Well, here it is, the twenty-seventh part of the fifth and final installment in my 'Heart' series on the right day as promised. However, due to various IRL things coming up and the length of the next chapter, I cannot promise that I will get it out next week or the week after so there will likely be a break before the next chapter. Anyway, Ash has caught his first Pokémon in Alola now and it's time to return to the Pokémon School and see what's up there, learn of the next Contest, and figure things out. Nothing could possible disrupt such a simple return, could it? That is all the administrative stuff I have for this Part and while there are no guest reviews to respond there is a question to answer which I will do now. Do please keep your reviews coming as I love hearing from y'all.

Will there be a Supplement? Yes, I do plan on doing a Supplement for this series but with everything else going on I've not had the time to address it. I do have the first few ones planned and will get to them eventually, they will be retroactive during the Kalos arc, but they will get done when I have time. The timeline of Champions is a lot tighter than Dreams or Winning though so there is not going to be as many Supplements when all is said and done but there will be some.

That is it for this pre-Part note which means that it is once again time to sit back which and enjoy the latest installment in Heart of Champions. Part CCXVI: Mythical Meeting.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

Part CCXVI: Mythical Meeting

"You're back!" Mallow said happily as Ash, Dawn, and Iris walked up the drive and made their way towards to entrance to the school to see the rest of the class all gathered out in front waiting for them. "And just in time."

It was the day after Ash had caught Rowlet so 5 days since the Iki Town Contest which was pushing it a bit but the side adventure with Rowlet had been worth it and they'd made good time afterwards to make it most of the way back to the school so that they could arrive before lunch today, which they had. That had pretty much been their time since that adventure though as nothing else had come up after Rowlet joined Ash's team and now they were ready for what the next bit of news would bring as they approached the 5 Alolans.

"Yeah we had two small side adventures while we were in the forest, you know, the way you do with Ash." Iris said as if it was nothing which to her it was. "So we got some stories to tell you."

"I see, so even a few days with Ash around and things get interesting." Lana said as Ash, Dawn, and Iris reached the Alolans. "Impressive. We've not seen that yet."

"That's life with Ash." Dawn said with a smile. "You never know what might happen when you're on the move with him. Well, even stationary things can happen but that seems to be a bit rarer, it's usually between places or right when we arrive."

"Yeah but it makes the journey a lot more fun." Ash said. "So I don't mind."

"Well what did happen?" Lillie asked curiously. "We want to know."

"It will be easier if I show you." Dawn said as she pulled out a Poke Ball which instantly got the attention of the others. "And then explain."

"You got a new Pokémon?" Kiawe asked instantly interested as all 5 of them had come to learn that Ash, and by extension Dawn, had an uncanny habit of finding unexpected Pokémon. "Which one?"

"Actually we both did." Ash said and with that Rowlet popped its head out of his backpack and cooed happily having been in it since he was caught with the exceptions of meals. "See. I caught a Rowlet."

"Woah that is not what I would have predicted." Sophocles said looking at the Rowlet in Ash's bag. "Those aren't common in the wild. Usually you only get a starter from here or one of the other locations where the starters can be given out. I wonder how that happened. Was it a Pokémon that got released or left its trainer perhaps?"

"No, based on what we saw it was likely a lost egg." Iris said pitching her theory for how Rowlet had ended up where they'd found it and Ash and Dawn both admitted that it made the most sense. "It was taken in, incubated, hatched, and raised by a Toucannon as part of its flock."

"Yup, we learned that when Rowlet fell on us while we were taking a break in a small clearing." Ash said. "We helped it out as it was tired and hungry. Then, when Rowlet was done, it grabbed a watermelon I'd bought so we followed it to its nest. That's were we saw the Toucannon and watched the rest of the flock return but they'd taken fruit from a Bewear which subsequently appeared. Thankfully, Florges diffused everything and Rowlet decided to join me after that."

"It's actually a pretty standard catch for Ash." Dawn said as the others blinked at the oddity of the catch. "Most of his are caught after he bonds with them though he did catch his Conkeldurr, Dunsparce, and Sigilyph more traditionally last year. Anyway, my new Pokémon was just as odd, if not odder. Meet the latest member of my team."

With that Dawn opened her Poke Ball and Jangmo-o appeared before her with a cry and stretch. Instantly the other teens recognized it and gaped at the rare dragon type as Dawn bent down and picked it up.

"How?" Mallow asked her eyes wide as she looked at Dawn's Jangmo-o trying to process it. "You've been here for less than a fortnight and you've already found, let alone caught, a Jangmo-o? Do you have any idea how long Iris has been searching for one."

"Yeah it's a rare Pokémon but it's final form is considered the apex dragon type of Alola, and fighting type for that matter." Lana said. "Few have one."

"It's the one that's eluded Iris this entire time." Kiawe said. "We've all helped her find one or its evolved forms but we've had no luck."

"I know." Iris moaned. "And when I finally see one and it turns its head up at me and went straight for Dawn like I was nothing."

"Apparently Jangmo-o loves Contests and saw the Iki Town one and decided I was strong enough for it so that was more important to it than a dragon type specialist." Dawn said with a smile, not complaining about it at all. "So after I proved myself Jangmo-o decided to join me. It's fitting in a way, I was with Ash when he caught his Gible, Dratini, and Goomy, the first stage dragon types in Kanto, Sinnoh, and Kalos that are their regions' versions of Jangmo-o so it was high time I ended up with one and like Ash's it was an odd capture."

"Jangmo-o." Jangmo-o said with a nod though she only really cared about the fact that Dawn had proved herself and would make Jangmo-o strong in Contests.

"Well speaking of Contests we know when and where the next two are going to be held and both are coming up in the next few days." Lillie said using Dawn's strange way to win over a Pokémon to segway into it. "There's a sponsored on that was confirmed shortly after Iki Town ended that's to be held somewhere on Ula'ula Island and the next standard scheduled one is going to be in Konikoni City on Akala Island."

"That's my home island though I'm not from Konikoni." Kiawe said. "It's a lot closer to here than Ula'ula is, though, only a short boat ride."

"So the plan is to go over there tomorrow or the day after depending on how things are and prepare for the Contest there as it's in a few days." Mallow said. "Plus Jessilina's been seen in Malie City which is the main city on Ula'ula and heavily influenced by the Johto style. The Contest isn't being held in Malie but nearby so if Jessilina's already on that island then she's going to enter that Contest."

"We'd rather not challenge her." Lana said. "We're good and confident in our skills but we were all blown away by her battle with you, Dawn, and that was after you comfortably handled Iris. None of us are near your level but she managed to hold her own in that battle. Iris might be able to beat Jessilina if the cards fall right but at the moment we need more training before we can truly challenge the clear favorite in Alola."

"Which is why us girls are going to go for the Konikoni Contest." Lillie said. "Iris, you're joining us, right?"

"Of course." Iris said with a grin. "Wouldn't miss it. Dawn, Ash, I hope you two also come to watch."

"Naturally." Dawn said with a nod. "I've got to show Jangmo-o and Popplio them more so this will be a great way to do so as I can explain things as you appeal and battle."

"Jangmo-o." Jangmo-o said with a smile looking forward to it.

"Piplup." Piplup said from Dawn's head also looking forward to watching the Contest so he could know that he was better than the Pokémon in it.

"And I'll get to see another island even if it's just a city." Ash said. "So count me in as well."

"Unfortunately it will be." Kiawe said. "I'd love to take you guys to the Paniola Ranch, my home, but alas there won't be time as we're expecting Gladion's challenge to be made around the time of the Contest so you'd have to come back here right after it."

"That's a shame but I understand." Ash said. "We're only here for a finite amount of time and that battle will be the final thing we do in Alola. Next time we'll spend a few months here, then you can show us your home and the other two islands for that matter."

"Sounds good to me." Kiawe said with a grin. "And by then I may be able to challenge you in battle."

"I look forward to it." Ash said.

"Great then it's settle." Lana said with a smile. "Dawn, would you please help us train today? We could use some more pointers on appeals and any tips on using Pokémon in both appeals and battles would be great."

"It would be my pleasure, plus I've got my own training to do so this will help me as well." Dawn said. "Where shall we train?"

"The same place you trained for the Iki Town Contest." Mallow said. "Come on, the boys have their own plan so this will be a girls session."

"Later we can ask for some assistance from the boys." Lillie said. "Their battle skills will help us."

"Oh you know it." Iris said. "Contest battles are complex, a little too complex for my liking, but facing someone with normal tactics can really help you improve regardless of style."

"I wouldn't call Ash's tactics normal." Dawn said. "And he is a regional Champion so he's skills are top tier but facing him does help, May and I did so after out loses to Amelia and it made out battle in Laverre better."

"Yeah, I like to think out of the box." Ash said with a grin. "It's helped me a lot in my many battles."

"That's also beneficial to learn." Mallow said. "But first, appeals. We could use help there and you are the Top Coordinator, Dawn."

"Lead the way." Dawn said. "See you in a bit Ash."

"Of course, I can just train with Kiawe and Sophocles." Ash said. "I do have a new Rowlet and need to prep for the battle I'm going to have with Gladion. I want to bring my A-game to that."

"Actually Ash, we could use your help with something." Sophocles said as the girls headed off to a training area to work on their appeals under Dawn's guidance, and for Dawn to do more work with Popplio and Jangmo-o so that they too had Contest worthy appeals as she intended to use them in her next two Contests wherever they might be. "There was a strange report from the Ultra Guardian Base that's under the school and the caretaker is out at the moment with her trainer."

"Oh, sure." Ash said as Kiawe and Sophocles began to lead Ash into the school towards an elevator that led to the base below. "Wait, there's a Pokémon caretaker? I didn't know that."

"Yes, a Clefable that belongs to Lusamine is in charge of keeping the base tidy and ready for when it's needed." Kiawe said as they reached the elevator and stepped onto it. "She's also present during briefings and dispatches when an Ultra Wormhole appears. When the base isn't needed she just makes sure that all is good to go but right now Lusamine is in town so Clefable is with her for the moment. That's why we need to check it out because if an Ultra Wormhole does appear we'd like the base to be ready so there can't be issues with it."

"I get that but who's Lusamine?" Ash asked as Kiawe hit a button. "I've not heard that name yet."

"Right we didn't mention her." Sophocles said as they began to descend to the basement where the base was located. "She's the President of the Aether Foundation and who set up the Ultra Guardians so that we could protect Alola from Ultra Beasts. She's also Lillie and Gladion's mother so you'll likely see her when you face Gladion."

"Oh." Ash said as they reached end of the shaft and came into the basement though there was still a good few feet to go before the ground but they could already see the circular room filled with monitors and high tech equipment that was the Ultra Guardian Base. "That's…"

Before Ash could finish, however, the full picture of what was going on appeared and he blinked at what he saw. As did Kiawe and Sophocles as what they were seeing wasn't what the two Alolans had expected though it did explain why something was going on down here.

That was because all over the circular room were several small Pokémon, smaller than Pikachu and Rowlet, that none of them had ever seen before. They looked like silver metallic blobs that were somewhat viscous and seemed to work a bit like a Ditto did with a hexagonal, light gold, nut for a head that had a black ball floating in the center of it and a red wire for a tail.

However that alone wasn't the strangest thing about the Pokémon. No the strangest thing was that the Pokémon seemed to eating the metal in the room leaving chunks missing though how they were eating it was a complete mystery.

"What are they?" Ash asked as the elevator reached the bottom and the boys stepped off, Pikachu hopping off his shoulder and Rowlet out of Ash's bag to land on the ground and look around as well as he too was intrigued by this. "I've never seen a Pokémon like them."

"Neither have I." Sophocles said as he pulled out his Pokedex. "Kiawe? Any thoughts?"

"Nope, they're new to me too." Kiawe said. "And I have no idea where they came from either."

"Well let's see if the Pokedex knows." Sophocles said as he scanned one. "This should at…"

"Insufficient data." The Pokedex said much to their surprise. "This Pokémon cannot be identified."

"That's…unexpected." Sophocles said blinking in surprise before putting his Pokedex away. "I just had it updated to include the latest data from Alola as well as the other 8 regions so what could this Pokémon be? If it's not in the Pokedex then it has to be a new species."

"Whatever it is, it's probably a steel type based on its body and the metal its, er, eating." Ash said as the boys spread out to study the Pokémon that seemed unphased by the arrival, likely because of all the metal they were eating, as the elevator ascended behind them without the boys noticing. "So best to avoid an issue with them."

"Right, I'll keep my Pokémon in their Poke Balls just to be safe then." Kiawe said as he looked around. "This is odd though. How'd they even get here."

"We have to report it to Kukui." Sophocles said. "The equipment here is valuable and Lusamine won't be happy to learn that it's being damaged by some unknown Pokémon."

"Agreed." Kiawe said. "We…"

"Clefable!"

The cry came from the lift and the three boys jumped at it as they turned to see a Clefable, the one that Kiawe and Sophocles had told Ash about no doubt, standing on the platform looking angry as she surveyed the room. She was the caretaker here and had to keep it tidy and these things were eating it. Instantly she sprang into action and began to chase the strange Pokémon off trying to get them to leave.

"We should probably go and report this right away." Kiawe said. "Leave this to Clefable."

"Yes that's a good idea." Sophocles said. "Ash, come on, let's go find Kukui."

"Right, cool place but I have a feeling that this isn't good." Ash said and they boys turned back to the elevator. "So best to let the Professor deal with it and help him were we can. I'm sure we can get a good bit of data and sent it to Professor Oak in Pallet Town as he should be able to help identify this Pokémon."

As they did, none of them realized that one of the strange Pokémon, they were Meltans though that wasn't known yet, had been above them and was startled by Clefable's yelling so fell from where it was on the wall and above the other Meltans. Due to where it was and where the boys were it landed right in Ash's backpack which was open thanks to Rowlet being in there earlier.

Naturally Ash just thought that that was Rowlet returning to his bag so he through nothing of it as the boys, Pikachu, and Rowlet who Ash didn't realize was on the ground behind him and not in his bag all got on the elevator and headed up to tell Kukui what was going on. Meanwhile a pissed off Clefable tried to corral a bunch of unknown Pokémon.

To say that the whole thing was strange would be an understatement but Ash was used to strange things happening wherever he went so he just brushed it off as they took the lift back up to the classroom. There Ash dropped his bag off on the desk that he'd used when he'd arrived before he joined Kiawe and Sophocles in reporting the situation and seeing if they could help the Professor with it. After that he, Pikachu, and Florges did some more training as he wanted to teach Florges a new move that he thought would complement her move set nicely.

What none of them realized was that Rowlet wasn't in Ash's bag, the first stage grass starter had decided that he had had enough excitement for the day and upon seeing a window ledge in the sun he decided to fly over to it. Once there, Rowlet liked what he found and flopped onto his back to take a nap. Ash would come for him when he needed him but for now he could use this nap.

As such, he didn't notice it when the one Meltan that wasn't still down in the basement base but in Ash's bag popped its head, the nut thing that was called a hex nut, out and looked around with the black orb thing. As it did it saw the Pokémon napping on the window ledge and decided that that looked like a great idea and went over to do the same unaware of the chain of events that all this was about to start as it climbed up to the ledge and laid down to nap next to the Rowlet for a while.

Rowlet didn't know how long he was sleeping for, a decent while in fact as Ash, Kiawe and Sophocles were still with Kukui and had in fact gone back down to the Ultra Guardian Base with the Professor to find Clefable was still working to clear the area of the strange Pokémon so that he could gather more data on them, but now sleep was leaving him. It was time to wake up and return to Ash's bag so that he was there when Ash returned and took him on their next adventure.

That was the plan at least but it went out the window, well over the ledge to be specific, the moment Rowlet sat up and blinked sleep from his eyes and saw that next to him was one of those strange Pokémon that they'd seen in that weird underground place that he'd just visited with Ash. The moment that Rowlet saw it, he had no clue how it had gotten here, he let out a startled hoot and frantically flapped his wings as he leapt up and back on the ledge now fully awake.

That startled hoot and the fluttering of his wings instantly woke up and terrified Meltan as it leapt up and let out a wail of shock, it's small arm things going up into the air while fell over backwards from its leap. That wasn't good as the moment that it did it hit its hex nut on the window ledge and knocked it off its body.

While Meltan was fast enough to turn around and grab the ball thing that was it's actual head, which it could be separate from, it wasn't fast enough to grab its hex nut. That bounced off the wooden ledge and over the edge of the window to fall to the ground with a glint as the sun caught it.

Rowlet went bug eyed and let out a startled, and apologetic, hoot before he leapt off the window ledge and flew down to the falling nut. He had no idea what it was but it was clearly important to the strange new Pokémon and as he'd been responsible for it falling off it was his duty to get it back. He'd learned about responsibility in his flock, especially when he failed to bring back fruit, and more from what Florges, who'd taken over a motherly role for him since he joined Ash, so he was going to show that now as he dove for the nut as fast as he could.

Thankfully Rowlet was fast enough to grab it in his talons before it hit the ground and then began to flap up to the window ledge as he let out a sigh of relief. As he did, and only after he was above head height so wouldn't be noticed unless you looked up, Ash, Florges, and Pikachu emerged from the Pokémon School to do some training regarding the new move that Ash wanted Florges to learn and felt that outside was better for it.

Kiawe and Sophocles weren't with him, they were still inside sorting things out for the data dump they had to send to Professor Oak out in Kanto to get his assessment on the new Pokémon. As such Ash had a little time before training with them as well which he didn't mind as it allowed him to focus solely on Florges and her new move.

Rowlet didn't notice any of this, nor that Ash hadn't returned for his bag as this was specific to Florges and Ash thought that Rowlet was napping peacefully in it so he was leaving his newest Pokémon to rest before starting any serious training with Rowlet, as he flew up to the window ledge. The strange new Pokémon was still there holding the black ball thing and looking over the edge and around trying to find its hex nut while making worried noises, until it saw Rowlet reach it with its hex nut in its talons and it let out a happy sound.

That made Rowlet happy as he brought the nut to the Pokémon and helped put it back on its body. Rowlet didn't understand what it was or how it stayed on but he was pleased to help retrieve it and landed on the window ledge with a pant from the sudden effort. What he didn't notice, what no one noticed in fact, was that there was a wild Murkrow flying around the area that had noticed the shiny metallic glint of the hex nut when it fell off and had instantly gotten intrigued so began to head over to check it out and possible take the shiny thing it saw.

Murkrow was too far away to notice and besides Rowlet had bigger problems to deal with. His action of saving Meltan's, not that he knew that the Pokémon was a Meltan at the moment, nut had endeared him to the other Pokémon and already Meltan was bonding with him. As such, the moment that Rowlet was rested Meltan let out a happy sound of thanks and gratitude and leapt at Rowlet to embrace his side as best it could and then spin its Hex Nut around so in a sign of affection.

That annoyed Rowlet who was trying to recover from the exertion of effort he'd just put in and while he was glad to help, and more than happy to get to know this new Pokémon that was thanking him, he wanted to rest for a moment. Rowlet told it as much as he pushed it away and leapt to the side.

However, Meltan persisted doing the same move again and embracing Rowlet with the spinning hex nut. Again Rowlet appreciated it but pushed Meltan away only for there to be a pillar in his way when he leapt to the side this time so he was pinned there and when Meltan leapt at him again he couldn't move so Meltan could spin freely as it showed its gratitude to Rowlet.

For Meltan this was great but there was one slight problem with this. Thanks to the rapid spinning and the sun, there was a glint off his nut for a second time and because the Murkrow was flying towards the glint it didn't miss it this time.

Instantly Murkrow knew that it had to have the shiny thing that it had seen and dove down and at it. As such, before either Pokémon could process it, Murkrow had reach them and grabbed the shiny thing, Meltan's hex nit, in its beak and looped around the pillar and flown off into the sky with a now screaming and protesting Meltan in its beak while Rowlet fell onto his back.

Even upside down, however, Rowlet could see what was going on and he flipped over eyes wide in horror and cawing frantically as Meltan was carried away. He'd helped this Pokémon but because of his refusal to embrace it that black bird Pokémon had taken it away, at least that's how Rowlet saw it. Rowlet couldn't let that stand and with caw of determination, his wings beating fast, he leapt off the ledge and flew up and after the now lethargically flying Murkrow as fast as possible.

Normally Rowlet wouldn't be able to catch up with a Murkrow as it was a naturally better flyer. However, between the slower flying pace this Murkrow was going at now that it had its price in its beak, said prize complaining and wailing for help though Murkrow was ignoring it as all it cared about was the shiny thing, and the panicked nature of Rowlet needing to get the Pokémon back he was able to close the distance in no time.

As such, and before the Murkrow could even leave the airspace around the school, Rowlet was on it. With a cry the moment that Rowlet knew he'd hit Murkrow he kicked the Darkness Pokémon in the face with one of his talons causing it to drop Meltan and fly away deciding it wasn't worth the fight, at least not at the moment but it may come back later.

That was good but as the Murkrow flew away, Rowlet saw that Meltan was falling gold head thing first down towards the water around the school that had been to their side when they'd approached it earlier. That wasn't good and right away Rowlet dove down and in moments managed to grab the bast of the Pokémon, at least that's what he thought it was, in his talons and let out a sigh of relief as he'd managed to prevent it from falling into the water.

Rowlet had done well and was pleased with his accomplishments. Now it was time to take the Pokémon down and find Ash to sort this out so he flapped steadily to do so. However, before he could make it more than a few feet things changed because almost instantly Meltan let out another wail and Rowlet looked down and went wide eyed as yet again he saw that the nut had fallen off, this time with his catch of Meltan's body, and was nowhere to be seen. The strange Pokémon had caught hits black ball thing, where the sound was coming from, but that was it.

That put Rowlet in full panic mode as he flapped down to the ground looking for where the nut could have gone but in all the chaos he'd not had a chance to see it. He was really worried but he swore he'd do all he could to find it and help this Pokémon out when his thoughts were broken by a familiar, and grateful, call from the ground.

"Florges!"

Rowlet let out a grateful coo at the call as Florges could help so he turned in the air to see the tall, female, Pokémon with a blue flower around her head, her arms up and hands around her mouth as she called up to Rowlet. From her flower a vine that could only be the Vine Whip attack had emerged and had caught the nut out for the air and was holding it up for Rowlet to see as she asked if this was what he was looking for.

That was the move that Ash had been trying to teach Florges, which coupled with her other moves and appearance still confused Rowlet as to why she wasn't a grass type but she'd told him after Ash had caught him that she was one of those new fairy types he'd heard about, and it seemed that she'd learned it. In fact, she'd just mastered it when the Murkrow was going for the nut and as such Ash had gone in to find Kiawe and Sophocles for a Pokémon battle to see how Florges used in in battle with his plans regarding it so he'd not heard or seen anything that had just happened.

Florges had, however, and she had been confused by it so she watched as Rowlet flew after a black bird Pokémon carrying a silver and gold thing, she wasn't sure if it was a Pokémon or something human made, in its beak but it was clearly important to Rowlet. Then Rowlet had kicked the Murkrow and it had let go of the thing which moved as it fell so Florges decided it was a Pokémon and headed over to help out, a vine coming out just in case so she could use her new move practically, but Rowlet showed good flying skills in diving down and catching the Pokémon.

She would have complemented Rowlet for that but the golden part of the Pokémon fell off, though it seemed to catch something with its amorphous arms, and would have fallen clean over the edge of the plateau that the school was on had Florges not sent her vines out to catch the thing and bring it back. Then all she had to do was call out and wait for Rowlet to start searching so she could let him know that she had it but she was going to get some answers as she had no idea what was going on or what this light gold, metallic, thing that she had in her vine was.

Rowlet for his part was grateful that Florges had been around, she'd saved him a lot of effort and stress with that and so he flew over and to her still holding Meltan in his talons until he was near enough to the ground so that he could flip Meltan out and it could land on its base on the grass before Florges. It did just that and Rowlet landed next to Meltan in a panting heap a moment later and sat there as Florges brought the golden nut thing to Meltan.

"Florges?" Florges asked offering the nut to Meltan and asking if it belonged to the strange Pokémon.

Meltan let out a noise that confirmed it and thanks Florges for it. She smiled and helped put it back on before hopping back but remaining low so that she could look at it as it was a small Pokémon, the same size as a Floette in fact, so Florges knew how to handle one.

"Florges?" Florges asked the strange Pokémon, she'd never seen one like it and wanted to know what it was so she knew how to address it.

Meltan replied that it was a Meltan and liked metal. It then went on, at some prompting from Florges as she wanted to know how it had gotten here with Rowlet, to tell her what had happened.

It actually didn't know how it had gotten to this place or where it came from, it was oddly hazy about that for some reason, all it knew was that it was with a group of its fellow Meltans and they'd been split up with some in pipes underground and some in a place filled with metal. The latter was where this Meltan had been and it was enjoying itself there until it was interrupted by a pink Pokémon trying to get rid of the Meltans while three things that weren't Pokémon were there. That had caused Meltan to jump and it had fallen into something that wasn't metal.

Florges asked about that as she didn't know what it was referring to. When Meltan described the item she realized what it was and said that it was called a backpack and belonged to a human, her and Rowlet's human in fact, and was where Rowlet liked to hang out. Meltan didn't really understand that but it did know that it went up to a room and while there was metal in it the Meltan was tired and saw Rowlet napping in the sun so decided to do that as well. From there it was a simple retelling of the events that had just transpired.

"Florges." Florges said with a nod understanding everything well enough before turning to Rowlet who had somewhat recovered from all his frantic flying. "Florges. Flor, Florges. Flor, Flor, Florges, Flor."

Rowlet cooed sadly and lowered his head as she told him off for being careless regarding Meltan but perked up when she praised him for at least making the effort to retrieve the nut thing and rescue Meltan as it showed responsibility. Rowlet did add that he was going to help find the nut himself the second time because it was the right thing to do as it was all his fault it was knocked off both times and Florges commended him for that as well. He did thank her for helping and she smiled at that and told him that in time, and thanks to Ash, he too would grow and mature.

Meltan just watched all this in amazement. It was grateful to both these Pokémon for what they'd done for it and was bonding with them because of their actions but the way they talked about their human was something else. It seemed that humans, the strange non-Pokémon creatures Meltan had seen earlier, were good for Pokémon and Meltan asked about it to which Florges told it that she'd been helped immensely by Ash in ways that made her better and which were why she'd joined him and Rowlet added that he liked Ash a lot.

As they were doing this Ash himself, along with Pikachu who had been with him, came out of the Pokémon School. There was still a little more for the other boys to sort out regarding the data but as he was unfamiliar with the equipment he left the other boys to it to get back to Florges and see how she was doing. What he did not expect was to find her with Rowlet and one of those strange new Pokémon they'd seen in the basement base on the grass by the water to the side of the drive.

"What's going on?" Ash asked confused as he approached causing Florges to turn and smile at her human while Rowlet cooed happily at Ash's return. "Something's happened, I can tell."

"Florges." Florges said pointing to Rowlet and then the new Pokémon that they still didn't know what it was hence the need for data collection to send to Professor Oak. "Flor, Florges. Florges. Flor, Flor, Florges."

As Florges spoke she did her best to mime things out with her hands and vines and Rowlet even cooed in agreement and took to the sky to play it out as well, to a point, while the new Pokémon helped a bit as well by showing that it could remove the golden nut that Ash had thought was a head but it turned out that the head was the black ball thing. When it did that, Florges pointed to it and then Rowlet using it to help make her point while Rowlet continued to fly around and mime his actions to back her up.

"I see." Ash said as he looked at the Pokémon and getting the general picture of what had occurred. "Somehow one of the Pokémon from the basement ended up with us and it lost its nut thing due to Rowlet but Rowlet also helped out and got it back. I take it you helped as well Florges, while I was gone that is."

"Florges." Florges said with a nod glad that Ash at least got the vague picture which was good enough.

"Ok good." Ash said. "So now what? What do we do with this Pokémon because none of us know what it is."

"Florges?" Florges asked Meltan looking at it and seeking confirmation that it was friends with Rowlet which Meltan affirmed enthusiastically having already bonded with Rowlet and with that confirmation Florges continued with her idea. "Florges. Florges, Flor, Florges. Flor. Flor, Florges."

Meltan turned to her and looked up at the Garden Pokémon amazed at what she was saying. If Meltan wanted to, and as a good way to get stronger, it could join them as one of Ash's Pokémon. Then it would grow and be a good Pokémon and get to stick with Rowlet when they left this region. It could see the world and learn so much with Ash and his other Pokémon, and try so many new kinds of metal. It was a big offer but it nodded at Florges and confirmed causing Rowlet to coo in happiness as he'd grown attached to Meltan as well.

"Florges." Florges said with a smile before turning to Ash just as Kiawe and Sophocles came out to train with him having completed their own tasks but they saw that something was going on so didn't say anything and hung back to watch what was going on as they saw one of the new Pokémon from downstairs on the grass with Ash and his Pokémon. "Flor, Florges."

As she spoke Florges pointed at Ash's belt where she knew he kept his Poke Balls and then at Meltan causing Ash's eyes to go wide at the implication. Even Pikachu was surprised by that, this was a new level of catching, even for Ash as it was coming from Rowlet and Florges's actions entirely without any input from Ash himself. Still, Ash got it and recovered quickly enough before smiling and crouching down in front of Meltan, not that he knew what it was yet, and pulled out an empty Poke Ball that he expanded and held out before him.

"Well, I can tell that you've already bonded with Rowlet and Florges so how about we make it official?" Ash asked with a smile. "Want to join my team little guy?"

Meltan looked at the Poke Ball in confusion while Kiawe and Sophocles's jaws fell open at what they were seeing as it was so implausible that their brains had short circuited for a moment. None of the others saw the two boys and Meltan was confused so he turned to look at Florges who nodded and then to Rowlet who chirped his assent too before he pecked the Poke Ball and explained that this was how a Pokémon bonded with a human, he caught it in one of these contraptions and once Ash did that with Meltan it would be part of the team so they'd be together all the time.

At that Meltan let out an affirmative sound and accepted the offer causing Florges to smile and clasp her hands together while Rowlet cooed happily. Ash understood that and smiled himself before he tossed the Poke Ball underhand so that it hit the Pokémon on the top of its nut thing. The moment that it did, which was also a few moments after the girls showed up as well but were also stopped dead in their tracks by what was going on too confused by everything to understand it, Meltan was sucked into the Poke Ball in a flash of red light.

As usual, the Poke Ball closed and fell to the ground where it shook from side to side as the button flashed red for several moments before finally clicking in a confirmed catch and falling still. Ash grinned at that as he reached out and took the Poke Ball in his hand and rose for his usual celebration.

"Alright, I caught, er, whatever this Pokémon is!" Ash said as he thrust the Poke Ball into the air above his head not sure how else to phrase the capture.

"Woah, you weren't wrong." Mallow said as the girls, who'd come here so that they could find the boys and get some food before they did a joint training session, blinked at what they'd seen as this had not been what they'd expecting. "That was, that was just wow. What even was that that Ash caught?"

"Yeah I kinda didn't believe some of the wilder stories Iris was telling us." Lana said, the girls had seen enough to know that the Pokémon that Ash had caught was one none of them had ever seen before though Mallow had still voiced it. "Now though, well it does seem like he's a magnet for weird."

"And you doubted me." Iris said with mock hurt in her voice before it returned to its usual tone with a note of triumph in it at being proven right. "But this is actually quite tame, other than the fact that I've never seen that Pokémon before."

"You don't even know the half of it." Dawn said with a grin as Ash turned to them and realized for the first time that everyone else was here as well and had at least seen what had happened. "When we have time I'll tell you what we got up to in Sinnoh, that stuff was wild, especially the stuff with Legendary Pokémon."

"I bet." Lillie said as finally the girls recovered and approached Ash, Pikachu, Rowlet and Florges, as did Kiawe and Sophocles who'd also recovered but hadn't spoken yet. "What was that Pokémon?"

"We actually don't know, we only just found it and a bunch of others like it down in the Ultra Guardian Base eating the metal there." Sophocles explained as the group reached Ash. "We reported it to Kukui and then showed him so he them could get more data and then Ash went to do some solo training out here with Florges for a bit while Kiawe and I helped out. He'd come in to get us for some battles but we were still sorting some of the data package for Professor Oak in Kanto so he can help identify this Pokémon so we said that we'd come and join him in a moment. When we did, this was going on with Florges. We don't know the precise details."

"Neither do I but I do know that this Pokémon lost its head nut thing but Rowlet and Florges helped retrieve it and as such it's bonded with them." Ash said as he let it out and it let out a happy sound and went over to Rowlet who patted the top of its hex nut affectionately with his wing. "After that, and some talk from Florges, they asked it if it wanted to join me and it seemed receptive so I formally offer it the chance to join me and it accepted."

"Florges." Florges said with a nod as Ash was at least in the general area of what happened.

"Pikachu." Pikachu said with a shrug, this was still not the strangest capture he'd seen in his time, that might still be held by Dawn's accidental and unseen capture of Malamar, so he just decided to accept it as Ash being Ash and leave it at that while getting ready to meet his new teammate. "Pi, Pikachu."

"So yeah, that's how I got a new Pokémon." Ash said as he crouched down and offered his hand to the Pokémon he'd just caught which let out a happy sound and leapt into it. "Now let's go show Kukui and call Professor Oak, this will really aid his research into what this Pokémon is."

Ash rose and as he did Rowlet flapped up and landed on Ash's right shoulder while Pikachu leapt onto his left shoulder before Ash, with Florges by his side headed to the Pokémon School to sort it out not bothering to check to see if the others were following.

"This is classic Ash." Dawn said and Iris nodded while the Alolans did their best to process what was going on. "You get used to this though we aren't here long enough for more than a few small adventures. Come on, I bet he'll be hungry after this so we'd better make sure there's enough food."

The others just nodded as they tried to process what had happened and just decided to leave it as something that Ash was known for as they all followed him in to report this new catch to Kukui and both Professor Oaks. It had certainly been an interesting return to the Pokémon School and in less than two weeks Ash and Dawn had already had plenty of adventures in Alola and they were far from done because next up was a Contest and while Dawn wouldn't be in it she couldn't wait to watch her friends in it.

It was going to be fun and a good way to enjoy their remaining time in Alola before they left for the next region that they had to hit for Dawn's Majestic Festival qualification. One thing was for sure, they'd have a lot of good stories to tell their other friends when they saw them again.

Well, there it is, Ash's second Alola catch and it's his Meltan this time though he still has to learn what it is while the Alolans get to see Ash's adventures in action for the first time. As with Rowlet, it is a canon Pokémon and the catch is similar to canon but naturally different due to how different things are in this story compared to canon what with Ash not being an Ultra Guardian or in Alola long, Florges being part of the team, and no Team Rocket shenanigans to get in the way of things. It does mean that Meltan's nut won't be a darker gold, it just wasn't in the cards when I was drafting this chapter, but Ash does have his Meltan and we'll get to see how that goes as his journey continues. Next, though, is a little trip to a new island and a Contest for Ash and Dawn to enjoy watching and support their friends in so stay tuned for that as the Alola arc nears its end with only one more thing left after that Contest. That's all that I have for y'all though so I will end this Part off here. As always if you like my work then please favorite (both this story and me in general to be notified of any new content I post), if possible leave a review as I really like hearing what you think of my work and your suggestions that help complete this story (and respond as best I can) and just in general keep enjoying my work. Until next time.

Stringdog