wow," he mumbled. "I didn't know it was possible for something to be that sweet."

Then Lord Kleavor made a gesture, for Ash's attention.

"Son of the Lord," he said. "I told you that how Scyther evolve to Kleavor was something I was not willing to make known, and this is true. But as Lord of the Woods, I want you to have this."

He held out his right axe, and there was a glittering piece of glassy black stone resting on it.

Ash reached out a hoof to take it, then his ring went dark green and his gemstones became pink.

"When all creation was born, that is the being's place of origin," he said, and Pikachu dove for the Pokédex. "Huh. I wasn't expecting that… that must mean I'm Bug-type now."

"...should I understand?" Lord Kleavor asked.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure I do," Ash admitted.

AN:

Cynthia has already basically decided that the decision to travel with Ash was one of the best she's ever made.