"One of the strange things about our journey at the moment is – I've been around Sinnoh several times before, and especially this part," Cynthia said. "But in a lot of ways… it's like I'm here all anew."

"Is-" Ash began, then caught himself and stopped to try and think about it.

It was something about this journey, and they were heading to Cynthia's hometown, Celestic Town. But she was seeing everything like it was new…

"I get it, I think," he decided. "It's like… because you've learned things that are different to how you'd ever thought about it before, so now you're thinking of that as you head home, and that makes it all different?"

"That's it exactly," Cynthia confirmed. "It's strange how that happens, but for example… I know from Dawn that Celestic Town was all but abandoned, back then. I'm not sure how you count a single woman, does that make somewhere still a town or not? But it's where I grew up… and I also have a context for the myths and legends in ways that simply weren't true the last time I was here. I've spoken to the entirety of the Creation Trio, the dragons of Time, Space and Symmetry… hmm, Time, Space and Reality? Relativity?"

She shook her head. "Well, I'm sure there's a good word for it."

Her Eevee stifled a giggle.

"And I've met two of the three Lake Spirits," Cynthia went on. "And that's before getting into the Noble Pokémon, and everything that Dawn has passed on… so, yes, though this is where I grew up and it's the most familiar part of the world to me, the context is new."

She looked at Ash. "By the sounds of things, you've had the same?"

"When I went home, after I transformed," Ash said. "And then again, once I knew who I was… that was after the Ever Grande Conference."

"I wonder what it would be like if I went back to Altomare, now," Latias frowned. "I know it would be different, I'm just not sure if I can know now how different it would be."

"I can think of some things as a guess," Ash offered. "There's, uh… there's how it would be to actually meet your brother again, I know you talk to him but I don't know if that's the same… because you've done so well and learned how to battle, and he used to be the one of you who could battle, right?"

"That's right," Latias confirmed. "That would be different… and I guess I can now really see how much I couldn't take care of myself, before. Or, I could only take care of myself by hiding and running away."

She waggled her wings a bit. "It's still probably a good idea to hide, but if I need to I can fight."

"That's a bit like it was with me and Ash, maybe?" Pikachu contributed. "I never thought I'd accept a trainer, but then once Ash and I were friends I'm never planning on going anywhere except where he goes."

"Thanks, Pikachu," Ash smiled. "Though… I guess there's Samurott, too? And maybe Dawn would have it if…"

He stopped. "Sorry, Dawn, I don't know if that's rude."

"I don't know if it's going to happen!" Dawn admitted. "It is going to be weird going back to Jubilife… I actually went to where Twinleaf was going to be, about a month after I got back there. Just to… see what it was like."

She chuckled. "Then I went there again because I needed to visit Mesprit. I actually pitched camp right on top of where my house was going to be built, I had to convince myself not to leave a memento-"

There was a flash of a Pokémon attack up ahead, a Psybeam, and all three trainers looked up. So did Riolu.

"Is that one of the kinds of battle we need to get involved in?" he asked. "After what happened with Giratina I got a real reminder that that kind of thing still happens!"

"Calm down, we'll find out if it's anything important," Piplup advised, with a shrug.

Dawn shaded her eyes, then pointed. "I think it's over there."

As they got closer, the sound of the battle intensified, but it sounded like there were just two Pokémon involved. Then the match itself came into sight, around a building, and Dawn pointed. "Oh, it's Zoey! I haven't seen her in a – while…"

She stifled a laugh. "But it's since I went to Hisui. So it's not actually an example of what we were just talking about."

Zoey's Glameow was losing against a Mismagius, and even as they watched Zoey called back her Pokémon and switched to her Buizel. The Water-type immediately went in on a full-bore attack, but Cynthia's attention switched to Zoey's opponent – a woman in a purple dress.

Cynthia frowned, then began striding forwards, Eevee trotting at her heels.

"Mismagius, Magical Leaf!" the other trainer ordered, with a flourish, then turned towards the travellers. "Excuse me," she began, a little indignantly. "We are in the middle-"

At that point, the woman actually caught sight of them.

Specifically, her gaze flicked to Cynthia, then to the Eevee next to her, and she went pale. "– oh, poop. Ah, excuse me, I was out on a working holiday so-"

"Oh, now I recognize her," Dawn realized. "That's Fantina! She's got a habit of speaking in dialect Kalosian sometimes."

"...I guess I should have expected that I could translate human languages," Ash decided. "But somehow it is a surprise?"

"Allow me to begin with some caveats," Cynthia said. "So that it's clear that I understand some of the situation. Firstly, I know that you're not just a Gym Leader, and that you also have a Contest career."

She ticked off a point on her fingers. "Secondly, I also know that you're quite new to your job, so you might not yet have settled down into a rhythm. But I have to say that I think you know something here went wrong… your reaction sort of gives that away, I think."

"Ah…" Fantina began. "Well, it is true, I was a little nervous about it. But, if you please, understand that it was more of… I thought it could be an issue, until suddenly you appeared and your attitude made me realize that it was one with certainty. At that time, ah… well, the decisions are already made, is that not so?"

Zoey watched the ongoing discussion, then looked down at her Buizel.

"I don't think we're getting the rest of this Battle Round," she said.

Buizel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, probably not," he agreed.

"What's going on, anyway?" she went on, looking up at Ash and Dawn. "Do you guys know?"

"Fantina's been away from her gym for months," Dawn explained. "And Ash wants to have a proper Gym Battle against her."

"Oh, huh," Zoey frowned. "That is a problem, but… there's more than eight gyms in Sinnoh, right?"

"Yeah, but there's only one Ghost gym," Ash replied. "There's some Types I haven't got yet, and they're all covered by gyms in Sinnoh now except for Ground type."

"...I guess I've heard of weirder kinds of collection," Zoey decided. "I'm not really an expert at it, though, how long can people stay away from their gyms?"

"Ash?" Dawn asked. "You've got more experience with that, right? I know you had Gym Leaders travelling with you in the past."

Ash nodded, thinking about it.

"It's not really about how long, as a rule, it's more to do with making sure that nobody who wants a battle has to not have one?" he tried. "So, uh, Brock and Misty were both away from their gyms for ages, especially Brock, but they both had other people to take care of the gym while they weren't there. And, if you don't have that, it's best to not stay away from your gym for long?"

He waved a hoof, vaguely. "It's one of those things where I don't think there's really rules, but there's things that are a good idea and things that aren't. And what Fantina was doing is… one of those things that aren't, maybe."

Then Ash glanced up at Latias. "Or do I mean it's a thing that isn't?"

Latias shrugged.

"...you could have asked for someone to take over your gym?" Cynthia suggested, back in that side of the conversation. "For a short break, at least. I know that at the moment I'm on a journey of my own, for example, but otherwise I'd have been able to take over for a few days. I have a Ghost-type."

"You have a Spiritomb," Fantina replied. "Your only option – your only option – would be your Spiritomb."

She frowned, thinking about that.

"I suppose you would probably be quite a good judge of how close they got to doing something significant to them," she admitted. "But, well, as you have said, you are busy – so what am I to do?"

"Something else," Cynthia pointed out. "If you have a problem like this, then you look for a solution."

"I think Agatha isn't part of the Kanto and Johto Elite Four, any more," Ash volunteered. "I heard something like that, anyway. So maybe she's available."

Fantina's expression turned slightly startled. "But she is… ah… not fashionable?"

Dawn stifled a giggle.

"Yes, I do… not have a good reason," Fantina sighed. "I should make my arrangements and return to my gym. Though I should ask… do you want to challenge me now, if you have been waiting?"

"Uh," Ash began. "Actually it's a really inconvenient time, because of which Pokémon are back home right now – since Koraidon and the others are seeing their grandmother…"

Koraidon, Miraidon and Mew all exchanged glances.

Thank you, Mew said, for all of them. I think he's really going to like it.

Delia smiled. "I'm glad to hear it."

"I agree with Mew!" Koraidon declared. "Now, we have a question to answer."

She tilted her head slightly. "How do we send this to Giratina?"

Zorua inspected the scarf, sniffing it, then raised his paw.

"Post?" he suggested.

"I do not think that the address 'The Reverse World' would be sufficient," Miraidon said. "The Reverse World is quite big."

Zorua lowered his paw again.

AN:

Piano music intensifies