"Sometimes I wonder about how trainers work out if they don't meet us," Pikachu said, with a frown.

"Huh?" Ash replied, glancing up. "You're still thinking about Paul, right?"

"It's hard to not think about him," Pikachu replied. "But, yeah… and it's not just him, either, I was thinking about all the people we've met over our time together, and how often we've helped them out."

Ash nodded. "Yeah, I guess," he agreed. "But, then, uh… we only really notice the ones who need help, right? Everyone else is just… someone. It's not like Cynthia needs help, or most Gym Leaders, that kind of thing."

He paused. "Or, maybe it's the other way around? Where, it's really rare that someone will be perfect, so there's always ways to help out? It could be both and I don't really know which one applies better."

"I think I might have to write that down," Riolu said. "It's deep, either way, that's a great bit of insight!"

"Does it count if you're not sure which way it works?" Pikachu asked.

"I'm sure it counts if I don't admit it," Riolu replied.

Then someone waved at them with a shout. "Hey!"

Everyone looked up, and Dawn was the first to recognize him. "Barry?"

"Yeah!" he agreed. "Hi Dawn! Hi Sir Heavenly Fount of Light, hi Mx. Miraidon, hi Miss Cynthia! And Pikachu and Riolu too!"

The hyperactive trainer came to a halt in front of them. "I heard that you were involved in making sure that the local Gym Leader saw the light?"

"I think that depends which of us you're talking to," Dawn said, amused. "Why do you call Ash a heavenly fount of light, anyway? It is Ash you mean, right?"

"Oh, that's because it's part of the sacrament," Barry explained. "That should be obvious, right?"

"You'd be surprised," Dawn replied, but she got out her copy of the Hisui Pokédex. "I swear I heard that before-"

Barry gasped. "Oh! So you've got the book too! I should have realized!"

"The book too?" Cynthia asked.

"But yours is much newer," Barry went on. "Is it a more recent edition?"

Cynthia looked like she was suddenly trying to calculate something very quickly.

"Here it is," Dawn announced. "That's exactly how the Hisui Pokédex describes Arceus."

"Oh, so that's what the smudge is," Barry said, poking his head in. "But isn't that just Ash?"

"No, that's his dad," Dawn replied.

"But it's a Pokédex entry," Barry objected. "It's also a very holy description driven by inspired word in both the original and in translations, but it's a Pokédex entry so it should apply to any of the Pokémon it describes, right? So that means that Ash is a Heavenly Fount of Light, and he's a Sir as well…"

Barry paused for long enough that Ash could try and catch up.

"Where did you get that from?" he asked. "Calling me that, I mean-"

"The book!" Barry replied, then blinked. "Oh, but you probably mean who gave me the idea, right… well, uh, there's these two trainers and a talking Meowth-"

"Oh come on," Pikachu said.

"Can you give me their contact information?" Cynthia asked. "Specifically, I would like to be able to cite their copy of the Hisui Pokédex, because there is no way I'm going to be able to present Dawn's copy as original without also separately demonstrating that time travel is not only possible but has happened. And frankly I can get a separate paper out of that at a later date, probably in collaboration with Dawn if she's willing – which will also mean I can prove that my Laventon number will be two."

Barry looked dubious for a couple of seconds, which was a long pause for him.

"Does that mean you're interested in learning the good news?" he asked, then looked at Ash. "Right, you probably already know it!"

"I feel like someone just turned over two pages at once," Miraidon announced, looking up at Latias. "Should I understand what's going on?"

"I don't think anyone does," Latias replied. "Maybe Barry, but I wouldn't even guess he does?"

"What is the good news, Barry?" Dawn asked.

"Oh, uh…" Barry frowned, thinking. "So the Heavenly Fount of Light is a Pokémon who's also a trainer, and he died once but got better, and so if you accept him as your personal saviour then he'll save you. And he'll also probably do that if you don't but it's best not to risk it if you've got rap sheets as long as ours… I don't know if that last bit applies to me, though."

"Well, now I understand a few more things," Pikachu admitted. "That actually explains a lot about what Team Rocket has been doing… are they even Team Rocket any more?"

"I don't know how to even ask," Ash replied. "I guess it has been a long time since they've actually caused trouble, though…"

He looked over at Cynthia. "Um… what do I do when people start worshipping me?"

"I'm not sure we can help you," Cynthia's Garchomp provided. "Generally speaking we're more on the side of people panicking and running away."

"What do we do about this, Pikachu?" Ash asked, as Barry talked to Dawn about something or other. "Latias? I don't really know how to handle this… I guess I knew Jessie, James and Meowth were acting weird, but I didn't think it was that weird."

Pikachu's ears twitched.

"Introduce them to Absol?" he asked.

"Oh, don't even joke about that," Ash groaned. "Before long he'd be giving them advice…"

"Would that be a bad thing?" Latias said. "I know you've got history with them, history that I don't have – but would it really be a bad thing if they got advice from Absol?"

"It'd be weird, at least?" Ash answered. "I know that, uh, Absol is actually good at spotting things that would be really bad… you remember, with J?"

"Yeah, I have to admit that one," Pikachu said. "They'd get on well… the problem is, you'd feel uncomfortable about it and that isn't really a great outcome."

"It's not," Ash confirmed, frowning. "So…"

He sighed. "It seems like they haven't told many people about this. Or maybe it's just that not many people have listened… either way, uh…"

"You're wondering if you should do anything about it at all, aren't you?" Latias asked.

"That's it exactly," Ash nodded.

He shrugged a bit, shaking himself. "Because – it's mostly bad because it's embarrassing, for me. And I don't want them to stop, not if they go back to actually trying to steal Pokémon instead of… well, I guess it's trying to give me a challenge? That's what it seems like."

Pikachu frowned. "That… actually… yeah, give you a challenge and sometimes actually help you out," he agreed. "Honestly with how well they've done it sometimes in hindsight, I'm wondering if they already have an Absol."

"They were like that before, I think," Ash said. "You know, turning up around us all the time… I'm pretty sure they were on Mewtwo's island… they certainly turned up at Shamouti and places like that… I guess maybe that's just how they work out."

"Now I'm imagining how some of those would have gone if you'd already known who you were," Pikachu muttered. "Or even if you didn't. Would Mewtwo have cloned you?"

Then he giggled.

"Maybe he did," the Electric-type added.

"Huh?" Latias asked.

"I guess I'll have to explain about Ritchie at some point," Ash decided. "Anyway, uh-"

"-so I wanted to thank you!" Barry said, apparently continuing a train of thought that had until this point mostly been an underground metro. "Because I wanted to challenge Fantina, but apparently she wasn't here until really recently, and you were nearby, and even though Dawn says that that was mostly because of Fantina I think that must be your involvement, Mr. Heavenly Fount of Light."

"Just call me Ash, okay?" Ash asked, embarrassed.

"If you say so!" Barry replied. "Only, I might sometimes forget because I can get a bit too excited about things…"

"I guess it's a good thing he knows that, Dad?" Miraidon guessed. "It's better than not knowing."

"Yeah, that is a good point," Ash agreed. "You weren't saying much?"

"I didn't know what to say," Miraidon admitted. "You know them better than me. I only know them as vaguely helpful and that you're worried about them, but I don't really know why."

Ash thought about that.

"I guess that is a good point," he agreed. "Thanks, Miraidon."

"I am glad to have helped," they said. "Can someone explain how I helped?"

"Just… reassuring me there probably isn't anything to worry about," Ash explained. "Now… you probably aren't going to be in today's battle, Miraidon, sorry about that…"

"I was expecting that to be the case," Miraidon admitted. "I will be able to provide moral support."

They paused. "But not actually help. That would be rude."

AN:

Well, that explains a few things.