"Do you think I should try to build up my team straight away?" Dawn asked. "After that discussion we had with Paul, I'm not sure what the better approach is."

"I'm not sure why you'd need someone who wasn't me," Piplup said.

"I think some Contests have two Pokémon each," Koraidon pointed out. "Besides, I know what you mean, but once you have teammates then there's choice – and people have to be ready for what your teammates can do, as well as you."

"Hmm, I didn't think of that," Piplup frowned.

"I think… really, it depends how your style works out," Cynthia said. "The focus on a smaller or more specialized group of Pokémon can work, which is why Type Specialist trainers can work so well. But I've always preferred variety… then again, my team's grown fairly slowly, but steadily."

"Koraidon pointed out about double Contests," Ash added. "Though… I think my team's a lot bigger than most trainers. But it's way more important to connect well with each Pokémon you have than to have a lot of Pokémon, I think."

He shrugged. "So, uh… I guess keep a look out for a Pokémon that might fit you, but don't worry if you don't find one straight away?"

"That helps, yeah," Dawn agreed. "Like how that Starly's hanging around?"

"I am not hanging around," Starly replied. "I am training as a new member of the team."

He flapped a wing at Zorua. "For example, I am currently acting as a target to see if Zorua can tag me with his Ghost move. He's very good at delaying until I lose my attention."

Zorua made a snoozing noise.

"I assume," Starly added. "Honestly, now I think about it he could just be asleep."

"He does that," Ash said. "But, watch out, or he'll catch you by surprise… still, if you want, we could work on something a bit more active?"

"Sure, active works," Starly agreed.

He took off, and circled Ash once. "What kind of thing are you thinking of?"

"So… Noctowl, Swellow and Pidgeot are the three other Pokémon I've worked with who are mostly focused on being Flying-types," Ash replied. "And they're all different… and I guess you're going to be different as well, but there's different ways you could work out."

Then Ash tossed his head. "Still, uh, I don't really think that getting good at banking around and steering is ever going to be a problem, so we could work with that to start with. And then, I guess part of it depends on how you want to battle in future."

"True…" Starly agreed. "I'll have to think about that a bit."

Then Zorua pounced through him.

Latias caught the Ghost-type before he hit the ground, and Starly did a double-take. "Wow. You're right, he did catch me by surprise."

"Reaction time, maybe," Ash said, as Zorua flicked his tail proudly. "That could be something to work on, right?"

"This is strange to watch," Lucario admitted. "Heartening, yes, but strange."

He looked at Cynthia. "Are you taking notes?"

"Why would I not be taking notes about this?"

"…the use of Pokémon understanding to design Pokemon-driven training schemes," Dawn read off. "Is that why you're taking notes?"

"It's just one of them," Cynthia replied. "There's so much about what's happening right now that could be useful. The behaviour and abilities of a Hisuian Zorua. Ash's interactions with other Pokémon. The style Ash has as a trainer, in general. Lots of things."

She tapped her pen against the paper. "I just can't decide which of these I'm going to be writing up first…"

"Here we go again," Lucario sniggered.

Cynthia made a tsk noise, but as she did there was a call from someone up ahead.

"Good day!" said a man in a broad hat and cloak, over what looked quite a lot like a doublet or waistcoat. "You're quite a group of travellers to meet on the road!"

He bowed. "My name is Nando, and I flatter myself to call myself a travelling minstrel."

"A minstrel… uh…" Ash said, thinking. "That's one of those people who plays music, right?"

"Indeed it is, and indeed I am," Nando confirmed. "I believe that my own personal skill as a Pokémon Trainer is enhanced by having musical skill, though that's hardly something that everyone needs to do or know."

He pointed. "Now, I believe you are Ash Ketchum, and you are Cynthia Shirona. Correct?"

"I wonder if people will recognize me like that, one day," Dawn said. "I'm not complaining, mind you, at this point the only way anyone could recognize me is by mistaking me for my mother and that would be a bit weird."

"Yeah, that's me," Ash agreed. "I guess you must have seen me during one of my battles on TV, right?"

He shrugged a little, and Starly came down to land on his ring for a rest. "I guess… it is something about me that's different to other people, but it's normal for people to recognize me just because I look a lot different to most trainers."

"Just a bit, yeah," Pikachu agreed.

"But I have a problem, you see," Nando went on, taking out a harp. "Because I want to share certain things with my Pokémon, and a love of performances-"

"Mew, that harp looks like you," Koraidon pointed out, then her tendrils flicked slightly in embarrassment. "Oh, sorry, I didn't want to interrupt."

"It does," Mew agreed, floating over to have a look, then curled themselves around so they were in the shape of the harp's body. "I like that. Why did you pick a Mew specifically, though?"

Nando was staring.

"My goodness," he said, then lifted the harp and played a few notes. "It's an honour to meet a real Mew."

Ash noticed Mew twitch slightly at that phrasing, but the Psychic-type bobbed up and down and seemed to not be too bothered.

"They'd like to know why you picked a Mew specifically," Ash supplied.

"Oh, well, there were several in the shop," Nando replied. "I had plenty of choice! But Mew specifically… in myths they're said to be full of limitless potential, so that's what I was focused on when I made my choice. You see… as I said, to share a love of performances with my Pokémon would be a fine thing, but at the same time I feel like proving myself in the test of battle. So I don't know if I should be doing Contests or Gyms."

He sent out a Budew. "Do you think-"

"And I instantly approve of your choice of Pokémon," Cynthia told him. "The Budew line is a versatile Pokémon that rewards a dedicated trainer in all sorts of ways."

Budew did a twirl.

"And it looks like this particular Budew's got a good sense of poise already," Cynthia added. "That's a trait which will really help them when they evolve, no matter what they end up doing."

"What she's saying is that a Roserade is one of my teammates," Lucario provided.

"I'll have you know that Roserade are statistically more likely to be victorious in battles than the average Pokémon," Cynthia countered. "Admittedly they don't exclude my Roserade from the calculations, but it's not as if she's an outlier and should never have been counted."

"So… you're having trouble choosing between Contests and Gym Battles, right?" Ash asked, once Cynthia had finished talking with Nando about taking care of the Budew line. "Why is it a choice where you can only pick one?"

"I-" Nando began, then frowned. "Hm."

He tapped the body of his harp. "I suppose because I'd want to make sure I was focusing on what worked for one of them, but… they're not that different, are they? Really, that is."

"Yeah, that's what I'm getting at," Ash agreed. "Or… they're similar, but not the same. And I prefer to do gym battles, but… May's Pokémon would be quite good at gym battles, because of the skills they learned for Contests. So you could do both."

He waved a hoof. "It might take longer, but… I don't think doing one would mean you couldn't do the other."

"So it's like learning to swim and learning to run, right?" Koraidon asked. "Both of them make you fitter, and you can be good at both. That's why there's the, um, triathlon?"

"Yeah, that's a good example," Ash agreed. "A triathlon athlete… is that a triathlete? That's a word, right?"

Cynthia nodded confirmation, and Ash kept going. "So, yeah, a triathlete is good at swimming and running and cycling, and it's harder than doing just one of them but you can do all of them."

"Then that's what I shall do," Nando decided. "At least, so long as my Pokémon don't object?"

"I could give that a go," Budew said.

Nando sent out a Kricketot as well, and the Bug-type put a foreleg to their chin before nodding.

"Then there we go," Nando declared. "Though, that said, I would like to have a battle or two?"

Dawn and Piplup volunteered for the first battle, against Nando's Budew, and the Grass-type opened with Sunny Day before using Solar Beam as their main attack.

Ash watched from the sidelines, doing his best to see how both Nando and Dawn were doing, and it looked like Nando and Budew were more experienced with one another.

Dawn certainly knew Piplup's moves, and was able to direct him to do things like send a barrage of Bubblebeam into Budew's Solar Beam attack to deflect the force – but there was something different, a way that it was clear that they just weren't experienced yet.

"Hmm," Mew said, glancing at Ash. "What do you think, dad?"

"I think… it's really important to remember that how you do when you're learning doesn't mean a lot?" Ash replied. "Or, that's not a very good way of putting it… it's that, um, you shouldn't be worried by something going wrong early on, because you're new to it. And that means you're still learning."

"That's a good thought," Cynthia told him. "It's not the whole story, but no one thing is the whole story. There's always more to… everything."

"Really?" Koraidon asked. "Always?"

"I'm guessing she's asking if I really mean it?" Cynthia checked, and got a nod. "Well, I do. No matter how simple something seems, there's always more to find if you look more deeply. More detail, more nuance, more skill. A move like Swift sounds like it should be as simple as it gets, but as I'm sure you know that's not so."

"That's clever!" Koraidon said. "Dad, she's really smart. I'm impressed!"

"Okay, I give," Dawn announced. "Sorry, Piplup, I guess we've got something to work on, huh?"

Piplup huffed, then eventually gave a considering nod.

"How do you think that went, Budew?" Nando asked, and Budew did a twirl.

Then evolved into Roselia.

"...so, quite well, then," Nando decided, and played a little glissando on his harp. "Thank you, my friend, that's quite an honour."

"My pleasure," Roselia said, bowing to him in return with their red flower held out behind them.

Zorua raised his paw.

"Yay," he said.

Cynthia introduced her newest Pokémon, then, a little Dragon-type called a Jangmo-o, and said that he was one of the Pokémon she was training up to join her main team.

"If you have a main team, how do you decide which Pokémon get onto it?" Dawn asked, curious. "Is that something you have to deal with as well, Ash?"

Ash frowned.

"Not… yet," he replied. "Or, every Pokémon I've trained has – I think – ended up being strong enough to be up there, though if I had to pick my absolute strongest Pokémon it would involve some of them in particular and not others. I guess I don't really think about it that way, though."

"Which is one of your strengths, really," Cynthia told him.

"Though the Tauros do tend to rely on having their leader do it for them," Pikachu mused. "Hey, maybe one of these days we should try doing a whole region with just the Tauroses?"

Ash sniggered. "Maybe, yeah," he considered. "Though they might have trouble with Ghosts…"

"That depends on the Tauros, I think," Koraidon frowned. "You'd need to ask."

"I know it's a hard job to join the top team, and I might not make it," Jangmo-o said, shaking himself out. "But I'll do my best!"

Nando send out his Kricketot. "Let us begin! Sing, Kricketot!"

They all found out an important lesson about the Soundproof ability, that day, though Nando and his Pokémon didn't seem to mind.

AN:

No, Cynthia's Roserade is not called Georg.