"Hmm," Nurse Joy said some minutes later, looking between the snoozing Zorua and her scanner. "This is really interesting. I didn't know there was a Pokémon like this… they certainly didn't cover it at the nurse's academy."
"Is there something wrong with them?" Ash asked, worried, and glanced down at his phone.
Professor Oak hadn't responded just yet, but he hoped the Professor would be available soon.
"I hope there isn't," Koraidon said, trying to look hopeful. "They came a long way to get here."
Ash nodded.
"Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with him," Joy decided, putting Zorua down on the counter. "He's just exhausted… you said he was newly hatched?"
"Yeah, we brought him straight here," Ash agreed. "Has that happened before?"
"Not usually, but there's something…" Joy said, then shook her head. "I'd need to check my textbooks. Chansey, can you take over the front desk?"
"Sure!" Chansey agreed. "Do you want me to heal them first?"
"It would help," Joy said.
Ash blinked, surprised. "You understood her?"
Joy chuckled. "A bit. The important words, at least."
"That's neat," Miraidon said, then they and Koraidon watched as Chansey used Soft-Boiled and pressed some glowing yellow energy into Zorua.
The newborn Pokémon twitched a little, then made a sort of murf noise and curled up on his cushion.
A moment later, Ash's phone went bing, and he checked it. "Oh! Good, Professor Oak's available. I can use one of the video phones, right?"
"Of course," Joy said. "I might not look at my textbooks just yet, then… it'd probably be helpful to have you to translate, if I do need to go into the back."
Connecting the video phone to Oak Labs went quickly, and soon Professor Oak was looking through the screen at Ash, his Pokémon, and the new arrival.
"This is… well, fascinating, but things like that happen around you a lot, Ash," he said, smiling for a moment. "You're sure that that's their default form?"
"He just hatched," Ash confirmed. "And the egg looked a lot like that as well… it had the little wisp that he has on his fur. Nurse Joy scanned him, and said that he was exhausted but that was the main thing, but… I'm worried, because Phanpy and Togepi and Eevee have all been full of energy when they hatched."
"That is a concern, yes," Professor Oak said, his gaze drifting to one side a little as he typed. "Let's see, now… actually, have you tried your Pokédex yet?"
"Oh, no, I actually forgot to," Ash admitted, lifting it out of his saddlebag. "Pikachu, can you-"
"Can do, Ash," Pikachu agreed. "I wonder if Professor Oak's going to give me a reward for scanning so many Pokémon…"
The Pokédex went beep.
"Zorua," it said. "The Spiteful Fox Pokémon. It is believed these Pokémon are once-departed souls returned to life. This Pokémon knows Scratch. Please note: This Pokémon has only been recorded before in Hisui and is listed as being status unknown. Contact a specialist."
Professor Oak looked startled. "My word. I've never had an alert like that come up before."
"What does it mean, Professor?" Ash asked.
"Oh, well, your Pokédex records information about the Pokémon it encounters as well as providing it, but – hold on," Oak requested, typing rapidly. "Excuse me, Ash, I want to be sure about what I'm about to say."
"A once-departed soul," Koraidon said, thinking.
"That means a Ghost type, right?" Latias asked. "That's like what they say about, what's it called… Yamask, I think?"
"Here we are," Oak said, drawing their attention again. "So there are some Pokémon varieties which are only known from certain areas, for one reason or another, but Hisui is a special case because it's the old word for Sinnoh. And, we're not sure why, some Pokémon originally recorded in Hisui just… vanished, and they haven't been recorded in decades."
He waved his hand. "Please understand, this isn't like Legendary Pokémon. These were common, or at least well known, but the current theory is that either they're wary of humans and avoid them or they've adapted over time into something else. It is only a theory, though."
Ash frowned, turning to Koraidon. "Do you remember what we got told about the egg?" he asked. "You asked for the oldest one, and it was one that the daycare got back when they started – they didn't know how old it was."
"So he could actually have been an egg from then," Koraidon said.
"You think the egg came from Hisui?" Professor Oak asked. "It's certainly possible, which would make it… well, very old. Several decades at least, possibly centuries, which might be a record and would explain why he's so tired… aha!"
He tapped at a button. "There we go. Zorua, Ghost and Normal type, and… they have Illusion as an ability, the same as the Dark-type Zorua we're used to."
"At least we don't have to work that out ourselves," Pikachu said.
Zorua yawned.
"Now I'm hungry," he said, blinking several times.
"There's some berries in my bag, I think?" Ash asked. "Or would juice work better, or something?"
An Oran Berry worked as something to start with, and Zorua ate with focused intensity.
"Hmm," he said, once the berry was finished, and Ash got out a Sitrus Berry.
"Do you want some more?" Ash checked. "This second one's going to taste different."
"I think… I like food," Zorua said. "It is nice."
Ash put the Sitrus Berry in front of him, and Koraidon tilted her head.
"Zorua?" she asked.
"Me?" Zorua said, looking to his side, and stood up. "What is it?"
Then he fell over again, rolling over sideways until he was on his front and looking very confused at the whole turn of events.
"Oh, I had trouble with that at first," Koraidon told him. "It's like balancing. If you're over to one side of your legs, you can fall over."
Zorua looked very thoughtful about that, then stood up again. This time he wobbled, but didn't fall over, and carefully stepped over to the Sitrus Berry.
Then began nibbling.
"Tastes nice," he said.
"I wanted to ask," Koraidon resumed. "Are you one of the Pokémon who is okay being on a team? Or not?"
"That's a good question, but I guess we should make sure Zorua has the time to think about it," Ash said. "He's had a big day so far and he's clearly tired."
Then the door to the Pokémon Centre opened, and Ash looked around to see May, Brock and Max coming in.
"Hi!" he called, trotting back a few steps and turning so he was facing them. "Sorry about leaving so suddenly."
"No, it made sense," Brock replied.
Ash frowned. "Yeah, but… I'm still sorry about it. I know I made the right choice, but I still feel sorry about it because I know that it meant I missed the end of May's Contest."
May waved her hand. "It's fine… I lost, Harley's Wigglytuff was just too good at that leaf trick and I haven't managed to think of a counter yet. But this is more important."
She caught sight of Zorua, and stopped. "That's… not what I was expecting, but now I don't know what I was expecting."
Zorua yawned, then finished eating about half the Sitrus Berry and turned to look.
His legs wobbled slightly, and Ash made an ah of realization. "Koraidon, can you show Zorua how to sit down?"
Koraidon promptly demonstrated, and Zorua sat back on his haunches.
"Zorua, huh?" Brock asked. "That's an interesting Pokémon."
"He's Normal and Ghost, not Dark," Ash provided. "I asked Professor Oak. And… his egg might have been around for centuries before hatching?"
"In that case, we'll have to make sure to build up his strength!" Brock decided. "I've got some ideas about that… it depends what he likes to eat, but there's always going to be options."
The friends spent the night in the Pokémon Centre, just in case, but after some good meals and a night's rest Zorua seemed to be more lively.
Relatively speaking.
"Hi!" May's Eevee said, examining him closely. "You know, Ash got your egg at the same time as May got mine. What does that make us?"
Zorua wrinkled his muzzle, then sneezed and flopped over on his back.
"Are you all right?" Eevee asked, prodding Zorua. "You're upside down."
He looked up at the humans and other Pokémon. "Should I put him the right way up?"
"I guess it's probably a good idea," Ash said, and Eevee carefully rolled Zorua over again.
Then Ash concentrated, and lifted Zorua up.
"If you want, you could rest in a Pokéball," he said. "Or… what about if you have a rest and get carried for a bit?"
"Carry," Zorua requested.
Koraidon looked eager, and Ash transferred the Ghost-type to her head.
She went cross-eyed for a moment, trying to look up and see him, then bobbed her head a little. "Does that feel okay?"
Zorua turned around a couple of times, then lay down with his paws as a pillow and snuggled into the blue base of Koraidon's crest.
"Comfy," he said. "I like it here."
"Let's see…" May mumbled, holding two pins in her mouth, then took one out and carefully pinned two pieces of fabric together.
The other pin went in a little further along the seam, and she pushed the needle through before pulling the thread all the way.
"Pika-chu?" Cosplaychu asked.
"Okay so far," May replied. "If you're asking how it's going, anyway. I think…"
She counted under her breath.
"Yeah, this is the last bit that needs to be sewed," she said. "Then I think it's just the staff? How's that coming on?"
Cosplaychu held it up.
It had started life as a branch, but since then it had been whittled smooth thanks to Cosplaychu's Iron Tail – one of the moves that she'd learned the normal way, rather than through her peculiar ability.
Then it had mostly been a combination of paint, paste gems, and a little dusting of glitter.
"Oh, you finished the glitter, that's great!" May said. "Give it a turn?"
The Electric-type did just that, and May nodded. "I think that's going to work really well."
She returned her attention to her sewing, making another careful stitch, then another. Slowly finalizing the outfit.
"I wonder what this one's going to give you…" she said. "Hopefully we'll be able to get it working properly once we reach Chrysanthemum Island."
"Pika-ka," Cosplaychu agreed.
May could smell the dinner Brock was putting together, and she could hardly wait – but rushing her work now wouldn't make the actual food come any faster, and she'd just have to unpick it if she screwed up.
"Vee?" Eevee asked, paws going up on her legs to watch. "Veee…"
"It's for Pikachu," May explained. "You know how I talked about her costumes?"
She pulled out one of the pins, moved it along the line of the seam, and smoothed the fabric into place before sticking the pin back in to hold it together.
"Ee-vee," the Normal-type said, then looked up as Skitty came over.
"Ski—tty, ty skitt," Skitty said. "Ski-ty."
"Vee!" Eevee agreed eagerly, and dropped back down to follow Skitty.
"I wonder what that was about," May murmured.
"Is Zorua available?" Skitty asked, looking up at first Ash and then Koraidon. "I'd hate to disturb you if he's not, of course, but if he is then I'd like to do a bit of a demonstration."
"A demonstration?" Koraidon said. "What kind of demonstration?"
"I can assure you, it's nothing that would trouble such an adorable little fox as him," Skitty said firmly. "Or, well, I suppose I can't speak for his reaction, but it wouldn't hurt him in the least. You see, it's about how he's immune to Normal attacks."
Ash had to think about that one, and as he did Grovyle relaxed from the stance he'd been in.
"I've nearly got it right," the Grass-type said.
"I… don't really think it's a good idea, Skitty," Ash decided. "At least not yet. I know Zorua wouldn't be hurt by a Normal-type attack, but it might still startle him."
"Aww," Eevee said. "But I wanted to play with him."
He flicked his ears. "It wasn't going to be Skitty doing attacks or anything! We were going to play tag except Zorua would win because he's a Ghost."
Koraidon considered that.
"What do you think, Zorua?" she asked, looking up. "Do you know what tag is?"
"No," Zorua replied, shaking his head.
"Then watch Eevee and I,"Skitty suggested, and dangled her tail in front of Eevee.
The Normal-type pounced, and Skitty dodged away before patting him neatly on the head.
"Tag," she said. "You're it."
"Wait, you mean I wasn't it?" Eevee said. "You were?"
He tried pouncing after Skitty again, and missed.
"Tag is a game," Ash explained. "The way it works is that one Pokémon is 'It', and they have to try and catch up to the other Pokémon. Touching one is called tagging them. If they manage it, then it's the turn of the Pokémon they tag to be It."
Zorua watched intently as the game played out, watching the two other Normal-types try and outrun one another, then giggled as Skitty tripped over Eevee's tail.
"Silly," he said.
"Dinner's ready!" Brock called.
AN:
To be fair, with a Zorua variety you can't tell if they've all vanished or are just hiding to do a Heckin Bamboozle.