After saying goodbye to the Maples, Ash, Dawn and Cynthia set out south with their Pokémon to Pastoria City.

"Pastoria is an interesting place," Cynthia told them. "Of course, so is everywhere if you really dig into the details."

She shaded her eyes, looking out over the expanse of the Great Marsh downhill. "I assume this has been here for a long time, Dawn?"

"Yes, though the name's changed," Dawn agreed. "This used to be the Crimson Mirelands… of course, it's not the only place that was part of the Crimson Mirelands, the same name was used for the area around Lake Valor! I think it's got a bit less marshy over time."

"Probably," Cynthia agreed. "There were projects to drain the wetlands, at one point, but Pastoria City was set up to avoid that and so it stopped then. There were arguments about it, but everyone accepted that… humans improving the land is fine, but draining away such a large area of wetland would just be ruining it for the kinds of Pokémon that do live here."

"It's weird to think about people doing that," Ash admitted. "Even if they stopped, to do it in the first place… I guess it's one of those times that shows how people have to think carefully about the consequences of what they're doing."

Latias hummed.

"And to care about the consequences, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's true," Ash agreed.

Then he glanced at Cynthia. "Does Pastoria City have a Pokémon Gym?"

"Yes," Cynthia confirmed. "It's a Type you've already got, but so far you haven't reached the point where you'd need to hit all the new Types in Sinnoh in sequence to avoid ending up with more than eight Badges… not that there's a problem with doing that."

She sent out her Milotic, who stretched languorously. "I'm sure Milotic can tell you a bit about that battle… Crasher Wake is a Water-type trainer, and I sent her to do a lot of the fighting."

"That was one I'm very proud of," Milotic agreed, flicking her tail.

"Actually, I guess maybe I shouldn't hear too many details?" Ash said, unsure. "I don't want to get an unfair advantage. Though I guess I was thinking of using Miraidon, so maybe that counts as unfair advantage anyway."

"It'd be a change from my battle," Milotic said. "That was the last time I ever heard someone protest that I was just a Feebas… mostly because I evolved at the end of the battle, but still."

"So I've got Staravia, maybe, and Miraidon…" Ash mused, floating his Pokédex in front of him so he could refresh his memory on the move. "Or I guess Swampert's not had much chance to battle in water as a Swampert, and it's been a while for some of my other Pokémon too…"

"It's always a difficult choice," Dawn agreed. "One of the reasons the Wallace Cup was so much fun was being able to use just about everyone. Hmm…"

She slowed, looking around, and Ash frowned in concern. "Is something up?"

"Nothing major, I just recognize this place," Dawn replied. "A lot of the landscape of the marsh has changed in the intervening centuries, but this part of the marsh is familiar enough that I know where we are from the landmarks."

She glanced at Cynthia. "We've got time for a detour, right?"

Cynthia nodded a confirmation, and Dawn pointed. "Then we should go… that way."

"This should be interesting," Milotic noted. "What do you think?"

"I think I'm really impressed how clean your scales are," Latias replied. "This place is muddier than Altomare and you can't be staying clean the same way I do."

"I'm a Milotic," Milotic pointed out. "But yes, I've got a few tricks that help out."

She flirted her tail. "It's part of the image, really."

"I didn't even realize that, but you're right," Riolu marvelled. "Your scales really are clean!"

"You could probably learn it, actually," Milotic told him. "I'm not certain of that, but if I remember right I've met a Lucario who knows the base move."

"You haven't said where we're going, or for what," Cynthia said, as Dawn led them along a ridgeline. "It's meant to be a surprise, I assume?"

"That's it exactly," Dawn agreed. "Plus… I don't want to get your hopes up too much if it turns out I'm wrong. But I don't think I'm wrong."

She frowned for a moment, then checked her Pokétch. "At least, I think it's the right time of year."

"Well, now I'm very interested," Cynthia told her. "And I think I've guessed, as well."

"How is that a clue?" Pikachu asked Ash. "I can't think of anything that would make that be the hint to an answer."

"Nor can I," Ash replied, then Dawn turned them off the ridgeline and down towards a pool.

"Here we are," she said, then amended herself. "I hope."

She crouched down, dipping her fingers in the pool, then straightened.

After a long pause, she relaxed. "Oh, good."

"...wait, it's getting a bit misty," Latias noticed. "Is that what Dawn saw?"

Latias was right, and within a minute the mist had swirled together into a single dense cloud of white over the middle of the lake.

Then, rising out of the mist, a Pokémon emerged.

It had a pink and red humanoid body that ended in a denser whirl of cloud, and a tail that coiled twice around its torso before resting on their shoulder. The tail had red heart shapes along its length, matched by a hair pattern that formed a curling heart, and they frowned.

"You bear the marks of visiting all four seasons," the Pokémon said. "How is that possible?"

"Oh, I get it," Ash realized. "This is a Pokémon you met in Hisui, right? So they'd only know you as Akari, and it'd be confusing if they didn't know about the time travel."

"That's right," Dawn agreed. "This is Enamorus, the Herald of Spring."

Enamorus approached, with an expression of interest. "Time travel?" she said. "Yes, that would explain it… you are the same as the one who visited us all, all those years ago."

The Herald of Spring stopped at the shoreline, then looked faintly awkward. "I am actually not sure what to say in this situation."

"You could say thank you to Dad?" Mew suggested, floating up into the air. "He did a really good job of explaining what was going on without having to specifically tell you."

"Mew," Ash protested. "I, well, I guess I did do that, but it's not something you should draw attention to… right?"

Mew smiled, and Enamorus looked between them and Ash.

"You are Mew's father?" she asked Ash. "I don't recognize your kind of Pokémon."

"It's a long story," Ash admitted. "Or, uh… it's more a really odd story, I guess. I could explain it quickly but-"

"Do you have a few minutes?" Cynthia interrupted, holding up a notebook and sending out her Lucario. "I'd love to hear the symbolism involved in you being the herald of spring, and to what extent that's symbolic or whether you're a being Legendary or a doing Legendary."

Enamorus looked a bit nonplussed. "Um."

"It would also be helpful to get a photo," Cynthia added. "That way I can at least provide evidence that I was consulting a primary source."

"This is a lot less numinous than it was when she visited me last," Enamorus complained. "It's a pity. I like numinous."

It took some work, and some time, but they managed to go through everything that people wanted to talk about.

Cynthia got her explanation on how the four Forces of Nature impacted and controlled the seasons, which was a little bit like symbology and a little bit like being directly responsible for something – the seasons would happen anyway, but each Force of Nature could ensure that they happened on time and correctly.

Otherwise they might just be a bit early or late.

Then Enamorus in turn got the explanation of how it was that Ash was Mew's father, which was indeed something that took a lot longer to explain than it took to say, and once that was done Latias floated forwards.

"Can I ask something?" she asked. "It's a bit… private, I guess? Or maybe just… something I'm embarrassed about."

"Well, I'm curious now," Enamorus said. "Of course."

The two of them drifted out towards the middle of the lake, and Enamorus nodded to her. "There… now, what is it?"

"I've been wondering about something," Latias explained. "And I… well, I didn't know how I could possibly get an answer from someone who would know, but it seems like you're someone who'd be an expert if anyone is."

She rotated sideways a bit. "This is going to sound like a really big question, but… how do you tell if you love someone? And if that's different from liking them or not?"

Enamorus was silent for a long moment.

"You're right, that is a big question," she agreed. "And the answer is… there is no simple answer. Sorry. But there's a lot of things to say, and maybe some of those will have the answer you're after."

Latias nodded, and Enamorus flicked her tail a little.

"I am the Love-Hate Pokémon," she said. "Fortunately I'm in the form more associated with Love, so no worries there… but that there is a kind of love which is desperate and intense and which you cannot possibly mistake for something else. The kind where the other person fills your thoughts, and where everything is in relation to them."

She waved a hand. "That's not the only kind of love."

"I don't think I have that kind," Latias replied. "I don't think I've ever felt it, really."

"That's not a problem," Enamorus told her. "There's many kinds of love. Some of them are purely between friends, or the kind of love a child feels for a parent…"

"Yeah, I think I can see that," Latias realized. "If I said that Ash and Pikachu love each other, it'd be true. They're devoted."

"I don't know them, but it sounds like you understand what I mean," Enamorus told her. "But really… there is no one answer. So long as you're not doing something else wrong, it is very hard indeed to do love wrong. And it's perfectly possible to be good friends – and to share the kind of love that comes from that – without ever using the word. It might become something else. It might not. And neither of those things is a problem."

Latias was silent for a long time, thinking about that.

"I think that helps," she said. "And… I think that's probably what I actually am. A good friend."

Enamorus held up a hand.

"Just in case you get the wrong impression," she said. "People sometimes say 'just friends' as a way of meaning that two people are not in love. But for me, that's… incomplete, at best. Because kinds of love shade into close friendship so deeply that it's impossible to tell them apart. Even romantic love… and sometimes people put too much emphasis on the word, love. As if it's a barrier."

Latias giggled in surprise.

"I didn't think you'd be saying that love wasn't important!" she admitted. "I know that that's not what you're actually saying, but it felt like it."

"I have my reasons," Enamorus replied. "If I was a Pokémon who symbolized gardens, and people thought that calling it a garden was a big step that you shouldn't take unless you were absolutely sure that this was the one garden you were going to have for the rest of your life… there would not be very many gardens."

"How did it go, Latias?" Ash asked, when she returned. "Did Enamorus help you out?"

Latias only had to think about it for a moment.

"Yes," she said. "She didn't give me an answer… but she helped me realize the question wasn't as important as I thought, and a lot less urgent."

AN:

It's a complicated topic.

My current plan is to take a hiatus from this fic shortly, for a number of reasons.