After getting Ash's arm sorted out, and going through the formalities of registering Riolu as Ash's Pokémon – something which the Fighting-type was delighted about – the friends confirmed that Ash was properly registered for the tournament, then went into the castle itself.

They were there mainly for Ash to get hold of an outfit, which was firstly the one he was going to wear when he competed in the tournament – and, secondly, was some of Sir Aaron's equipment. Ash had already found the gloves, last time, but he'd been told in no uncertain terms by Sir Aaron that that wasn't all there was to be found.

There was a complete spare outfit, and that was why they were there.

At least, theoretically.

"It's so weird to look at these and have context for them," Ash said, stopping by another painting. "You know, to know that Sir Aaron wasn't just a historical figure."

"And I'm seeing all this for the first time, it's amazing!" Riolu agreed. "That's the Battle of Crane Wing! Where Sir Aaron challenged the whole enemy high command to single combat at once, then left his staff behind! He went in completely unarmed and still won!"

Pikachu winced, rubbing an ear. "Riolu, I don't mind you being enthusiastic, but could you please keep it down a little bit?"

"Oh, uh, sorry," Riolu apologized. "I guess that's something I should keep in mind now."

"Please," Pikachu replied.

"Don't forget, the tournament's coming up soon, Ash," Misty reminded. "You don't want to end up late for it after all the trouble to get here."

"Right," Ash agreed. "Uh… okay, where was it… it was one of the dressing rooms…"

He frowned, trying to remember, then pointed. "I think it's that one."

The dressing room was full of costumes, with most of them there to help give the proper period feel to the yearly tournament. Suits of armour, doublet and hose, long floaty dresses with wimples… they weren't all from the same part of history, but that wasn't the point.

Though there was a space suit, as well, which might count as from the past if you only looked back a few decades. It even had Pokéball holsters, and a warning to only use Pokémon that didn't have to breathe in the first place and wouldn't be hurt by being in space.

Of course, Ash's focus wasn't on that. He went scanning through the outfits looking for one very specific costume, a familiar one.

He'd worn most of it here before, maybe all of it? But he hadn't known how important it was, then.

"Found it," Pikachu reported.

"Thanks, Pikachu!" Ash replied, moving to where Pikachu was, and then just sort of stared at it for a long moment.

It was in pristine condition. You'd never know looking at it that it was two thousand years old, and… that was probably why it was in a costume closet in the first place?

The quality of the work was just amazing.

"Well?" Pikachu prompted.

"Right, sorry," Ash realized, taking the hanger, and moved on into the changing room.

It was quite an experience.

The main part of the outfit was just… normal. Tough but normal fabric, in an old-fashioned style, but Ash wouldn't really have given it more than a second glance if it had been on the shelf in a shop.

Actually Ash wasn't usually all that interested in clothes anyway, unless they were hats. So maybe it wasn't a great example. But knowing it was two thousand years old, and that Sir Aaron had worn it…

"Huh," Ash realized. "Now I think about it…"

"What is it?" Riolu asked. "I'm trying not to get over-excited about this, but what is it?"

"Sir Aaron was a grown-up, and these fit him," Ash explained. "And I'm not, and they fit me. It's… weird."

"Huh, yeah, that is weird," Riolu agreed. "Maybe it's part of the outfit itself or something? You said the gloves were weird."

"Yeah, maybe," Ash admitted, then sat down to pull on the boots.

They were definitely weird. The moment Ash pulled them on, there was a little pulse of energy as they touched Ash's Aura, then suddenly he felt lighter. Then heavier, enough that the chair he was sitting on made a creaking sound, then back to feeling lighter as Ash realized what was going on and started actually controlling it.

They could make him lighter or heavier… heavier, to get stronger just by walking around, and lighter so he could jump higher if he really needed to.

It was really cool.

There was a pouch, as well, a little bag that went onto the belt. It made a sort of twitch when Ash fitted it on, with another pulse of energy, and Ash opened it to see if there was something inside.

"It's… wow," he said. "Riolu, Pikachu – it's huge. There's notebooks in here, too…"

He drew the mouth of the bag open, and Pikachu peered inside.

"Wow," he said. "That is big… what are the notebooks?"

Ash reached in, up to his shoulder, and pulled one out before flipping it open.

It was Sir Aaron's notes.

The things he'd learned and found out, about Aura and Pokémon – Maiju, as they'd been called at the time – and seemingly everything else he'd run into. Some of it was things that were common knowledge now, simply because it had been two thousand years, but there were other things that Sir Aaron hadn't been able to remember to mention to Ash in their training session… and which had been forgotten, simply because it had been two thousand years.

It was so tempting to just… sit down and read through all the notebooks. But there wasn't time.

The cape came next, and this time when Ash put it on it didn't test his Aura. Instead it started pushing a steady trickle into him, recharging him. It was a relief after how much the short battle with Lucario had tired him out, and though Ash didn't exactly have a scale for it he knew it would help him last at least a bit longer in a battle… and recover much more quickly.

"This is amazing to watch," Riolu said, his eyes closed. "The Aura is flowing in such a beautiful way."

"I'm almost nervous about the last ones," Ash admitted, picking up the hat and putting it on after a deep breath.

There was a little testing pulse, like the bag and the boots, then… nothing.

"Huh," Ash frowned. "I… wonder what that does."

"No idea," Riolu replied. "The other ones were all obvious, right? You didn't say them all, but it seems like you worked it out."

"And we know what the gloves do," Pikachu added, as Ash nodded. "So it's kind of a mystery. Maybe it's in the notes."

"Maybe," Ash agreed, then took the gloves and pulled them on. First one, then the other.

It felt very nice.

Now Ash had some training in how Aura worked, he could see what was going on. They were resonating with his Aura, building up and providing a kind of constant beat that kept his own in time while also making it easier to shape.

"Wow," he said, eventually. "I… I don't know how much these had to be custom made for Sir Aaron, and the fact they work for me is just a coincidence, but… I think I'm going to be really glad of having these. Especially if talking to Lucario doesn't go great."

"Lucario?" Riolu checked. "I don't think you mentioned this before. Which Lucario?"

"Sir Aaron's friend Lucario," Ash replied. "Two thousand years ago Sir Aaron sealed him in his staff, because Lucario thought Sir Aaron had betrayed him, only, he actually needed to fix the Tree of Beginning near Rota. Then when we were here, he came out of the staff again. He actually thought I was Sir Aaron at first."

"Your Aura confused a Lucario who knew Sir Aaron personally?" Riolu asked, astonished. "Um. Are you sure you didn't end up going back in time to be Sir Aaron?"

"I… don't think so, he didn't look exactly the same," Ash replied.

"Wait," Riolu added. "So, what happened then? Wouldn't Lucario have taught you how to use Aura?"

"He did," Ash answered. "A bit. But the Mew from here wanted to play with Pikachu, it was a whole thing… it ended up that we had to fix the Tree of Beginning ourselves, and Lucario… didn't make it."

"Oh," Riolu said. "I was going to ask why he didn't join your team, but… oh."

He swallowed. "That's… Ash, you must have been overwhelmed. Meeting Sir Aaron's student, and a Legendary Pokémon as well…"

Pikachu scratched the back of his neck. "Well, losing Lucario hurt. Hopefully that won't happen again. But overwhelmed, we didn't really view it that way, to be honest. I mean, if we're talking weird and wonderful there's the time we met the legendary birds responsible for the Orange islands' climate… or the massive duel between Groudon and Kyogre… or the time Ash got possessed… or the time I got possessed by Groudon… or perhaps when I vanished from existence for a few seconds because of nearly five thousand years of time all but being cancelled out…"

Riolu pushed his jaw closed.

"When you rescued me from Hunter J, that really was just normal for you, wasn't it?"

"It was a slow week, I think," Ash frowned. "Or, a normal week maybe. Not a busy one."

After that, Ash and his Pokémon went to compete in the tournament.

Which went all right, all things considered.

"Third place," Ash said, sitting down on a bench. "I don't know, something about that feels weird."

"I hadn't even heard of that Pokémon that beat me," Pidgeot replied. "What was it?"

"Golurk, I think," Ash replied. "Pikachu and I met some in Unova, they were kind of neat… Dexter?"

Golurk, the Automaton Pokemon, Dexter said. There is a theory that inside Golurk is a perpetual motion machine, but this has not been proven. It flies across the sky at mach speeds.

Ash's Pokédex went beep. The Pokémon is a Ground and Ghost type.

"I guess at least it's nice to know that I didn't just let you guys down by sending Pidgeot out against a bad matchup," Ash said. "Since I think everyone I've got at the moment would have had trouble with Golurk."

"I don't know, I think I had a chance," Butterfree suggested.

"That Pokémon punched me in the breast with Thunderpunch while I was flying overhead at nearly the speed of sound," Pidgeot protested. "I think you'd have had trouble too."

"Eh," Butterfree said, wings flapping. "Would have been fun to find out."

"We'll just have to come back next year!" Ash decided. "Though, uh… right, before that party later we should go and see the Queen and try and get things sorted out. Hopefully she's got some time free?"

"I'll come with you," Brock volunteered, sitting on the other end of the bench. "You are ten years old…"

"And you're just wanting to meet the Queen in person," Misty said. "Remember, the options are behave or Goldeen."

"...I'll be on my best behaviour, Misty!" Brock declared piously.

"I'm not sure how much that's worth, but fair," Pikachu decided. "Coming?"

"I am!" Riolu declared.

"I'd rather stay outside," Pidgeot decided, and Butterfree thought a moment before deciding that he'd do the same.

Queen Ilene of Cameran Castle turned out to have a guard at the door, who introduced Ash, his Pokémon, and Brock.

Queen Ilene also turned out to have free time, which was quite useful, and she invited them in.

"Honestly, it's quite a relief," she admitted, with a smile. "You'd think otherwise, but few people seek me out in private. They always want to be seen with me, more than they want to actually talk."

"That must be lonely," Ash said.

"It's what I'm used to," Ilene replied. "But, as I say, it's quite a relief… now, why did you come to see me?"

"It was to bask in your-" Brock began, then Riolu stepped on his foot.

"It's actually about the clothes I'm wearing," Ash explained.

Queen Ilene considered him for a moment. "A replica of Sir Aaron's clothes, I think?"

"That's just it, actually," Ash replied. "They're not replicas. They're Sir Aaron's actual spare set of clothes, and… they can do things that normal clothes can't? Apart from last for two thousand years, I mean."

"Really?" Queen Ilene asked. "And how did you come to find this out?"

Her gaze flicked across to Riolu, who had his paws on his hips and was looking sternly at Brock. "Even if you are an Aura Adept, several have visited in the centuries between then and now, and none of them have said anything."

"Huh," Ash frowned. "I guess maybe it's because they only work for someone with an identical Aura signature? Or really similar, at least. Like Sir Aaron's staff does."

"Your Aura signature is the same as Sir Aaron's?" Queen Ilene asked. "That, I have to admit, I find… almost impossible to believe."

She held up a hand. "Though don't think I'm accusing you of anything. It's simply that I can't see how you could possibly know."

"I'm descended from him," Ash said. "Or, maybe from a sibling of his or something? But Ho-Oh said I was of the Line of Cameran."

Pikachu took a few steps back.

"What's wrong, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"Just trying to get perspective on this," Pikachu replied, taking another step back. "It just struck me how weird this is."

"If it helps, Your Majesty," Brock said, raising his hand. "I know Ash well, and he boasts about things-"

"Thanks," Ash grumbled.

"-but he's right about this."

"It wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen," Queen Ilene admitted, which made Pikachu look confused and take a few more steps back.

Ash felt about the same. Now he thought about it, Queen Ilene's castle was not far from a giant tree made of rock and full of Legendary Pokémon, so maybe she was used to weird things as well.

"Anyway, uh… I'd like permission to take these with me," Ash explained. "And – something else I want to do is to make sure Sir Aaron's Lucario is safe and… knows he's safe, too. He's been stuck in the staff for two thousand years, after all."

"You're sure of this?" Queen Ilene asked, turning to the side and picking up the staff. "It doesn't seem to be anything unusual, really. Though Sir Aaron was a great hero, and he could do things we don't fully understand now, so…"

She held it out, and Ash took it automatically.

It started glowing.

"Uh… uh oh," Ash said.

"This place really is amazing," Misty said, sighing. "It's beautiful… I think one of the things I really enjoy about travelling is getting to find places like this that are like hidden gems."

She glanced at Pidgeot and Butterfree. "You know what I mean?"

"I spent most of my time in the same place," Pidgeot pointed out. "Not that you can understand me, but… yes."

After thinking that over for a moment, Pidgeot decided to nod, because it got her message across.

"I've travelled up and down the islands," Butterfree replied. "And that is the biggest tree I've ever seen."

He floated on the other side of Pidgeot, mostly to give Misty space. "That's a nice thing about wonder, I guess. There's not a small supply of it."

"That's true," Misty agreed.

Then there was a wham, and part of the side of Cameran Castle blew out. Pebbles rained down on the gardens, in defiance of their former role as masonry, and Misty jumped.

"What was that?" she asked.

A blue light flashed in the hole, and then Ash jumped out just ahead of an Aura Sphere. It curved to try and hit him, but missed, and Ash hit the ground with a thud that made Misty wince.

Ash disagreed, since he started running, and a Lucario burst out of the hole just after him – batting aside a Thunderbolt from inside the castle as he went. Then what looked like Pikachu and Riolu appeared at the edge of the hole, skidding to a halt as they saw the drop.

"Pidgeot, can you get them?" Misty asked. "Take Pikachu and Riolu to Ash!"

"On it!" Pidgeot chirped, and took off with a whoosh of wings that knocked Misty backwards and Butterfree to the side.

"So," the Bug-type said, glancing at Misty. "About the only thing that's missing is Team Rocket, right? Haven't seen them yet."

"Yeah, true," Misty agreed.

"First a traitor and now a liar!" Lucario thundered, launching a furious attack on Ash. "How I once respected you is beyond me!"

Ash ducked one blow, parried another with his arm, then winced as Lucario kicked him in the side and he went sprawling.

"I'm telling you, I'm not Sir Aaron!" he protested, getting back to his feet with the help of Aaron's boots. "You've been in that staff for two thousand years! Lucario – you need to stop and think!"

They were in a small, rocky depression, and Ash tried to look around without taking his eyes off Lucario.

"Your Aura betrays you," Lucario replied. "I do not understand it, but this is some form of trick or trap. You want to convince me not to deliver your just punishment."

"My Aura's the same because I'm descended from him!" Ash retorted. "You're confusing them – I'm not him!"

Lucario surged forwards again, and Ash crossed his arms to raise a Protect shield. Thanks to all of Sir Aaron's equipment, it was much firmer and stronger than before, and the sight raised Ash's confidence.

For a moment, because Lucario promptly demonstrated how much he had to learn. Instead of simply smashing into the shield, Lucario's Force Palm strike hit the shield at full extension, and a needle-thin spike of Aura punched right through before widening out to pop the whole technique.

"Do you take me for a fool?" Lucario demanded, as Ash backed away again to avoid a follow-up attack. "How do you expect that to be even remotely believable?"

He put his paws together, and blue light sparked in them as an Aura Sphere grew to full size in moments. Then he threw it forwards, and charged in right behind it.

Ash had his own Aura Sphere whirling up, not nearly strong enough to match Lucario's one, but he threw it anyway. The impact was enough to destabilize both spheres, making a shower of blue Aura sparks that Lucario charged straight through, then Ash adjusted his footing slightly and hoped he'd got how to use the boots right.

He ducked slightly to the side as Lucario attacked, and instead of being hit by a Force Palm he got shoulder-checked by the Fighting-type. But he weighed a lot more than he had a moment ago, and Lucario hadn't really been ready for it.

The impact still knocked all the wind out of Ash, even as Lucario lost the momentum of his charge, and Ash was still recovering when Lucario dropped down to sweep Ash's legs out from under him. Concentration lost, Aaron's boots didn't hold Ash in place, and he went down with a painful thump.

"How the mighty have fallen, former friend of mine," Lucario said, rising to stand over Ash. "I do not know what made you-"

"Thunder!"

Pikachu hit Lucario hard enough to knock the Fighting-type aside, and Ash breathed a sigh of relief before getting back upright as his starter landed in front of him.

"Are you okay?" Pikachu asked, and Ash nodded.

"Yeah, but-"

"I see you have new allies," Lucario interrupted, looking at Pikachu, then up to the Flying-type banking around overhead. "And your Pidgeot, as well. Did he carry you when you fled, in the end?"

"Uh oh," Pikachu gulped.

Pidgeot's wings lit up.

"She's-" Ash began.

"I'm a girl, you idiot!" Pidgeot informed him, and did something with the air that didn't seem to make sense. She disregarded banking in favour of simply flipping around so that her beak faced directly towards Lucario, and her wings spread wide. "SKY ATTACK!"

The fire that flowed over Pidgeot's wings turned into a stooping bird-of-prey, flashed down to ground level in a moment, and turned the small depression into a larger crater.

Lucario coughed, straightening up.

That… had not been something he'd expected.

Still, by its very nature, that explosion would have hit Aaron as well, so he could finally bring him to justice.

Lucario closed his eyes, to see through the remaining dust and debris, and found his target.

Near the edge of the explosion rather than at the focal point, he'd been thrown backwards against a rock, and that Pikachu that had saved him before was helping him up, but-

There was a Riolu, now, standing to defend them both.

A Riolu.

It was… simply not possible that Sir Aaron could have a Riolu partner. Or if he did, it was simply not possible that Sir Aaron could have turned tail and fled from defending the kingdom.

Riolu and Lucario were simply too committed to their morals. It was genetic.

One or the other had to be wrong. And Lucario had the sinking feeling that the wrong one here was him.

"Er…" he began, looking up at the Pidgeot hovering ominously overhead, then back down at the person who… now he looked… was shorter and younger than Sir Aaron, for all that he was otherwise so close. "...oops?"

Five minutes later, Lucario had a better idea about what was going on.

"I am starting to think that maybe I should just go back in."

"Don't think that, Lucario," Ash urged. "I mean, you know now what would have happened if this had gone the same way as it did first time, right?"

He waved up at the Tree of Beginning. "But this is better. Once you're stronger again, once you've recovered from being stuck in the staff, you'll be strong enough to save the Tree of Beginning even if you have to do what Sir Aaron did."

"It's more that I'm trying to get used to the whole time travel concept," Lucario replied. "And that you met my friend, who I did not trust…"

"That was a mistake of yours," Riolu agreed. "But it's okay, because now you can make up for that mistake. You can fix it. Like I'm fixing my mistake, which is not volunteering to go with Ash in the first place."

"That… is a good point," Lucario agreed. "And, now I think about it, I should probably look in more detail into this 'chocolate' thing now that I have the chance."

"I can get Pidgeot to drop some off, if we find any good brands," Ash suggested. "Though, uh… you might want to be polite to her, and she might eventually forgive you. Maybe by this time next year or something."

"I dread to think," Lucario sighed, then shook his head. "Well. The least I can do, then, Ash, is try to make up for my errors. For my lack of trust in Sir Aaron, and for mistakenly identifying you as someone you were not."

He studied Ash again, this time in the light of Aura. "Though the difference is extremely small. I still have trouble discerning you even now…"

Lucario's muzzle twitched into a smile. "And I'm sure I can convince the Queen that it's only right you take Aaron's belongings. All of them, including the staff; you're going to need it where you're going."

"I'm going to be going mostly everywhere," Ash protested.

"Yes," Lucario confirmed. "You're going to need it everywhere."

"Do you think I'll become as strong as you, eventually?" Riolu asked, looking up at Pidgeot.

"That depends," Pidgeot replied. "Do you think you'll become a bit odd, eventually? It seems to help."

She pointed with a wing, and Riolu spotted something odd.

He rubbed his eyes, then looked closer at the peculiar pattern in the fused glass.

"I'm… female… twit?" he read off. "You did that?"

"Cursive is a useful way to work out aggression."

The knight of honour gripped his weapons tightly.

This was a matter of great importance, and he needed all the help he could get against the huge and powerful foes all around him.

Closing his eyes, he focused.

And an Unown bounced off his head, before vanishing.

No cheating with Aura Sight, Aaron!

Sir Aaron rubbed his head where one of the Thousand Hands of Arceus had hit him. "Why not? You're at least often claimed to be omniscient, Dialga can look into the future to see what everyone has, and-"

He turned suddenly, and saw a momentary ripple.

"And Palkia has been warping space to let him see over my shoulder through a wormhole!"

It's the price you pay for playing cards with deities, Arceus replied implacably.

"It's a pity Lucario isn't here, he'd back me up," Aaron grumbled. "Though it's good to know he'll probably avoid his fate, now."

Indeed, Arceus stated.

"Anyway, I think it's only fair that either you give me Aura Sight or you disallow tampering with space and time," Sir Aaron said. "Actually, you should probably disallow those anyway… and maybe we should switch to a dice game."

He glanced up. "I can't remember. Do you play dice with the universe?"

I don't throw dice with the universe, but rolling them is fine.

AN:

This was a fun chapter to do. Ash with some actual competence at using Aura, and the reserves to back it up. He's still ten, but at least he's ten with useful assistance.

As for the enhanced clothing, well, the gloves and staff did something, so... why not?

Also, the Hero of the Wave and his allies are getting bored in their subspace pocket. Very bored.

Rewrite changes in this chapter include making Brock less of an idiot.