A few days later, the door of an airship opened.

Ash walked out the door, stretched, then walked down the ramp. "That's the most uneventful trip we've ever had!"

He paused. "Actually, uh… we are on Valencia Island, right?"

I'm as surprised as you, but… yes, Dexter confirmed.

"Huh," Ash said. "That is the most uneventful trip we've ever had."

"It's better than your suggestion last time, that's for sure," Brock said. "Didn't you want to walk? To an island?"

"We can walk to Hoenn, right?" Ash asked. "I think there's a bridge now."

"...an island chain is a bit harder than going from Honshu to Kyushu," Brock said, then frowned. "Though… I guess you could walk. Theoretically. If you used an Ice type to make sheet ice on the surface…"

"I wouldn't mind an Ice-type myself," Misty said, waving her hand to fan her face. "I forgot how hot it was here."

"Not long now for me, at least," Ash said, remembering Lapras. "Well, speaking of that… we'd better get going. Anyone remember the way to Professor Ivy's lab?"

"I do," Brock volunteered, then visibly steeled himself. "All right. Here goes.."

After the pleasantries were out of the way, and Professor Ivy had introduced her assistants, she revealed the GS Ball.

"It can't be transported by the Akihabara System," she said. "And we've tried everything to open it. Even a laser."

"How powerful?" Brock asked. "I've seen laser pointers used on blackboards…"

"More powerful than that, I assure you," Philena said, with a smile. "About fifty kilowatts… we aimed for the black sections of it, so it wouldn't just reflect the beam away, but it didn't heat up or anything. Nothing makes any sort of impression on it."

"That's… weird," Ash admitted. "I guess we'll just see if Professor Oak can do anything with it."

He couldn't, of course. At least, not last time, though maybe he'd had new ideas since? But he'd just sent it on to Kurt for further analysis, and Ash hadn't heard anything about what might be inside…

Struck by a sudden idea, Ash closed his eyes and had a look at the GS Ball again. It was suffused with Aura, surprisingly – but completely evenly, in a way that Ash couldn't distinguish any detail from.

So much for that idea.

"I hope he'll find out what to do," Ivy said. "Are you heading straight back?"

"No, actually," Misty answered for them. "We thought we'd have a look around the Orange Islands first, especially since there's a local minor League."

"Don't let them hear you call it that!" warned Faith, one of Philena's assistants, waving her finger.

"I'm the one who's going to compete, and I agree that it's a proper Pokémon League!" Ash declared piously.

"I hope you'll have luck without me, then," Brock said. "If you make it to the finals, I'll watch you on TV!"

"Oh?" Ivy asked. "So where are you going, then?"

"Well…" Brock began, looking embarrassed. "I was hoping to stay around here and help for a while. It'd give me experience in dealing with other Pokémon… I've noticed the mess in your kitchen, and I can cook, and-"

"SOLD!" all four scientists said, in perfect four-part harmony.

"Well, good luck, Brock," Ash said. "I guess we'll manage without you."

"Keep in touch," Brock replied. "And good luck to you, too."

"It's never nice, leaving someone behind," Ash sighed, as he and Misty left the Valencia Island laboratory. "This is… the fifth time I've said goodbye to Brock, I think? He just kept turning up again in new places. I half expected him to turn up in Unova."

"I can imagine," Misty said. "Well, at least we'll be back together for Johto… so, what's next?"

"Lapras," Ash answered. "And Tracey, I think? But I've got no idea which island."

"I'd make a joke, but I can't remember either," Pikachu said.

"This is all new to me," Riolu pointed out. "It's very warm down here."

It is Tangelo Island, Dexter informed them, deciding not to wait until Ash actually asked. Tangelo Island is to the north-east.

Ash reached for his belt. "So… Pidgeot and Charizard, then? I guess it's up to them and you who rides on who."

Misty elected to have a turn on Charizard, this time, and Charizard didn't mind, so they were soon soaring through the sky from Valencia to Tangelo.

It was a journey they'd only made before on a sabotaged blimp, which… come to think of it, had been the second time they'd been on a blimp where things had gone wrong in less than a week… but going by Pokémon was both quicker and safer, and they were soon orbiting over not merely Tangelo Island but the bit of Tangelo Island where Dexter said Ash had met Lapras.

"Well, I never met Lapras before, but I think I can see him," Pidgeot reported. "And it looks like there's some trainers attacking him? With… sticks?"

"Already?" Ash asked. "We'd better get down there in a hurry!"

Pidgeot flared her wings, slamming on the air-brakes, and dropped out of the sky.

"Hey!" Charizard called, from above, but Pidgeot was already near the ground. Another massive wingbeat, and she halted just above the beach, sending out a whirl of sand that hit all three of the thugs and made them throw their arms up.

Ash jumped off her back. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded. "Stop it!"

The man near the battered Lapras's head turned to Ash, lowering the bamboo stick he'd been using. "What's it to you? He won't learn Earthquake, the wretch, that's why. And we did feed him enough beet."

"...what?" Ash asked, his indignation knocked wildly off course by a tidal wave of non-sequitur. "What do you mean, beet?"

"It's how you get an Earth-type to learn the move, see!" another one of the trainers said, arms folded.

Charizard put Misty down next to them, but Ash was too confused. "...Earth type? That isn't even a thing!"

"Of course it is!" the second trainer replied, giving Lapras's shell a whack with his own stick. "See that shell? It's solid rock!"

"Besides, the book says so," the first one added. "And tough break winning in a League match without Earthquake."

"What book?" Ash asked, shaking his head as he tried to recover. "I just… I've never heard so much stupid in one place."

Tell me about it, Dexter replied. Not only are Lapras Water and Ice-types, but none of them have ever been recorded to learn Earthquake.

"Shove off, newbie!" the third thug said. "We're trying to train this slacker to take on the Orange Crew!"

"Do… none of you watch television?" Misty asked, then rolled her eyes. "Stupid question, sorry. Of course you don't."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the first one asked, loudly. "Are you insulting our intelligence?"

"You can't insult something that doesn't exist," Ash said.

"Wow," Pikachu winced. "I think that one was Dark-type."

"He's making fun of us, guys!" the second one announced. "Come on, let's teach these morons not to mess with us!"

"Pikachu, you're up," Ash said, as the thugs sent out their Pokémon. One by one, a Hitmonchan, Spearow and Beedrill emerged.

Riolu came out of his Pokéball. "Need help, Pikachu?"

"Nah, I'll be fine," Pikachu answered.

"What kind of Pokémon is that?" one of the trainers asked, distracted by Riolu.

"Dark type, obviously," another said. "See? It's got dark bits!"

"...wow," Riolu muttered, shaking his head.

"Get him!" the first of the thugs called. "Comet Punch!"

"Fury Attack!"

"Fury Attack as well!" the Beedrill's trainer said.

"Shock Wave," Ash replied.

Pikachu hit all three of them at once.

"Now that was satisfying," Ash grinned, waving his hand. "Yeah, just… go? And maybe learn something about how to treat Pokémon, or just… Pokémon in general."

"Or they could at least bother watching when League finals are on TV," Misty contributed.

Ash turned his back on the hurriedly retreating trio, and patted Lapas on the neck. "Hey, there, old friend."

"Old friend?" Lapras repeated. "I'm confused. It sounds like you know me."

"Yeah, I do," Ash said. "We met before, and I can remind you about what happened. It's sort of… your future, but my past."

"We should really work out a standard way to explain this," Pikachu said.

There was a little blue spark, then Lapras rubbed his neck against Ash. "It's nice to see you again, Ash… why am I young again?"

"Time travel," Ash replied. "...oh, wait, yeah, you weren't with us for most of the time. You never heard of a lot of the time travel stuff."

"That is a terrifying statement in context, but I trust you," Lapras decided.

"Speaking of time travel," Ash added, then turned around. "Hey, Tracey Sketchitt!"

There was a pause, then the teen emerged from the bush he was hiding in. "How did you know I was there?"

"I guessed," Ash answered. "Then I checked to be sure by looking through the bush you were hiding behind."

"I… don't really know how to react to that," Tracey admitted. "But I saw you were helping that Lapras, so I can trust you. Probably. How did you know my name, though?"

"It's a long story," Misty told him. "It's probably quicker to just get the full explanation now."

"Yeah, a close friend told us your name," Ash said. "That close friend is actually you."

While Ash tried to explain the situation, helped by interruptions from Misty that didn't actually help, Lapras leaned down to Pikachu.

"So, I've heard of Pidgeot, and I know Charizard, but who's the new guy?" he asked.

"Assuming you mean me, I'm Riolu," Riolu said, thumping a paw into his chest. "I'm an Aura adept. I met Ash in Sinnoh, it's complicated, but I think Ash's full name could probably be Ash It's Complicated Ketchum."

"...yeah, that tracks," Lapras admitted.

Once Tracey had been reminded, and once Ash and Misty had had an argument over whether Ash winning the Indigo League was still actually impressive given that he'd had a several-year head start, Ash gave Tracey a proper introduction to Pidgeot, Riolu and Dexter.

Then they checked on Venonat and Marill, both of whom had been restored just like Brock and Misty's Pokémon had, and after that it was time for the important question.

"So… where do we go now?" Misty asked. "I barely remember."

"Mikan Island," Tracey said immediately. "That's the nearest Gym, and I remember Ash well. He got a bit… obsessed… at times.

"I resemble that!" Ash said.

"Isn't it resent?" Marill asked.

"Not with Ash," Pikachu said firmly. "Definitely 'resemble', for that remark in particular."

"Anyway!" Ash said. "Let's go! Though, Tracey, Misty, if either of you want you can borrow one of my Flying types, but I'd rather get to know Lapras again."

Pidgeot tilted her head. "I think I'd quite like to get to know Lapras for the first time! I'll take passengers, but I won't be going very high."

"Actually, if that's the same Pidgeot… why do you have her now?" Tracey asked. "Hadn't you already left her behind?"

"Yeah, that was to protect the Pidgey near Pallet Town," Ash confirmed. "But this time Gary caught the Fearow that was causing all the problems, and, better him than me…"

"Then… I'll join you on Lapras, Ash," Tracey decided, already getting out his sketchbook. "I never got a good chance to get a look at her, so I'll be glad for the chance."

"You won't be disappointed," Pidgeot said, preening. "What about you, Misty?"

"I'll take that offer," Misty decided.

"Climb on, then," Pidgeot invited.

"And how are you understanding your Pokémon, anyway?" Tracey asked.

"Aura!" Ash said. "I'll teach you, we should have enough time going between islands to get a good start…"

"She's a marvellous specimen," Tracey said, pencil flying across the paper. "Very good coverts on the inside of the wing."

"Glad you think so," Pidgeot replied.

She caught a little gust of wind from a wave, and rode it to about ten feet directly above Lapras. "I do try to stay in shape."

Tracey frowned. "So… how does this Aura thing work, anyway? I'm listening to what she's saying, but I can't actually make anything out."

"I'll give you the lessons once you're done with sketching," Ash answered. "But the basic principle is… you're trying to understand an underlying resonance of meaning in what they're saying, not the words themselves. If you can learn that, that's great, but it's more about the connection, and usually you get it with Pokémon you're familiar with first."

"Right," Tracey replied. "Well… maybe it'll help that I try to become familiar with Pokémon through observation. It can hardly hurt."

Ash nodded, patting Lapras on the back of the neck. "Worth a try… so, Lapras, how is it not being in charge any more?"

"Relaxing," Lapras replied. "I didn't mind leading the herd… school? Pod? One of those must be the right word, but we never really had a reason to use it."

Don't ask me, Dexter replied. Though pod sounds good.

"Well, anyway… I didn't mind, helping out the other Lapras was fine, but it could get a little… stressful. So this is sort of a holiday."

Ash nodded as Lapras rocked gently in the waves. "So… think you're ready for the Orange League?"

"Yeah," Lapras agreed. "I don't know which ones I'll be helping out with, specifically? But I remember half of them are sports challenges. So it depends how that works out…"

On Mikan Island, they went straight to the Gym.

"Right!" said Cissy, the local member of the Orange Crew, and sent out her Seadra. "The first challenge is to-"

"You've got a Seadra?" Misty interrupted. "That's great! Any tips on how to encourage a Horsea to evolve? He wants to, that's not the problem."

"We're doing a gym challenge here," Cissy protested.

"I don't mind," Ash waved off. "I heard about it… it's a target shooting thing, right?"

Cissy nodded confirmation, then turned to Misty. "Okay, look, Horsea tend to evolve to Seadra when they have a lot of open water to work with. It's a good catalyst, anyway. So if you're in the Orange Islands for a while, just let him swim in the open ocean and that will do it."

"Does fresh or salt matter?" Misty checked.

As she did, Ash went over his three Water-type Pokémon.

"Lapras, Squirtle, or Kingler…" he asked Pikachu.

"Lapras is fairly solid, or was. Kingler prefers physical attacks… and if Squirtle missed then the targets would probably move so they were where he'd aimed in the first place," Pikachu replied, shrugging. "I'd say not Kingler but then it's up to you."

"As I was saying, before I was interrupted," Cissy stressed, shaking her head. "The first challenge is accuracy. You have to use Water Gun to hit the targets."

Ash raised his hand. "Uh, isn't this a bit unfair for someone who doesn't have a Water-type?"

"Not my problem." Cissy gave a shrug. "It's part of why the Orange League isn't fully certified, though, along with other little things like… not having a big knockout tournament at the end…"

"Right," Ash said, nodding. "Well, fortunately, I do have some Water type Pokémon. Squirtle, out you come!"

Squirtle landed, and struck a pose. "This mouth of mine is dripping wet! Its loud slosh tells me to-"

"Yeah, just go ahead and release the targets," Ash advised. "This could take a while."

"He does this a lot?" Cissy said.

"Yeah, it's mostly about anime," Ash explained.

"You understand him?" Cissy said, then winced. "It must sound like my little brother. Anyway, let's go!"

Water bubbled up around Squirtle, but he didn't fire any shots. First one, then four, then a dozen targets fell to Cissy's sniping Seadra.

"Hurry up!" Ash shouted.

"Yeah, yeah!" Squirtle replied. "Attenboro-style Water Gun! Fire fire fire!"

Twenty lances of water splashed out, hitting all the remaining targets in a fraction of a second just as Seadra finished with their half.

"Oh," Cissy said, blinking. "Uh. I was sort of expecting to win there. That was a slow start but a fast finish."

"Thanks!" Squirtle grinned.

"It's time for stage two!" Cissy decided, hitting a switch, and a dozen targets came flying through the air.

Squirtle and Seadra hit them in essentially perfect unison, now that Squirtle was warmed up, and Cissy snorted. "Right… so that means it's the Wave Ride for a tie breaker. Trainer and one Pokémon each, first around the flag and back to the beach wins."

"Got it," Ash said, returning Squirtle and checking through his other Pokéballs. "Any other restrictions?"

"Yeah, you have to stand on their back, that's about it," Cissy replied. "Someone tried towing himself behind a Finneon once, and – well, don't get me wrong, I was impressed, it's just that he could have drowned so I don't recommend it."

Ash nodded. "So, just stand on a Pokémon's back to the flag and back…"

"Where's your Pokémon, Ash?" Cissy asked.

"I'll send her out once the race starts," Ash replied.

"Daring!" Cissy decided. "I like it. Okay, Senta, count us in!"

Cissy's brother waved a flag. "Three, two, one, go!"

Ash sent out Pidgeot, jumped on her back with one hand holding her crest for support, and she took off with a thunderous wham of air pressure.

"What the-!" Senta gasped, as his sister's Blastoise splashed into the water. "That's got to be cheating!"

Pidgeot swung wide before reaching the flag, then banked around hard. Her right wingtip nearly touched the surf as she went almost completely vertical, and g-forces held Ash on her back – then she rocketed past the finish line, having taken less than fifteen seconds to do the whole course.

"...okay, Blastoise, turn around," Cissy decided, folding her arms. "And that's not sporting!"

"It didn't say it had to be a Water type in the rules!" Ash replied, jumping down from Pidgeot's back, then winced. "Ow… it felt like I was holding up half a ton of weight."

"About right, really," Pidgeot shrugged her wings. "I knew you could take it."

"Yeah, yeah, all right," Cissy said, getting back off her disgruntled Blastoise. "Here's the Coral Eye badge, and in future the Wave Ride has to involve actually being at sea level."

"That's discrimination," Tracey said, chuckling.

Tracey was already getting the hang of how to meditate and focus on Aura quickly – quickly enough to make Misty a bit annoyed, because she could see he was going to get it faster than she had – when they reached the next island, Mandarin Island North.

"There was something about this place, but I can't remember the details," Ash frowned, as Lapras brought them in to a pier.

"I can't remember either," Misty said. "Something that happened here in a city, I think…"

"There you go," Lapras said, stopping at the pier, and the friends clambered up one by one onto the pier itself.

"Wait, I've got it!" Tracey realized, as Ash recalled Lapras. "It was those two Rockets, with the Drowzee!"

Ash returned Riolu as well, then passed his hat to Pikachu. "Dexter, any idea if they've started already?"

Checking… yes.

"Then let's go and stop them," Ash declared.

"Am I… missing something?" Tracey said, a bit plaintively.

"Well, since nobody on this island seems to have any Dark types, Ash is dealing with it himself," Misty clarified helpfully. "With his Dark-type Pikachu."

"...no, still missing something…"

The door exploded.

Butch and Cassidy whirled as Ash strode into their base. "What the-"

"Thunder Wave," Ash advised Pikachu, pointing, and the two Rockets dove for cover.

"What gives?" Cassidy demanded.

"It's that kid from the race!" Butch replied. "Drowzee, Hypnosis!"

I'm trying! Drowzee retorted. That surprisingly dapper Pikachu feels like it's a Dark type!

"Then send the controlled Pokémon after it!" Cassidy shouted. "Raticate-"

Pikachu blasted Raticate with a Thunderbolt.

"Blast the amplifier, Pikachu!" Ash said.

"How do you even know about that?" Butch demanded, before ducking back again as another blast of electricity raked along the wall.

"Well, uh…" Ash began. "Pokémon all over the town are disobeying their trainers, you just said controlled Pokémon, and your Drowzee's wearing a helmet hooked up to a machine bigger than a bus."

"...he's got a point," Cassidy admitted, then the machine exploded and sort of ended that conversation thread.

"Afternoon, officer!" Ash said, stepping aside as Ivysaur and Charizard carried Butch and Cassidy into the police station.

Charizard was carrying Drowzee and Raticate, too, since both Pokémon were quite unconscious.

"These two were behind all the Pokémon incidents," he explained. "Though it might be a good idea to have a Houndour or a Mightyena or something on the force in future, because it was all Psychic type stuff and Dark types are immune to that."

Jenny nodded. "You've got a point, citizen. I wouldn't give up my Gastly for the world, but my clanswomen do tend to make a point about how I should get a dog one of these days…"

"We did not pick a good time to do this," Cassidy grumbled. "What's the food here like?"

"We do a nice seaweed casserole!" Jenny told her brightly.

Butch turned green, much like the seaweed casserole. "Why would you ruin good food like that?"

"It's healthy!" Jenny explained. "Plus, I'm working on rice free cooking. And this is the lock up…"

"Sunburst Island," Tracey said, stepping off Lapras onto the beach. "Thanks, Lapras. I wonder if we should have let Brock know…"

"Why?" Ash asked. "Anything specific?"

"He's a Rock specialist, right?" Tracey checked. "I didn't ever spend much time with him, but I remember that. And this is where that weird Onix was, the one that could swim and was transparent, stuff like that."

"Uh," Ash frowned. "I'm not sure if that was even a proper Rock type? So I don't know if he'd like it…"

"Ash, he has one Rock type now," Misty countered. "So I don't think that's a problem."

"Point," Ash conceded. "I was wondering if it was, uh… what, Ice type maybe?"

Possible, and certainly I am unaware of another Onix capable of swimming, Dexter said, projecting the images he had. But it might be a bit difficult to check.

"Let's go find out, then," Ash suggested.

"You'll really help me?" asked the local glassmaker, Mateo. "I'm so glad! Everyone I speak to about this kind of thing thinks I'm mad for believing in it."

Ash shrugged. "Yeah, compared to some of the stuff we've seen, this isn't much."

"It… isn't much?" Mateo repeated. "Really?"

"I got possessed once," Ash said. "That should be enough of an example for now!"

"Wow," Mateo breathed. "Is that what it's like on the mainland?"

"No, it's what it's like around Ash," Misty corrected, shrugging. "I've seen so many Legendary Pokémon I've lost count, and Ash has seen more."

"Oh, wow," Mateo said. "So… wait, were you at the Indigo League this year? I heard they said a Moltres turned up there all of a sudden."

Ash yelped as Misty grabbed his jacket, turning his lapel inside out. "Of course he was at the Indigo League, that's how he won it!"

"Hey!" Ash protested, pulling his jacket free. "At least let me do my own bragging, Misty!"

Mateo's smile was still there, but it had become a little bit awkward. "Well, that's, uh… impressive? I'm starting to think that accepting your help was a bad idea…"

"Yeah, that happens," Tracey told him. "The feeling usually goes away about when Ash saves the day, though."

"Good," Mateo said. "I… think."

Several minutes later, and after spending about half of that time staring, Mateo was clearly reconsidering his first statement.

"Why are your Pokémon walking around with blindfolds on in a sea cave?"

"Aura sight," Riolu said, looking around himself. "Hmm… didn't you say it could swim?"

"Aura sight," Ash translated. "It's kind of like… being able to see life force. So Pikachu and Riolu and I can use it to see though solid rock."

"And you?" Mateo repeated, then shook his head. "So… why the blindfolds?"

"It's to stop them from being distracted by normal light," Ash explained. "It's not quite necessary, but it's useful, especially when it's bright."

"There," Riolu decided, pointing, and walked towards the spot of light in his Aura Sight.

"Watch out-" Mateo shouted, noticing where Riolu was, but too late. The little Fighting-type stepped off the edge of the path, straight into the water.

And, of course, walked across it.

"Yeah, he does that too," Ash said. "Aura users can do some pretty amazing things!"

Tracey and Misty shared a knowing glance.

"Well, he did say he wanted to do his own bragging," the Gym Leader said, chuckling.

"So… if it's a new Pokémon," Tracey began, checking his notes. "It's resistant to Water, and it's vulnerable to Fire. That sounds like Ice type to me, but did it evolve from an Onix or Steelix or did it do something else entirely?"

"It could be Grass type," Pikachu suggested.

"Grass type?" Ash passed on. "That would explain those."

Tracey held up his sketchbook. "How does that look like a Grass type?"

"How does Vibrava look like a not a Bug type?" Misty said.

"...ergh," Tracey groaned. "Pokémon science is always harder than I expect."

"Well, on the plus side, we got what we came for," Ash shrugged. "Mateo got his inspiration, and that's what really matters."

"You'd make a terrible scientist," Tracey said, shaking his head. "Which… is maybe for the best."

On their way south, the friends looked from Lapras's back toward Pinkan Island.

"Should we even bother with that one?" Misty asked. "I don't think much actually happened there."

"We did find out what some Pokémon look like when they're pink?" Ash asked. "I bet Sparky could pretend to be a Mew if he had enough of the local berries, but apart from that…"

"I think that sounds like a skip, to me," Tracey decided. "Any objections?"

Nobody did.

"Okay, how does this meaning matrix thing work?" the Pokémon Watcher went on.

"It's actually subconscious!" Ash said. "It's all about the meaning that comes with language that goes beyond just the words themselves…"

After passing by Pinkan, their next stop was an island with the un-glamorous name of Fukuhara Island No. 4.

It was mostly deserted, and forested, and – currently – geologized.

"I think I remember this place…" Ash murmured, then someone waved to them.

"Oh, hello there!"

It was a man wearing a hard hat and carrying a rock hammer, hand lens and clinometer, which marked him out as a geologist… or, palaeontologist, as he introduced himself.

"Welcome to the island!" he said. "Watch out, some of the areas around here are unstable, but we've got a good idea of how to get to where we want to. So stick with us and you should be fine."

"Sure!" Ash said. "So, what are you doing here? I guess… palaeontologists work with fossils, right? Did you ever hear about Grampa Canyon? I was there when they found some of the fossils!"

"You were?" the man asked. "Well, that was an interesting discovery. I think the paper was co-written by… what was his name… some young researcher, not Professor Oak-"

"Gary Oak, right?" Ash asked. "Yeah, he's always been mature for his age… which means he acts like a teenager."

"Oh, huh?" the palaeontologist said, starting to lead them up into the interior of the island. "So you know him?"

"I grew up with him," Ash confirmed, then frowned. "Though… that makes it sound like he grew up as well."

"No, it makes it sound like you grew up as well," Misty corrected him sweetly. "That's why it sounds off."

"Misty," Ash groaned. "That's not fair…"

The palaeontologist leaned over to Tracey, who was flipping through his sketchbook looking for a blank page. "Is this normal?"

"No, except for them," Tracey replied. "For them, yes."

The ground shook slightly, and everyone in the group wobbled.

"That was strange," the geologist said, frowning. "This island isn't exactly well consolidated, but it shouldn't be having earthquakes."

"Could it be a big one, far away?" Misty asked. "If there's a tsunami, that could cause us all problems unless we're high up enough."

No chance of that, Dexter reported. I have checked for seismic signals of similar or greater magnitude, and none can be detected within hundreds of miles. Whatever that was, it was here.

"Huh," the palaeontologist said. "Is that a talking computer?"

"Pokédex, but he's a Porygon," Ash filled in. "So, yeah."

"That would be really useful," the geologist mused. "And, well, it's good to know that it's not a big earthquake, but it's still strange."

As they reached the dig site, another man in a hard hat waved. "Hey, good to see you! Someone came to visit?"

"That's right," their palaeontologist guide agreed. "How's the dig going?"

"Really well!" the man said. "We've got more Kabuto than we've ever seen before in this part of the world, which is going to be very helpful for dating, and there's even some Lileep and Cradily – excellent, well-developed Palaeozoic fauna!"

The ground shook, much more violently this time, and the geologist fell onto his discarded jacket.

Ash, we have a problem, Dexter warned.

"Huh?" Ash asked.

Quite apart from issues of basic pattern recognition, this island is becoming unstable, Dexter hinted. More to the point, that Kabuto over there is starting to reanimate, look.

They looked.

It was already moving.

And this island is limestone, Dexter concluded.

"Limestone?" Misty asked. "Dexter, Brock's the rock guy. I'm a water girl. Tracey is a sketch artist. Ash is a Pokémon idiot."

"Hey!"

"Limestone, or, fossiliferous limestone like this island, is made up of fossils," the palaeontologist said.

Which is the problem, Dexter clarified. This island is about to turn into a seven- to eight-figure number of Kabuto, Lileep and Cradily.

Ash reached for his belt. "Okay, Charizard and Pidgeot can both take two people, and Lapras can take three… we should get ready to abandon the island, and run for the coast – unless the island sinks before falling apart, then the coast will come to us!"

"I've got Gyarados, he can take a few," Misty reported, going for her own Pokéballs. "And I can ride on Starmie in a pinch… don't you guys have boats though?"

"We have a boat," the palaeontologist said. "Our expedition leader, Joy, is off with the other one talking with the press on the next island over, we wanted to demonstrate the importance of this discovery."

"Then I guess you're going to need a lift," Ash answered, counting the geologists off.

It looked like they had enough Pokémon – then the island lurched again, and began to sag. "Time to go!"

"Well… that escalated quickly," Ash said, a few minutes later, from the back of his Pidgeot. "There are a lot of Kabuto down there."

"No kidding," Pidgeot agreed, as down below Charizard ferried the last of the geologists to their boat. "I wonder how often reawakenings like that happen."

"Can't be too often, or there wouldn't be any ground left…"

"Hey, look," Pikachu said, pointing.

Ash followed where Pikachu was pointing. There was a Starmie, and Misty swimming alongside…

"Oh, that's a Seadra!" Ash realized. "He finally evolved?"

"Looks like, and that is a Net Ball," Pidgeot said firmly. "I wonder what she caught?"

She dropped lower, slipping down though the air, and Misty's voice became audible.

"Yes!" she cheered. "Nice work, Seadra!"

She turned to wave at them. "Hey, Ash! I caught a Kabuto!"

"Huh," Ash said. "Nice to see she's diversifying a bit."

"Still a Water type," Pikachu shrugged.

"Navel Mountain," Ash said, by way of introduction. "The main peak of Navel Island. Yeah, I remember this one! This is the second gym!"

"That's right," Tracey agreed. "And what else do you remember about it?"

"Knowing Ash, not much," Pikachu said.

Tracey frowned, then shook his head. "No, didn't get that."

"It's still early, if you'd got it then it would have been really impressive," Ash replied. "But, I do remember, it's kind of… fitness challenges."

"Fitness challenges?" Riolu repeated. "Now that sounds interesting… if a bit weird for a gym."

"Yeah, it's to test how well you cooperate with your Pokémon," Ash agreed. "Though, uh, Charizard kind of… didn't, last time."

He shrugged. "Still helped!"

Pikachu sniggered.

Ash walked to the gate, and read the sign. "Yeah, I thought it was something like that… hey, Misty, Tracey, mind taking Pikachu and Riolu up the mountain? I think there's a gondola?"

"Yeah, we took it last time," Tracey agreed. "But why do you want us to take them?"

"The instructions say I can't have my Pokémon help," Ash explained. "I'm going to jump up, but I don't want the others getting cold… and the leader isn't down here at the moment, so he could be at the top."

"Right, I think I get it," Misty realized. "If you don't have any Pokémon out when you get to the top, it means you didn't use them, or… actually, no, that could be prone to cheating, right?"

Ash frowned. "Yeah, so… oh, there we go."

He waved at a Wingull. "You're here to watch me on the way up, right?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny," Wingull replied.

"Good enough for me," Ash decided. "I still don't get how climbing a mountain is supposed to make me a skilled Pokémon trainer, but let's see how this goes!"

"Good luck!" Riolu waved.

Ash pushed Aura into his boots, lightened himself so he weighed about as much as Pikachu, and jumped thirty feet up the mountain in a single bound.

The Wingull took off with a startled caw, following him as fast as it could.

"Well, I guess that answers that," Misty decided.

"We'd better hurry, or we'll be late," Tracey said, opening the door to the gondola.

"Phew, it's cold up here," Ash muttered, jumping through the frosty air. "How come there's snow? I'm not that high up, am I?"

He stopped, balancing on a flat bit, and looked back down. "Huh, maybe or maybe not… could be something to do with Articuno, I guess."

Ash took a run-up, and jumped again, aiming for a stopping point another thirty feet up the mountain, then jumped three more times and finally went over the lip of the mountain peak. Once there, he renormalized his weight, and panted for a moment.

"Well, it was good exercise," he decided.

"Hello, there!" Danny called. "I saw someone coming up the gondola. You're the challenger, right?"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "You're the Gym Leader, right? What does that climb have to do with Pokémon?"

"Well, mostly, I like extreme sports," Danny answered. "That's the main thing… you didn't defeat my Wingull, did you?"

"No, I left them behind," Ash said. "I mostly came up by jumping. It's a long way!"

Danny shrugged. "Well, I don't know what to tell you… right, I'll provisionally agree with you, but if you did use a Pokémon to get up the mountain you will be disqualified. Let's just move ahead with the Gym challenge in the meantime!"

He held up three fingers, then pointed to a pair of nearby water geysers. "Three actual challenges. The first is to freeze a geyser, one Pokémon each, fastest wins."

Ash pulled out two Pokéballs, and sent out both Squirtle and Lapras.

"Which of you two is better at Ice attacks?" he asked.

"I prefer the burning flames of passion to the ice-cold coolness of someone who doesn't lose their cool!" Squirtle replied. "Hmm, too cold…"

"I'll do it," Lapras volunteered, skating forwards on the snow.

"I'm ready!" Ash reported.

Danny nodded. "All right, then. Three, two, one, go!"

Lapras built up a Blizzard, then fired it out with a wide focus to cool the entire geyser all at once.

"Why aren't you freezing it from the top down or bottom up?" Ash asked

"If I froze it top down it'd go flying away, and bottom up it'd block off the vent," Lapras answered, most of his concentration on using Blizzard.

Ash glanced sideways at Danny's Nidoqueen, who was using their own Ice attack to freeze their geyser from the bottom up. "Are you sure?"

"I was," Lapras grumbled. "I wonder how she did that?"

"Oh well," Ash shrugged.

"And… there!" Lapras announced, freezing the whole geyser at once.

Danny's one had been finished at the same moment, and the Gym Leader scratched his head.

"That's a new one on me," he admitted. "I didn't actually think that could happen… draw?"

"What does that mean?" Ash checked.

"I win ties, overall, so it just means you can't afford to lose, but if you win one of the other challenges you're good so long as you don't lose one."

Ash shrugged. "I guess that's fine… so, what's the second challenge?"

"Turn the geyser into a sledge," Danny replied. "With three Pokémon helping you out, this time."

"Right," Ash frowned. "Hmm… I'd rather have Riolu, so… where are Misty and Tracey?"

"Over here!" Misty called.

She hurried over from the cable car stop, with Pikachu, and looked accusingly at the two trainers. "You started without us!"

An exhausted Wingull flopped onto Danny's shoulder, mumbling something about weird humans.

"I beat the cable car up here and we just got started because the Gym Leader said so!" Ash defended himself. "I think I'm allowed!"

"That's just like you, Ash!" Misty shot back.

Riolu padded over across the snow, holding most of the air next to his body with airslip to avoid feeling cold. "They'll be at this for a while."

Agreed, Dexter said. Set up.

He formed, and fired laser scans at the ice pillar. Hmm… analysis indicates we may be able to do this one without Ash's direction. Riolu, I will mark points for you to strike.

"Well, your trainer didn't get any Pokémon help on the way up…" Danny said. "Are you going to have a go without him?"

Affirmative.

"All right," Danny said, raising his hand. "Three, two, one, go!"

Dexter marked two points. Force Palm here.

Charging Aura into his paws, Riolu struck both points in quick succession. Large splinters of ice went flying, and Dexter's laser scan repeated.

Recalculating… here. Mach Punch.

The faster, more focused blow shivered more ice off, and the basic shape began to form.

Fire Punch. Force Palm. Aura Sphere. Mach Punch.

Dexter broke off for a moment, and used a Charge Beam to sculpt the sides and underneath of the sledge.

Right. Now… bring a Fire Punch along this line, and that should finish it.

Riolu complied, completing the melting out of the inside for seating. "And… done!"

Ash turned away from his argument with Misty, which for some reason was about the definition of a pie by now anyway. "You are? Great!"

"Yes," Riolu said, doing his best to give a recognizable thumbs-up. "Didn't even need three Pokémon."

"Well done," Danny said. "I can see you trained your Pokémon very well, or, at least, they're very independent and still willing to be your Pokémon. Which is almost the same thing."

He pointed. "Once my sled is finished, the third and final challenge is a race down the mountain. Steering must be done by the Pokémon."

"Right," Ash said. "Dexter? What's the best approach?"

The primary cause of momentum will be weight, and the main cause of drag will be air resistance. You want a good weight to drag ratio, and I suggest Charizard using his wings for steering.

"That makes sense, yeah," Ash said. "And jet propulsion would be cool… what about having Squirtle make a water path in front of the sled?"

Good idea, Dexter confirmed. That would reduce friction.

"And Pikachu to blast obstacles makes three," Ash decided. "Then let's get going!"

"Count us in, miss," Danny asked Misty.

His own sled was less crowded than Ash's one was, because Charizard was very large.

Which was part of what made him heavy, really. He was also facing backwards in case they needed an extra burst of speed, which means keeping his tail out of the way was being a pain.

Misty, for her part, was riding on Pidgeot. "All right… three, two, one, go!"

Tracey ran for the gondola and Riolu kicked off an ice-board he'd made during the set up phase, while both trainers and their sleds began to rumble down the mountainside.

Ash pointed ahead, with some difficulty. "Pikachu, blast that! Squirtle, you know what to do. Charizard – left!"

Charizard thought for a split second, and partly opened his right wing. That stuck out the left side of the sled, slowing them down slightly and tilting them away from the first icy spire, and Ash whooped.

"All right – now, Flamethrower!"

Furling the wing again, Charizard blasted a powerful fire attack out the back of the sled.

"Wow," Danny said. "They're going a bit over the top. It's not like the sleds are very different…"

"Right, now, left!" Ash called.

"It's hard to make steering work precisely, Ash!" Charizard roared. "I'm trying not to fall out, I can't see where we're going, and if I flare my wings to escape I'll probably part company with the sled!"

"Then we'll make steering not matter!" Squirtle declared.

He launched a larger than normal glob of water ahead of them, making a kind of icy hillock, then added a ramp leading up to it. "Jump ahead!"

"What do you mean jump – whoaaaa!"

Charizard had the rare experience of an unplanned backwards takeoff.

Thanks to the way the ramp was more accidental than it was designed, the sled went spinning wildly through the air.

Riolu completed a left roll on his snowboard, touching down with a skid and a spray of ice particles, then looked over at the sled.

"There's no way I'll be able to beat that," he decided, counting under his breath. "That's a triple twisted lime already."

"Charizard! Stabilize us!" Ash yelled, bracing himself against Charizard with his back and the sled with his feet, holding both smaller Pokémon in his arms.

"I'm trying!" Charizard shot back, flapping his wings frantically as he tried to cancel the pitch first. "I'm spinning backwards through the air attached to a heavy weight! That's number one in the Charizard flight training manual!"

"What, really?" Ash asked.

"Yes! It's got a caption, and the caption is DON'T!"

Squirtle used Water Gun, aiming his attack to help Charizard gain control of the pitch. Once that was done and they were only rolling through the air, he pointed dramatically forwards. "Let's give up trying to maintain control, and just increase our spin if it helps! Maximum speed! We'll crash through the finish line as fast as possible!"

Ash gulped. "I don't like the sound of thiiis!"

Pikachu used Magnet Rise, which might in some way help.

"Pidgeot?" Misty asked, curiously. "Is that normal?"

"I didn't know it was possible, Misty."

The two of them watched, fascinated, as a water-tipped rocket with fire shooting out the back swerved crazily near to the side of the mountain, bounced without actually hitting the ground, and shot along the surface at a distance of less than a foot.

About a hundred metres past the finish line, already well out over the bay, the ice sled finally melted completely. Ash and his three Pokémon all parted company, and went flying in wildly separate directions.

Ash managed to return Charizard before the Fire-type hit the water, at least.

"That went well," Ash said, at the beach. "Where next?"

"You call that going well?" Misty asked.

Ash shrugged. "I got the badge, didn't I?"

Tracey sighed. "Doesn't surprise me that that's his main measure of success."

"Right. Let's see…" Ash frowned. "Snorlax next, right? I think I can just go and get him straight off with Pidgeot."

Correct. After that is another thing we can probably skip – ghosts again. Then Tracey gets his Scyther.

"Good. I've missed him," the artist said.

"Right!" Ash said. "To the Grapefruit Islands!"

As Lapras set off, Ash sighed. "Who names entire archipelagos after fruit?"

"We are in the Orange Islands," Pikachu pointed out.

"It's not actually all that bad, as names go… I mean, there are the South Sandwich Islands…"

Pidgeot stooped low over one of the Grapefruit Islands. As she flared her wings, stopping just above ground level, Ash jumped to the ground.

"Hey!" he said. "Snorlax! I want to talk!"

Snorlax grumbled something, not remotely waking up.

"Suit yourself," Ash decided. "Ivysaur, ready?"

Ivysaur came out of his Pokéball.

"Ready," the Grass-type confirmed. "All right, Snorlax, take this!"

He used Worry Seed, and Snorlax woke up.

The Normal-type attacked in a grumpy rage.

"Listen carefully!" Ash said, as Ivysaur backed away and used Vine Whip to keep Snorlax from knocking him into the distance. "Snorlax, there's something I want to – there's an offer to – there's food involved!"

Snorlax stopped immediately.

"You have my interest," he said.

"Time travel is involved," Ash told him. "Last time around, I caught you, and you were part of my team, and stayed at Professor Oak's labs most of the time."

"You really liked the food, if it helps," Ivysaur said. "Especially after Professor Oak got the recipe for a special ultra-filling Pokéblock from one of Ash's friends, who he hasn't met yet."

"He still has the recipe, though, because I was able to make it as if he came back in time," Ash said. "I can do the same for you!"

"Sure, why not," Snorlax said.

Ash shook his paw, with a flash of blue light, and held out a Pokéball with his other hand.

Snorlax promptly fell asleep again, landing on the Pokéball and vanishing into it in one motion.

"I don't really get why people don't just catch a Snorlax when it's sleeping somewhere inconvenient anyway," Pikachu admitted.

"Beats me," Ivysaur said. "He's a good guy, if… you know, so lazy that he's a great dictionary example."

Tracy's Scyther went nowhere near as smoothly. While he was quickly persuaded by Tracey's Venonat and Marill that they knew him, and consented to be restored, he then took off to settle accounts with the swarm and promptly fell over.

"Ow," he said. "I forgot I was this badly injured."

"Do you really need to sort things out with them again?" Marill asked.

"I need to give the new leader a dose of humility, frankly," Scyther said, supporting himself with his scythes. "Ow…"

"You know, this would go a lot easier if we carried around Full Restores," Ash said. "Are those things people can buy?"

"I've never really tried," Misty admitted. "You can probably get them somewhere… but we should wait until Scyther's recovered first, right?"

"I'd rather settle that score first," Scyther said. "If I don't teach the new leader a lesson he'll learn it from someone else."

"Hmm…" Ash frowned. "Do any of them know Air Slash? My Pidgeot does."

"None of them do," Scyther replied, sinking back to a cross-legged position. "Would he teach me?"

"She," Ash corrected. "My Pidgeot is female, I know you never met her but she doesn't like it when people assume."

"She, then," Scyther said. "My apologies."

There was a long pause, then Ash, Pikachu and Riolu exhaled.

"Is she… especially touchy over this?" Scyther asked.

"Well, it only came up once," Ash said. "But when it did, she Sky Attacked a crater lined with fused glass into the ground."

"There were probably extenuating circumstances, but still," Riolu added.

"I… see," Scyther decided, wincing. "Then I shall do my best to remember that."

"He's almost better," Tracey reported, the next day.

They'd moved to the nearby Pokémon Centre while Scyther recovered, and it was going faster than last time, but it was still keeping them in one place for a while.

"He's just… old, is the main problem. Age is creeping up on him, and at this point it's almost stopped hiding."

"Right," Ash said, with determination. "Dexter, call Brock!"

Not even a please? Dexter asked. All right.

The projector flashed to life, creating a screen. A moment later, the screen lit up, showing a startled Brock.

"Ash?" he asked. "Did Dexter just turn on the lab videophone remotely?"

Ash squinted. "Brock, are you holding a crowbar?"

"No?" Brock said, unconvincingly. "Look, what is it? I'm busy not holding a crowbar."

"Do you have a Metal Coat somewhere?" Ash asked. "Like the one your Onix used to evolve to Steelix?"

"The lab has one, actually," Brock told him. "Uh… hold on… you can borrow it, if you're quick."

There was a crashing sound as Brock went out of shot, then he came back with the metallic item.

"Five minutes," Ash promised, taking Kingler's Pokéball. "Dexter, can you send Kingler to fetch it? Kingler, if you don't want to, let me know."

That's better, Dexter decided, waited a moment, then transported Kingler to Brock.

"Ash, this doesn't mean what I think it means, does it?" Misty checked.

Kingler re-materialized back with them, came out of his Pokéball, and Ash grabbed the Metal Coat. "Right!"

"Wait, are you-" Tracey began, but Ash was already moving.

Ash skidded to a halt in the convalescence room. "Hey, Scyther! Want to become a Steel-type?"

"What?" Scyther asked. "How?"

"Scyther evolves into Scizor with the help of a Metal Coat," Ash explained. "It should help you deal with your age."

"Well, if you say so," Scyther said, struggling to sit upright, and Ash passed the item to him.

There was a flash of silver light, and when it cleared the Bug-type was now a Scizor.

"Congratulations!" Ash said, then jumped out the window.

Scizor watched him go.

"Er… thank you?"

"I'm back!" Ash said.

Four minutes, twelve seconds.

"You actually kept track?" Ash asked.

Somehow, the screen glared at him.

"Right, computer, silly question… okay, Kingler, off you go again!"

Kingler saluted, then went back into his Pokéball with the Metal Coat.

"Did you just evolve my Scyther to Scizor in five minutes flat?" Tracey asked, a little amazed.

"Yeah?" Ash shrugged. "It happens! There was this time last time that a Pokémon evolved while I was riding her."

"Only a few weeks more…" Lawrence III mused. "The ship is ready, the weapons primed. We have only to wait until the prophesied date and the beast of the sea shall be mine."

"Brother, I don't understand why you believe in all those prophecies," his sister said, walking into the command room and folding her arms. "They're nonsense. The scribblings of primitives desperately trying to understand Pokémon. We do understand, and we have the power to control them."

"Those ancient writings were what led me to the site of Pokéatlantis, sister," Lawrence pointed out. "From an ancient depiction of Mew, all this resulted – and your own ship's reliance on new technology proved to be its downfall, did it not?"

"I didn't expect the Porygon," Hunter J conceded. "But you aren't well prepared either. You had no supporting vessels built, and you have no additional crew. You could easily be attacked the same way as mine was, by a boarding party."

"But that is a problem no longer," Lawrence said, serenely. "You have been delivered unto me. And while your new ship is to be completed soon, you shall be onboard to witness as I come into my destiny as the chosen one and tame the beast of the sea. Lugia!"

"What."

Sir Aaron stared at the ridiculous creation in front of him.

"This is the great and powerful head of Xavi!" Sorin Otome said, standing atop an eight foot high wooden head with cannons for eyes. "I built it from a very powerful cannon, so fear it!"

"Arceus?" Aaron addressed the air. "This guy is nuts. More nuts than usual, I mean."

Sorry. I was trying to make a comment about the mission in Lilycove, and I think I missed.

"Badly," Aaron muttered. "This is just ridiculous... I don't know the history of whatever this was, but this cannot be an accurate portrayal."

Sorin gestured, and two more identical heads creaked into the square. "Let's go Xavi!"

To the south, Dialga examined a person-shaped crater in the ground. I think he's been defeated.

Ieyasu bowed to the crater, and to the samurai within. "Your bond with your lord is strong. But the bonds which will be forged this day are stronger still!"

"My wife said there'd be days like this..." Muneshige Tachibana muttered.

Something exploded as Palkia fired Spatial Rend into one of the Xavi-tanks.

AN:

There's a lot in this chapter.

Yes, J's brother is Lawrence III, the "collector" from the second movie. He has a woeful lack of backstory in the film, so I'm making him an archaeologist with access to a number of sites which have the same ludicrously high technology as Pokemonopolis and Pokeatlantis et cetera have.

In rewrite, I think the most substantial change is that I properly showed the consent for reminding for a lot of characters… well, that and I remembered to have Tracey not understand Pokémon right away.