(note: FF email problems means you may have missed the previous Book, the Book of Dreams)

"This is going to be exciting," Riolu said, as they waited with Ash outside the Canalave Gym. "Watching a Steel-type gym leader battling is going to give me great insight into how a Lucario fights!"

Piplup gave him an odd look.

"Wouldn't watching Lucario give you better insight into how a Lucario fights?" he asked.

"Well, maybe," Riolu said, then shrugged. "But it's about identifying the parts of it, right? About being able to identify what's part of the philosophy of the Steel-type, and being able to see how that affects the way a Lucario battles!"

He bounced on his paws. "I'm really interested in watching it! Actually, come to think of it… Ash?"

"Huh?" Ash replied. "What is it, Riolu?"

"I wanted to ask – I know you've battled some other gyms before, does that include a Steel type gym?"

The Fighting-type tilted his head slightly. "I'm mostly curious because I've only seen a few gyms, so I'm never sure what to expect."

"Right," Ash said, thinking. "So, uh… Pikachu, I know you've been with me long enough to have your own opinion on all the gyms, so I might ask for your help, but I think…"

He was silent for a long moment, trying to work out how to phrase it.

"I think it's a mistake to think of there being a way that a Water-type Gym has to be," he decided. "Or Electric, or Flying, or – any type, really. Because you can't simplify a type of Pokémon enough for that."

"Yeah, that's where I was going with it," Pikachu agreed. "There's a bit of a theme, a way that each Type works, but it's not something where each Type has only one way you can do it for a gym."

"I guess that does make sense," Riolu said, thinking hard, and put his paw on his chin. "It's one of those things where everything turns out to be more complicated…"

"Yeah, exactly," Ash agreed.

"I may not be able to hear the whole conversation, but I think I get the gist," Cynthia contributed. "And yes, a Type gives you some idea about what a trainer will specialize in, but it's only hints. It's not enough information to really base a strategy on, not for you and not for your opponent."

She looked down at Riolu, considering. "Is this about getting an idea about what it'll be like to have the Steel type?"

"Wow, I'm impressed," Riolu said, nodding. "That's so cool!"

"I actually think that's more scary than your Garchomp," Dawn contributed. "You're very good at reading what's going on."

"It's not hard," Cynthia replied. "If you pay enough attention, the clues are there… Riolu was asking Ash something about what Gyms are like for each Type, and we're outside a Steel-type Gym. But for you, specifically, Riolu, I'm afraid there's not many clues to be found here."

Riolu looked curious.

"Lucario, specifically, is one of the most versatile Pokémon there is," Cynthia explained. "They have a combination of toughness, speed and an extremely versatile known movepool – and their innate affinity for Aura only amplifies that, giving them the potential to control the battlefield through enhanced senses as well as everything else. So two Lucario could specialize into completely different styles of battling, and they'd both do well at them… to a greater extent than other Pokémon, that is."

She glanced at Dawn, and smiled. "Because, as we know, a member of any species of Pokémon can battle in a Contest way, as well as in a tournament battle way, and they have plenty of options about doing either… it depends on the specific Pokémon much more than their species or even their Type. So what I really mean is that it's easier to specialize a Lucario, or keep them as a generalist – it's less effort to get started."

"Right," Riolu said, nodding along. "Wow. Thanks for such a long answer!"

"Riolu's glad you gave him such a long answer," Ash passed on.

Someone yelped, and they looked up to see Roark approaching – and looking at Cynthia.

"Um," the Rock-type specialist began. "So, first thing I want to say is, I'm not away from my gym for long. I heard about the talking-to that Fantina got."

He shook himself. "And after hearing about that, it's actually quite intimidating to see you waiting for me, Champion…"

"I'm not waiting for you, don't worry," Cynthia said.

"Oh, no," Roark groaned. "What's my dad done this time?"

"Your dad… so Byron is your father?" Ash asked. "What's that like?"

Roark blinked, thrown.

"...you mean having Byron for a dad?" he asked.

"I mean having a dad who does the same thing you do," Ash explained. "I guess it'd be… nice to hear about what you think of it?"

He shrugged, a bit uncertainly. "I just realized, you could actually give me some idea what to think about that…"

"That's… actually, yeah, now I think about it that isn't all that common," Roark admitted. "Yeah, I guess I could see what I can tell you. I was coming around here to… well, talk… but you probably don't want to hear about how I want to tell my dad off for going to Canalave instead of staying around with the family…"

He trailed off.

"Okay, I don't know how to read the expressions of whatever Pokémon you are," the Gym Leader admitted. "But that's not normal, is it?"

"I guess…" Ash began, his voice trembling slightly. "Would it be okay if we talked about that, too? Because that's, uh, exactly the kind of thing I'd appreciate someone else's opinion on… maybe talking about it to someone else will help?"

A few minutes later, they'd moved out of the way of the actual Pokémon Centre entrance, and gone to a nearby bench.

"So… I'm a little bit absolutely lost," Roark said, sitting down a bit more heavily than he'd intended. "It sounds like… okay, look."

He rubbed his temples, which involved taking off his helmet. "I… don't really know if I'm going to be able to help you out, Ash. I'm not an expert on this. If I was an expert on this then I'd know how to approach this with my dad, and I… really don't."

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "I guess that makes sense, but… I really hope you can help. At least give me some idea if I'm doing things wrong, or right, or… something like that."

Roark nodded. "I… hope that's going to work, but maybe it won't."

"And then-" Ash began, then stopped himself.

"Then I'll be disappointed," he resumed, after a moment. "To say I wouldn't be would be just… wrong. But I don't think that's a good reason to not try."

"Do you want us to give you some space?" Dawn checked.

Ash shook his head.

"Thanks for the offer, Dawn," he said. "But I think – I think I prefer having people able to listen, if that makes sense. Because then there's more people thinking about it."

He took a deep breath. "So, I didn't know I was a Pokémon until a few years ago – or, I guess, I should say that I wasn't properly a Pokémon? I grew up human, my mom's human, I thought I was human. But then there was this magic spell that turned me into this Pokémon, and, uh…"

After a moment, Ash decided to summarize. "I didn't know what it meant at first, but then I met Rayquaza in Hoenn and he said he recognized me. That I looked like the Pokémon who created him, and who created the whole world, a Pokémon called Arceus."

"You said your mother was human," Roark noticed. "Not your father… does that mean your father is Arceus? Was Arceus?"

"I guess so?" Ash replied. "I don't know for sure, but it's the only thing that makes sense. Mom didn't know that dad was a Pokémon, and he left before I was born."

Ash quickly raised his hoof, waving it a bit. "And when I spoke to mom about this, she said that, it was because they hadn't talked about it," he said. "And it kind of came as a surprise, so dad set her up so that she didn't have to worry about a job or anything before he actually left, but I still don't know about why he left. I guess I must have been an accident or something, he didn't mean for mom to have me? Or… or maybe he did and it was all part of a plan, and I don't really know what he's like because I've never met him. And I've met most of my siblings now and I feel like I don't know anything more about what dad is like, so I don't know where to start about why he left, and – and-"

Ash's voice had been speeding up as he talked, and Latias put a hand on his shoulder.

He swallowed past a lump in his throat, and tried to keep going. "I just, don't know where to start," he admitted. "I want to meet him, but I don't have any idea what it's going to be like, and I'm afraid that he'll turn out to be… not nice? And if he is nice then I don't know why he left and why he couldn't have come back, because if he's…"

Not sure if he was out of things to say or if there were so many things he wanted to say that he couldn't put together a single sentence, Ash trailed off.

Roark looked like he'd been hit between the eyes with a rake, quite hard, then shook his head and did his best to rally.

"I guess… the bad news, first," he said. "Which is that I don't know the answer, Ash. I don't even know if there is an answer."

Ash's face fell, but Roark kept going. "But at the same time… just because there isn't a complete answer doesn't mean there aren't things I can tell you."

He waved in the direction of the gym. "Because, uh… dad and I don't really get on, but because we've met sometimes, I know that and I know how bad it is… And your dad is, this, cosmic being that I don't even know what to think about… but he was spending time with your mother. And I've never heard of anyone else like you, so I think that's something different."

The Rock-type gym leader put his head in his hands. "I'm doing this terribly," he said. "I'm just saying what pops into my head without any of it actually making sense…"

"Family is hard, right?" Pikachu asked. "And the ways that it's hard are, really varied."

"Pikachu's got a point," Ash said. "He said that, uh, family is hard, and the ways that it's hard are really different to one another… I guess maybe it was a silly idea to try and get advice."

"No, it wasn't," Roark told him. "I… know this is going to sound stupid, but, when I think about it… what you've said, it sounds like your dad might have just not been ready to cope with the idea of having a kid, but he's never met you. So you don't know what he's going to think of you."

"He's never come looking, though," Ash protested, but quietly. "But I don't even know how he spends time, or where he lives… I guess part of why I've been trying to get all my plates is to see if that has an answer, because a lot of what I hear when I get them is about him."

Roark looked like that had opened up a whole new line of things he didn't know about, but restrained himself from just trying to get more answers.

"That's… not a bad idea?" he said, though it sounded much more like he was asking a question. "And I guess.. the best thing I can tell you, Ash, is that you don't know everything. And even if you can't think of a good reason… don't just assume that it has to be every bad thing you can think of at once."

He reached out a hand in a supportive gesture, hesitated as he tried to work out where to put the hand, then compromised with Ash's shoulder.

"But from what I know?" he said. "He should be proud of you."

Ash swallowed, no trusting himself to speak for a moment.

"Thanks," he said. "I guess… you're right, I don't know. And Rayquaza says he cares for the whole world… I just hope, I, don't really know what I hope specifically. That it includes me?"

He shook himself a bit. "Uh. What about you, then?"

"After what you said…" Roark began. "It's going to sound, um… easier to understand? But…"

He frowned, marshalling his thoughts.

"So at one time, my father – Byron – was the Gym Leader in Oreburgh," he explained. "I became a qualified gym leader to help him out. Then, not long after, there was a vacancy at Canalave, and – he left me there, and my mother too."

"Just like that?" Ash asked. "Did, uh, did he say why?"

"He said that Canalave was nearer to Iron Island, so it was a better place to look for fossils," Roark said.

Ash winced, then swallowed.

"That sounds, uh," he began. "Really… I don't know how to put it?"

"Petty?" Latias suggested.

"Petty, maybe, yeah," Ash agreed. "I guess he probably did have other reasons for it, or at least I hope he did, but…"

He struck the ground with a hoof, which went tchak. "I guess that thinking about it, maybe, uh, maybe… is it okay if I try to think about what the best thing it could be is?"

Roark frowned, thinking about it.

"Go ahead, I think," he said. "And maybe I can try thinking about the same thing for your dad?"

"Right," Ash agreed. "And, uh. I don't know if any of this is remotely right, but, like I say, I'm trying to think about the best thing."

He glanced up at Cynthia, in case she had some reassurance to offer, and after looking at her for a few seconds he decided that she probably looked approving.

"So…" he said. "Byron does run the Canalave Gym now, right? Cynthia, was that something that happened while you were the Champion? And, uh, is that something that worked out well?"

"I thought it was working out well," Cynthia said. "Though I may have to rethink that, depending on how long Byron spends away from the Gym he's supposed to be running. Especially if he keeps going off to dig up fossils."

"I was actually coming here to ask him to come back to Oreburgh, because it's my parents' anniversary," Roark contributed.

Ash winced, but rallied slightly. "I guess what I was getting at was more that… if he became the Gym Leader here, and that worked, and you becoming the main Gym Leader at Oreburgh worked too, then… you like fossils too, right?"

"Of course!" Roark agreed. "You saw my Pokémon, didn't you? And the museum?"

He looked much happier about that subject, and Ash nodded.

"Right," he said. "What I mean is, uh… maybe what your dad was trying to do was to explain what he was doing by… using things you'd like? I guess? Because you both like fossils, I mean."

The Rock-type gym leader frowned, thinking about that.

"I'd… like to think that," he said. "I'm not sure if I do, but I think… it's something to think about."

Then he adjusted his hat. "As for you, Ash… well, I don't know enough about Arceus to be sure, but perhaps he panicked?"

"Panicked?" Ash repeated. "What do you mean?"

"If this has never happened before, maybe it was a shock to him," Roark explained. "Or maybe he had something to do that couldn't wait. But if it's the first time something like that has ever happened, then he could have freaked out about it… and it sometimes takes a long time for someone to recover after an experience like that. Look at how long it's taken my dad and I to get sorted out, and we're not even started at doing that yet."

Ash turned that over in his mind.

"That's kind of like me, as well," Latias pointed out. "And Latios. And remember how long Giratina went with those feelings, and how…"

"Yeah, I was thinking of Groudon and Kyogre," Ash agreed. "And I don't know what to think about, but… but it does make me feel better. Thanks, Roark."

"I'm glad to have helped," Roark replied. "Though I have to ask… if your dad is the creator of the universe, is that what you meant when you said you created Koraidon?"

Ash nodded.

"I didn't mean to do it," he said. "But… I'm glad I did."

He smiled slightly. "I guess the main thing I hope is that dad feels the same about me."

AN:

This entire chapter pretty much happened when I realized Roark and Ash were colliding in a situation where Roark is obviously thinking about his problems with his father.