"That was so cool!" the other kid said, brushing himself off. "Didn't you think that was so cool?"

He waved his hand. "We rode a legendary Pokémon!"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "It's always special, and there's something extra special about doing it with someone else to share it with!"

"Pika-achuu," Pikachu huffed.

"I meant besides you, Pikachu!" Ash defended himself. "You've always been there, which is great, but showing someone else what a cool new experience it is – that's new!"

"Kaaa-chu," Pikachu decided, conceding the point.

The other kid – Goh, right, he'd introduced himself – stared at Ash.

"Uh," he began. "You're talking like you've done that before?"

His eyes widened. "You've ridden a legendary Pokémon before? How could you even have done that?"

"Well," Ash began, thinking. "The Lugia was to make sure we could bring the treasures to the shrine, but he got shot down and I had to get the rest of the way by Misty pulling me out of the water. That healed him though so it's okay. And, Suicune the first time was to help Celebi, I had someone along with me then… Suicune the second time was to help Paige and Marnie, I guess that's out of order, though… does it count if the Pokémon is pulling something along with me on it? That's probably not riding though…"

Goh's mouth opened and closed a few times.

"What kind of Pokémon trainer are you?" he demanded.

"I'm pretty good!" Ash said, completely missing the thrust of Goh's question. "But, really I guess the main difference between a normal Pokémon and a legendary Pokémon is how famous it is. Right?"

"...um," Goh said, not sure how to take that.

"I mean, how famous they are as individuals," Ash went on. "Which I guess means that Mewtwo isn't a Legendary Pokémon at all, though maybe that's changed after what happened in New Tork City?"

"I've got so many questions," Goh said weakly. "Is this just normal to you?"

"No!" Ash protested, vehemently. "It's not normal at all! It's amazing! And if there's so much amazing stuff in my life, that just means I'm doing something right, right? Talonflame and Snorlax and Nebby and all my Pokémon are just so great to be around!"

After a bit more staring, Goh shook himself out.

"...what's a Mewtwo?" he asked. "If you've met all these Pokémon, maybe you know enough that you could point me to a Mew?"

"Huh?" Ash replied. "Yeah, I guess, I don't know if it's home though. Actually, how far are we from Pewter City?"

"Pikaa?" Pikachu said, shrugging. "Ka-chuu, Pikapi."

"Or Vermillion," Ash amended, then rummaged in his pockets. "Hang on, I know it's somewhere… here we go!"

"Is that a Z-power ring?" Goh asked, now completely overwhelmed. "How do you just… have a Z-power ring?"

"Hey, you're talking to the Alola League Champion!" Ash replied. "I've done the trials, that's how I was able to compete in the first place!"

Goh mumbled something about not watching much TV.

"I sure hope he's got time for us," Ash added, slotting something into his Z-power ring, and did a pose.

A few metres away, a wormhole opened in mid-air, and Goh fell over backwards.

"What?" he asked, with a touch of hysteria, then kept staring as a huge leonine Pokémon flew out, landed, noticed Ash, and flattened the trainer with a combination of glomp and pounce.

"Pika-kaaa-chuu!" Pikachu giggled. "Ka-chuu, pi-pi!"

"Ga-leO!" Nebby agreed, nodding, and licked Ash.

"Hehe, it's great to see you again too, Nebby!" Ash replied. "I know it's been, uh, only a day or so, but thanks for coming so quickly!"

"What kind of Pokémon is that?" Goh asked.

"This is Nebby!" Ash explained. "His mom and dad and the Guardian Deities gave him to me to raise him, and he's a Solgaleo! Now, I mean, after evolving, he was something else before that. Anyway, uh…"

Nebby backed away a bit, to let Ash get up, and Ash straightened.

"So, we met a Lugia!" he told Nebby, who made an appreciative noise. "But, they dropped us off in this field here, so I guess I'm lost again."

Pikachu giggled.

"Aww, come on, Pikachu!" Ash said. "This time it wasn't even really my fault, not properly! So I was asking if we could get a lift, but first a lift to Rota, because I wanted to ask something from one of the Pokémon there!"

He glanced at Pikachu. "You're the one who spent more time with her, right? She seemed lonely?"

"Pii!" Pikachu agreed, nodding emphatically.

"Why does nothing make sense any more?" Goh asked. "How did that Pokémon just appear out of nowhere?"

"He didn't appear out of nowhere, he appeared out of either Alola or Ultra Space!" Ash protested. "Depending on where he was. But I guess you couldn't know that… so, the way it works is, Nebby can go anywhere! But I've got his Solgalium Z which helps him do Ultra Wormholes, and I guessed that if I needed his help I could use it to signal him, and it worked! So that's how that happened!"

Nebby crouched down, and Ash jumped on board.

"Come on!" he added. "I've got someone I bet you'll want to meet!"

"There you are, Goh!" Chloe said. "What happened to you? You missed the opening ceremony!"

She held out a folder. "I've got your worksheets, though. So… hey, Goh? Earth to Goh! What's gotten into you?"

"I," Goh began. "Have had. A day."

He looked down at the ball in his hand. "And I got my first Pokémon, too."

"Oh, wow!" Chloe said. "I guess that's a big deal, so I can understand why you missed the ceremony… what Pokémon did you get, anyway? I want to see it!"

Goh held out the Pokéball, and a Dunsparce appeared.

"Oh, those are supposed to be pretty rare," Chloe said.

The Dunsparce giggled, then reverted to her base form.

Chloe stared.

"Uh," she began. "Isn't that…?"

"Yeah," Goh agreed. "Ash said Pikachu said she wanted friends, so I guess my plan to catch lots of Pokémon is exactly what she was after…"

"...Ash?" Chloe repeated. "You met Ash Ketchum? I guess that explains everything then."

AN:

It seems like a match made in Rota to me.