"A research assistant?" Ash repeated. "So… you mean I'd get to help doing science?"

"That's… a way of thinking about it," Professor Cerise replied. "Really it's more like… what I'd like for you two to do is to meet Pokémon, and document it properly!"

He frowned. "I asked Professor Oak about it, Ash, and he muttered something about how you never use your Pokédex on the really rare ones?"

"Oh, huh?" Ash said, frowning. "I guess I must just get way too excited! It's amazing to meet such cool Pokémon, right?"

"Pika Pikachuuu!" Pikachu giggled.

"Hey, I don't mean you're not cool, Pikachu!" Ash protested. "But, you know? It would have felt really kind of wrong to just pull out my Pokédex and scan Lugia while he was giving us a ride, and after that…"

"He?" Professor Cerise asked. "You sound very confident about that."

"Yeah, he!" Ash agreed. "He wasn't as big as the one from the Orange Islands, but he reminded me more of Silver than Silver's mom. Silver was a lot smaller, though, right Pikachu?"

Pikachu nodded. "Ka-chuu, Pikapi… chuuu?"

"...you what," Goh said, staring. "That sounds like… hold on. If you knew… then that must mean you'd met at least three Lugia before we met that one?"

"Yeah, that's right," Ash agreed. "I met the biggest one first, then Silver's mom and Silver at the same time so they must be three different ones, unless Lugia get smaller when they age…"

"Please become a research assistant," Professor Cerise said. "I want to see the kind of things you encounter on a day-to-day basis."

"Won't that be hard?" Ash asked, frowning. "It feels like, uh…"

He scratched his head. "It feels like that would mean I'd have to get better at something that I'm not good at, right? And that's no good."

"Chuuu," Pikachu giggled.

"Hey!" Ash protested. "I try my best!"

"Ka-chuuu," Pikachu said, patting Ash on the head and flicking his tail.

Ash folded his arms and pouted.

"...so, does that mean you're making Ash your expert in rare Pokémon?" Goh asked, stifling a giggle. "Because, uh, it sounds like he's going to be your expert in them anyway."

"That sounds like a good idea," Professor Cerise admitted. "So, what about it, Ash?"

"I still don't really know how it would work," Ash apologized. "So… how would it work?"

"Oh, that's actually the genius of it!" the Professor explained. "If you have such trouble remembering to scan Pokémon with your Pokédex, I was hoping that you two would accept these!"

He put down a pair of phones on the desk.

"These are Rotom Phones," Professor Cerise said. "Currently without Rotom, but two of my Rotom have said they're interested in helping out. I assume."

"You assume?" Chloe asked. "Did you ask them?"

"They made very excited noises and nodded a lot," Professor Cerise explained. "I couldn't get a verbal answer because they weren't in the phones. So, Ash, if you were to take up my offer, Rotom would help out and remind you to scan the Pokémon you meet! Or just do it themselves."

He coughed. "And Goh would help remind you as well, I'm sure."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Ash said. "What do you think, Goh? We could see what kind of things people can learn about all the cool Pokémon we meet!"

"I hope we meet a Mew," Goh said. "In fact, that's the Pokémon I want for my starter Pokémon!"

"Really?" Ash asked. "How would you tell?"

Goh looked mildly confused.

"Mew can change shape, right?" Ash said. "So, uh… any Pokémon could be a Mew. You just don't know!"

He picked up one of the Rotom Phones, and it flashed gold.

"Whoa!" Chloe gasped, throwing up her hand, then stared.

The phone looked… different now. It had a white body and four golden bits around the side, and Ash looked at it in confusion for a moment before one of the Rotom came skidding through the air and went diving into it.

"Dibs!" the Ghost-type announced. "Ooh, there's some weird functionality in here, I don't know how to use any of it!"

"What's a functionality?" Ash said, confused. "Is that like when someone's from Kalos instead of Kanto?"

He turned the phone around. "This actually reminds me of Arceus. A bit, anyway."

"Pika-chuu!" Pikachu nodded, making a pose. "Chuu-kachuu!"

Professor Cerise looked in surprise.

"That's a very strange Pokémon shape you're making, Pikachu," he said. "Ash, do you mean to say you know what Arceus looks like?"

"Yeah, we met a couple of times," Ash replied, shrugging. "I guess maybe it's two times, three times or four times, depending on how you count a time that didn't happen and a time in the distant past…"

"I have located a text file," Rotom says. "It states: For all that you have done for me, this is a gift. Others may have them as well."

"That's weird," Goh said. "You didn't put that on, did you, Professor Cerise?"

"Not me," the Professor replied. "Well, I wanted to discover new things and have mysteries to deal with…"

The other Rotom buzzed, then dropped into the phone which was presumably going to be Goh's.

"Well, I've got the normal apps and stuff on here," it declared. "What about you?"

"I said!" Ash's one replied. "Some weird apps I don't know how to use. But yeah, normal stuff too…"

"Well, that's… something," Professor Cerise decided. "But… I should ask, Goh. Are you going to get a starter Pokémon?"

"Yeah, I said!" Goh replied. "I said I was going to have Mew as my starter Pokémon, and I meant it!"

"...how?" Ash asked.

Goh looked at him.

"How do you think?" he replied.

Ash waved his hands. "I just mean that a lot of Pokémon, you meet them and then they're only interested in coming with you because they see how strong your bond is with your Pokémon! Or sometimes if you prove you're a good enough trainer by battling them. Things like that! And I get the idea that you wouldn't be okay with the choice of starter Pokémon, that's fine…"

He shrugged. "I guess it's just kind of… you shouldn't ignore the Pokémon who are there, unless you're okay chasing a dream."

Goh frowned, thinking about it, then shook his head.

"I get what you mean, but… I want to give it a try, first," he said. "Now I'm a research assistant, especially now that I'm alongside you, Ash, I'm sure I'll be okay!"

"Got it!" Ash decided. "Though, uh… how does being a research assistant work, anyway?"

"I'm sure we'll find things for you to do," Professor Cerise said, with a chuckle. "Though it would be more difficult if you had to commute here from Pallet Town, Ash – and, Goh, I'm extending you the same offer. We've got more than enough space."

"That would be neat," Ash said, half to himself. "It's kind of like when I was in Alola, but without the school!"

Some days later, Ash grinned.

"See?" he asked Goh, as his friend gave Scorbunny a high-five after a second successful practice Double Kick. "Sometimes, you just meet a Pokémon, and you know they're the best one for you, right? And when you train together, it clicks just right!"

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, then blasted Ash with electricity.

"Scor?" Scorbunny demanded, looking very confused.

"Ash?" Goh asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Ash replied, coughing. "Pikachu was just reminding me that that's not how it really worked out for the two of us… though we did get on pretty soon, right?"

Pikachu nodded. "Chuu!" he said, rubbing against Ash's cheek with a grin.

"Well, let's-" Ash began, turning to head on towards Vermillion Forest, then bumped into something in mid-air. The impact with something invisible made him fall over backwards, and he looked with some confusion at thin air.

It squeaked. At length.

"Huh?" Ash asked. "Pikachu, do you know what's going on? This seems kind of familiar…"

"Oh, so that is what's going on!" Ash's Rotom-Phone said. "That explains it."

"What explains what?" Goh asked. "What's going on?"

He glanced at Scorbunny, who just kind of shrugged – he didn't know either.

"You ran into a Pokémon," Rotom said. "To summarize what she said, she is saying that the Creator of All finally checked on exactly how many of the most important Pokémon you had helped out over the course of your journeys."

The little electronic Pokémon buzzed. "It is a lot. Consequently the Creator of All stated that those Pokémon who were willing should give the Chosen One some kind of boon."

Ash frowned.

"A boon?" he asked. "Is that like a small balloon?"

Goh did his best not to laugh. He really did.

"It's not a small balloon, Ash," he said. "I don't know what it is, but I do know it's not that."

"A boon is a gift," Rotom explained. "I assume that the phone upgrade is one of those gifts! However, the Pokémon you have run into has her own idea about what would be a suitable boon."

Latias decloaked in front of Ash.

"Oh, hi!" Ash waved. "It's been a while, huh… how have you been doing?"

"Pika-kachuuu," Pikachu said. "Kachuu, Pikapi."

Latias squeaked.

"That's a Latias, isn't it?" Goh asked, amazed. "I guess I should have known it would be a Legendary Pokémon, but… what kind of gift would Latias have for you?"

Latias squeaked again.

"Latias," Rotom told them.

"...huh?" Ash asked.

Pikachu giggled.

Then Latias dropped a Pokéball in front of Ash, and pointed at it.

"The Pokémon is Latias, and she is also the boon," Rotom explained. "Apparently she is very grateful to you for saving her life."

Ash grinned. "That's really neat!" he said. "What about if we do a battle first? That way, Pikachu and I can feel out how good you are at battling now!"

Latias nodded eagerly, and as Ash hurried to the other side of the clearing Goh exchanged a look with Scorbunny.

"I know I set out to have Mew as a starter Pokémon, but Ash's life is weird," he said.

"Bun-y," Scorbunny agreed, nodding.

"These are pretty cool," Goh said, leaning over the side of the dock. "Tentacool, right?"

"Right!" Ash agreed. "Though, uh, I don't see any Tentacruel. Can you see any, Pikachu?"

"Pika-kachuuu," Pikachu replied, shaking his head, and gestured along the shoreline.

"Yeah, I guess so," Ash agreed, then frowned. "Hey, now I think about it… we've been working on Aerial Ace, but this might be a great time to test out something else. Right, Latias?"

Latias materialized out of her Pokéball, and several of the Tentacool looked surprised.

Scorbunny giggled.

"Ka-chuu?" Pikachu asked.

"Ias?" Latias shrugged.

"Huh?" Ash replied. "Oh, right, yeah! So this idea I had was because we're by the side of the sea… and when I met Latias before, there was this high speed race through Altomare going on. She helped out, but it… kinda didn't work."

Latias made an embarrassed squeaking noise, and Ash scratched the back of his neck in an awkward kind of way… then shrugged. "Anyway, what I was thinking was, we could try that now! Or as soon as we get hold of a rope, so Latias can tow me along!"

Goh blinked.

"Wouldn't you need something so you can stand on the water?" he asked. "Some water skis, or something?"

"Yeah, something like that!" Ash agreed. "You never know until we try!"

"At least hold on until I get a chance to try and catch a Tentacool," Goh shrugged.

Goh did, indeed, catch a Tentacool, but by the time Ash was back with a set of waterskis and a rope something else was going on. An exhausted Piplup swam into shore, then collapsed, and one thing led to another as bringing the Piplup back to Cerise Labs led to a phone call from Piplup's trainer, then led from there to taking the Water-type back to his trainer, up in Snowpoint City in the north of Sinnoh.

And from there, things got even more confusing.

"So… okay, I think I get what's going on," Goh summarized, pacing in front of Piplup's trainer, Lauren. "Your Piplup and Croagunk are rivals, so that's why Piplup swam from here to Kanto – to try and compete with Croagunk."

He pointed. "And Piplup wants to take part in the local iceberg race, against Croagunk. That seems kind of cool, actually, I should enter with one of my Pokémon!"

"Scooor?" Scorbunny asked, looking at his paws, and making one of them light on fire. "Bun."

"No, not you, Scorbunny," Goh said. "But, uh… what I don't really know is if this is going to make it so that Piplup and Croagunk get on better."

Both Pokémon made a noise at the same time, objecting to what Goh had just said, and Ash frowned.

"You don't want to get along?" he asked. "That's kind of sad, isn't it?"

He shrugged. "Well, I guess that means there's only one way to make sure this argument doesn't get out of control!"

"There is?" Lauren asked.

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "Pikachu, you're going to have to win the iceberg race! That way Piplup and Croagunk won't have a victory to lord over one another!"

"Chuu!" Pikachu declared, grinning.

Goh blinked.

"Uh," he said. "I was actually expecting you to use Latias?"

"It's an iceberg race," Ash pointed out. "And Latias is a Dragon-type. I don't want to put her through something like that until we both know she's ready for it."

"Sorry, but… did you say Latias?" Lauren asked. "I've heard of a trainer with a Latios, but I don't think that's you."

"Yeah, Latias is new," Ash explained, shrugging. "I guess it might be good for her to watch, though… Pikachu, you up for it?"

"Pika-chuu, Pikapi!" Pikachu chided. "Ka!"

Ash grinned, then caught sight of something in the crowd. "Huh?"

"What is it?" Goh asked.

"Over there," Ash explained, pointing.

"I don't see anything," Goh frowned. "Unless you mean that trainer with a Marill is unusual?"

"Pika, pikapi," Pikachu advised, quietly, and Ash reached up to his shoulder to touch Pikachu.

Because Pikachu was right – he'd caught sight of the shape more clearly, and it was a familiar wispy shape. Blue, transparent, with a triangular head and two long tails.

It floated forwards, touching Ash on the forehead, then dissolved like mist.

"...huh," Ash said. "I wonder what that was about?"

"I have an idea!" Ash's Rotom Phone said, and he pulled the white-and-spiked-gold phone out of his pocket. "I just got an email. It says it is from Azelf."

"Azelf?" Goh repeated. "That's a Legendary Pokémon!"

He waved his hand. "I mean, uh. A more legendary Pokémon than Latias, maybe? I don't know how that works exactly, but there's only supposed to be one Azelf."

"Yeah, that's probably them," Ash replied. "I've met them before…"

He read off the email on his phone. "Oh, huh! That's neat."

Goh waited.

"...what's neat, Ash?" he asked, after a long pause.

"Azelf said hi," Ash explained. "And said that, uh, because I'd rescued them, my reward was to be recognized as the Apex of Willpower, and that apparently now I can't be mind controlled any more?"

"Pika!" Pikachu said. "Chuu-pikapi!"

"Yeah, I know!" Ash agreed. "That's probably going to be really helpful! It's annoying every time that happens."

Goh looked completely baffled.

"...uh," he said.

"Anyway, let's get everyone entered into that iceberg race!" Ash said.

Goh and Lauren watched Ash go.

"Is he always like that?" Lauren asked.

"Apparently," Goh replied.

Ash was back in Vermillion City two days later, still working on training up Latias as his newest Pokémon, and had brought in Unfezant to show off some of what he was after.

"That's right!" he called up. "Latias – that's what you're missing, I guess, it's that twist! You do that so that your opponent doesn't know which way to dodge, and at the same time you know what kind of twist you're doing so you know how to compensate for the dodge!"

"Chuu!" Pikachu agreed, jumping up into the air. "Pika-pika-chuuu!"

"Feee-zant," Unfezant chirped, landing on the nearby railing, and Professor Cerise shook his head.

"It's amazing to see a Legendary Pokémon from such a short distance," he said. "I never thought I'd be able to see something like this."

"Huh?" Ash asked, glancing round. "Why's that? There's Legendary Pokémon everywhere, you just need to look for them. Hey, is Noland still the head of the Battle Factory? He's got an Articuno who's a friend, and Brandon's got lots of Legendary Pokémon."

"Fezz!" Fezant called, and Ash looked back at the two flying Pokémon.

Latias was trying Aerial Ace again, and this time she got the twist right. She scored a glancing blow on Unfezant, and Ash gave her a thumbs-up.

"Great!" he said. "We can work on that a bit more, but that looks good for now, Latias – you're coming on really well!"

Latias made a pleased squeaky noise, then Goh came hurrying up.

"Ash! Professor!" he said. "I just saw this on the news – Ho-Oh was sighted in Johto, in Ecruteak City!"

"Ho-Oh?" Professor Cerise repeated. "That's an interesting Pokémon."

"Yeah, it is!" Ash agreed.

Goh's Scorbunny caught up a few seconds later, panting.

"Bun…" he said. "Scoor!"

"Sorry?" Goh tried.

Scorbunny looked offended, paws on hips, then shrugged. "Bunn."

"You said Ho-Oh was sighted in Ecruteak?" Cerise checked. "Interestingly, all observations of Ho-Oh so far have been in or around Ecruteak."

"No they haven't," Ash replied.

"Pi-kaa!" Pikachu giggled.

Goh blinked.

"...uh oh," he said.

"What do you mean, Ash?" Cerise asked. "I'm fairly sure that's the current state of information around Ho-Oh."

"Well, I saw Ho-Oh on my first day of my journey!" Ash explained. "That was north of Pallet town, between there and Viridian City. Then I saw him – or her, I guess – again, this time at Pallet Town, and flying towards Hoenn… and the third time was when I was around Pewter City, after getting freed from being possessed by the King of Pokeatlantis. And he built this whole big temple place near Pewter City to try and possess Ho-Oh, thousands of years ago, so Ho-Oh must have not lived around Ecruteak then, and they don't just live around Ecruteak now because I've never seen them there!"

Cerise was staring.

So was Goh, for that matter. And Latias.

"...laa-ti?" she squeaked, eventually. "Ti?"

Pikachu nodded, emphatically.

"Chuu-ka-chuu!" he said. "Pikapi, pika-chuu!"

"Hey, it just happens a lot!" Ash protested. "Or it did, 'cause Azelf said it won't work any more."

Professor Cerise stared.

"...Azelf?" he asked.

"I can't believe this, but I think I actually forgot to tell you about how Ash got visited by a Legendary Pokémon up in Sinnoh," Goh admitted. "But I guess only he actually saw Azelf."

He frowned. "He did get an email from them, too."

"So let's go to Ecruteak!" Ash suggested. "That way we can see if Ho-Oh is ever seen around Ecruteak!"

Once they got to Ecruteak, Goh tagging along because it was his first chance to visit Johto and catch Pokémon there, Latias let them quickly find out that the Ho-Oh sighting wasn't actually a sighting of a Ho-Oh at all, but was instead a sighting of a Fearow and Cyndaquil in disguise.

They also found the trainer of both Pokémon, a boy called Chad, and his grandfather, Jaye.

"I'm disappointed in you, Chad," Jaye said. "You know perfectly well that Ho-Oh doesn't exist."

"Ho-Oh does exist," Ash protested. "I mean, uh, that Ho-Oh wasn't really Ho-Oh, but I've seen Ho-Oh before and I know they exist."

"You thought you saw Ho-Oh," Jaye replied. "It's not what really happened."

Ash frowned. "Well, I saw Ho-Oh loads of times! And sure, one time I was a bit confused 'cause I'd recently been in a bike crash and a bit struck by lightning, but the other times that didn't happen, and if Ho-Oh isn't real then why would the King of Pokéatlantis have built that magic orb to put himself in Ho-Oh's body, and how would he have got stuck in it?"

He shrugged. "Brandon said that Ho-Oh attacked Pokéatlantis, and that'd be hard for a Pokémon that doesn't exist to do."

Jaye blinked a few times.

"I don't even know where to begin," he said.

"Uh," Goh began, raising his hand. "Excuse me, Mr? Why do you think Ho-Oh doesn't exist?"

"Ho-Oh is supposed to appear when a rainbow wing is waved at the top of the Bell Tower," Chad contributed, returning his Fearow who was getting a bit too concerned about how he'd been chased by something invisible. "But Gramps has done that and it didn't work… I guess that's why."

"A rainbow wing," Ash repeated. "What's one of those?"

"I read about this," Goh said. "A rainbow wing is an old word for a feather from Ho-Oh's rainbow wings, they got sort of mixed up together."

Ash scratched his head.

"So… how can you know if it was really a Ho-Oh feather?" he asked. "Because if it is a Ho-Oh feather, then obviously it'd work, right?"

"I got that feather when I met Ho-Oh in the past, or thought I did," Jaye replied. "So if Ho-Oh is real, that's one of his feathers. And if Ho-Oh isn't real, then… well, then Ho-Oh isn't real."

He shrugged. "And since the feather didn't work…"

"Hmm," Ash said, thinking. "Maybe it's just that Ho-Oh wasn't around at the time? Because, uh, Legendary Pokémon have a lot of places to be. Right, Latias?"

Latias squeaked.

"Did you just say Latias?" Chad asked, then jumped as Latias materialized. "Whoa! Wait… is that why Fearow was acting so strangely?"

"I guess so," Ash said, mostly thinking about something else.

"Pika-pikaaa, Pikapi?" Pikachu asked. "Ka-chuuu! Chuu!"

He made a gesture with his paws, putting them together over his head and then drawing them down to make the shape of an arc, and Ash considered for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, that could be right!" he agreed. "I think that's what's going on!"

He looked up. "And, uh – is it me, or does it look like it's about to rain? That's great!"

"What does rain have to do with it?" Jaye asked, glancing at his Hoothoot.

"Hoo," the Hoothoot said.

"So Pikachu had a thought," Ash explained. "Because, the first time we saw Ho-Oh, it was after it had rained, and Ho-Oh has a rainbow wing! That doesn't quite work for the other two times we saw Ho-Oh, but one of them was at sunset, so… maybe it's something to do with that? Have you ever tried using the Rainbow Wing when there's a rainbow in the sky? Or at sunset?"

"Why would I bother doing that?" Jaye asked, but there was just a little bit of doubt in his voice.

"Because, I don't know when Ho-Oh is going to be around," Ash said. "But even if they're not around all the time, there's got to be times that are a better chance, right?"

Latias shrugged.

"And Ho-Oh can only show up if they're able to tell you want to see them," Ash went on. "So, if they're nearby, maybe they'd see the Rainbow Wing, but they couldn't otherwise…"

He frowned. "So, uh, maybe we will meet Ho-Oh, or maybe we won't! But it's worth trying, right? We just need to head up there so we're ready for when the rain stops!"

Heading up to the top of the Bell Tower was harder than that sounded, because it was full of tricky Pokémon using disorienting illusions to make things harder.

First a Misdreavus, who used Confuse Ray to make the stairs seem soft or turn them into a ramp, then a Stantler who made it seem like they were on the edge of a steep cliff or trapped in a desert.

Fortunately, Goh had a surprisingly effective solution to that, which was just to throw Pokéballs at – and catch – both Pokémon.

"Now I come to think of it, I'm not sure what a Stantler was doing in a tower anyway," Chad said, frowning, as Latias finished helping the last of them up a set of rickety stairs.

He looked out, and gasped. "Gramps, look – there's rain just clearing up! There might be a rainbow in a minute!"

Jaye nodded, getting it out.

As the sun began to break through the clouds, a rainbow spread across the sky, and Jaye waved the Rainbow Wing around.

"Look!" Ash said, pointing. "It's glowing!"

"It's not done that before," Jaye admitted. "This might just be working!"

Then there was a thump behind them.

Goh was the first to turn around, reaching for a Pokéball, then got glared at by a very large and very Legendary Pokémon about ten feet away and lifted his hands away from his belt.

"Sorry, habit," he said. "It's my dream to catch every Pokémon, but, uh… I'll shut up now."

Ho-Oh furled their wings, rainbow highlights flashing from every feather as the sun fell on them.

"Wow," Jaye said, softly. "It's… amazing to see you again."

"Hi!" Ash waved.

"Pika-kachuu!" Pikachu agreed, waving. "Pika-pikapi, Pi-ka-ka!"

Latias waved, somewhat nervously. "Tii-as?"

Ho-Oh nodded to her, then opened their wing.

A little bell fell to the floor, and Ho-Oh gestured to it with a foot. "Ooo-uoh."

Pikachu bounded forwards, and picked it up, then brought it back to Ash.

"Oh, right!" Ash realized, glancing at Ho-Oh. "You want me to take it?"

Ho-Oh nodded.

"So it must be, uh… oh, is it because of that thing with the King of Pokéatlantis?" Ash guessed. "That's the only time I can think of where something I did helped you. I don't know if it counts, though."

Ho-Oh nodded again, shrugging their wings slightly.

"Can I have a look?" Ash's Rotom Phone asked, and Ash got the phone out of his pocket. "Processing… yes! That is Ho-Oh!"

"We can see that!" Chad replied. "And… uh, Gramps? I guess, we… should maybe not call Ho-Oh again? Because now I see them, I understand. They're a wild and important Pokémon."

"I'm just glad to see them again," Jaye said.

"I have identified the bell!" Ash's Rotom Phone added. "That is the Clear Bell! It was thought to be a myth. It is supposed to make it so that rain clouds vanish when it is rung."

Ho-Oh said something, and Pikachu nodded.

"Pikaaa, Pikapi!" he said, gesturing. "Ka-chuu!"

"Oh, that's neat!" Ash replied. "Thanks, Ho-Oh! It's great to see you up close, and thanks for visiting Jaye, too!"

Ho-Oh returned Ash's thanks with a dignified nod, then took off with a storm of wind.

As they left, though, Ash was frowning.

"I guess maybe there's some time when I'd want to stop it raining," he said. "But rain can be important for Pokémon, too, so I'll have to be careful about it…"

"How did your trip go?" Professor Cerise asked, as Ash and Goh returned to the lab.

"I got two new Pokémon," Goh said. "Stantler and Misdreavus! Though in hindsight I'm not sure if that's what they really are. And we saw Ho-Oh."

He held up his phone, showing the photos. "From about six feet away. And Ash got given a mythical artefact that can make it stop raining."

Professor Cerise looked torn between three different kinds of freak out.

"And I found out what I need to focus on next for Latias!" Ash said. "Being able to go invisible is great, but she can make other kinds of illusions too and working on that is really going to give more options!"

The Professor blinked a few times.

"This is going to happen a lot, isn't it?" he asked.

"Probably," Goh said. "I know, that's about how I feel about it too."

"Maybe I'm just going to point you two at unsolved mysteries and see what happens," Cerise muttered.

Professor Cerise got a chance to test out his idea a couple of days later, sending Ash and Goh out to investigate rumours of an island inhabited only by Dragonite.

Somehow he was unsurprised when they returned that evening… by Dragonite. One Dragonite, between the two of them, with Goh on its back and Ash in its arms.

"We found the island where they come from!" Ash explained, as the Dragonite landed and let him go. "And, there was one Dragonair who couldn't work out how to fly, but Latias and Pikachu and I helped teach her how to fly and now she's evolved!"

He patted the Dragon-type. "And she decided she wants to come with me, which is really great!"

"I… actually can't decide if I'm surprised that you're the one who caught the Dragonite," Cerise admitted. "I was expecting it to be-"

Dragonite hugged him.

"She's kind of a hugger, huh?" Ash said, though Professor Cerise didn't need that pointed out to him at the moment. "Yeah, she was that affectionate as a Dragonair, too!"

"Pika-kachuuuu, Pikachu!" Pikachu contributed, and Dragonite let go.

She looked slightly embarrassed, then turned to the boys. "Niii-ite?"

"There's lots of Pokémon here, yeah!" Ash agreed. "But don't forget to ask them first, okay? Sometimes it can be scary – people really think of Dragonite as powerful Pokémon!"

"Niii-dra-gon," Dragonite said, visibly pondering with a claw under her chin, then nodded firmly. "Iii-te!"

"I was going to say," Professor Cerise said, brushing himself off. "Goh, I thought that Dragonite was yours, since you were the one riding her."

"No, I… used up all my Pokéballs earlier in the trip," Goh admitted. "I did get a Dewgong, though."

"Don't forget to ask your Pokémon if they're okay being your Pokémon, remember?" Ash asked. "Sometimes you can make a good guess because they're sticking around, especially if there's a Pokémon battle! I don't think it's a problem with your Dewgong because he stayed around to be hit by all those Pokéballs, and because he came back to help with Team Rocket!"

"That's a very enlightened view, Ash," Professor Cerise said. "So you would say that a Pokémon that runs away is a Pokémon you shouldn't catch?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah, exactly!" he said. "Unless that's the thing they're doing to test if you're a good trainer, that is!"

"There is some bad news, though, Professor," Goh admitted. "I tried working out where the Dragonite Island was, but it was somewhere without GPS coverage."

"...sorry?" Professor Cerise asked. "That should be impossible. GPS satellites are, in the sky."

"They are?" Ash said. "Huh, I guess that makes sense… so… Rotom, did the Dragonites ask you to not tell us where the island is?"

Dragonite tapped her paws together.

"Yes," his Rotom replied. "In addition to the GPS satellites working, I have an entire app designed to prevent people getting lost. But they asked nicely."

"Well, there you go!" Ash said. "Sorry, Professor, I guess they don't want anyone to know where they are!"

Professor Cerise frowned, then shrugged.

"That's a good point," he said. "It's where the Dragonite live."

"Pika-ka-chuu!" Pikachu said.

"And they spend a lot of time rescuing people, too!" Ash agreed. "So I guess we might go back there if Dragonite wants to go home to visit her friends, but apart from that it's best if people don't know where Dragonite island is."

Then Dragonite hugged him again, possibly so she could hug his Rotom as well, and Ash laughed.

"Thanks!" he said. "Hey, I should introduce you to some of my other Pokémon, you've only met Pikachu and Latias so far! Professor, can I use the transfer system? I'm going to need to get a lot of Pokémon to introduce to Dragonite, so it'll take a while…"

"Go ahead, Ash," Professor Cerise told him, then turned his attention to Goh.

"I'm almost surprised you didn't meet Legendaries this time," he admitted, as Ash left the room talking excitedly about Dragonite meeting Gible. "But I did send you specifically after some Dragonite, and it worked…"

"Does that mean you've got an idea where to send us next?" Goh asked.

"Not yet," Professor Cerise replied. "But I'm also starting to wonder if it just wouldn't make a difference… hopefully the next thing you discover is going to be something I can publish, though."

"You really want to battle Leon, huh?" Goh asked, a few days later.

"Yeah, if I get a chance," Ash replied. "He had some really cool Pokémon. And he could do that thing where his Pokémon became enormous!"

Pikachu puffed out his chest, then giggled. "Pika-kaa-chuu, Pikapi!"

"I know you did it, too, Pikachu!" Ash said. "But I mean… for you, it was something that happened, right? Like using a new move. But for Leon and his Charizard, it was something that they knew how to use in the same way as Greninja and I using Battle Bond, or the way we work together!"

Pikachu nodded. "Pikaaa-chuu," he said, sitting down on the table. "Chuu!"

"It's something to aim for, that's what!" Ash declared.

"Does that mean you won't be helping Professor Cerise with his research?" Goh asked. "Trying to work your way up the ranks of the World Coronation Series is a big commitment."

"Well, yeah, but Professor Cerise seems to appreciate it when I just tell him what happened after I go somewhere!" Ash replied. "I know I'd have to win a lot of battles to challenge Leon, but I've got the time to do it, right?"

"That sounds like a big challenge you're taking on," a voice said, and Ash looked up in surprise.

"Leon?" he asked. "Hi! That Charizard of yours is really cool, I was comparing him to my Charizard! He's a really strong member of my team, but I don't know whose Charizard is tougher. And I've met, uh… Kiawe had a Charizard, and Alain had a Charizard too… did you see any of those Charizards?"

Goh was blinking, trying to follow the conversation, and Leon laughed.

"I've seen Alain's Charizard," he confirmed. "But I personally think my own Charizard is tougher than his… and I'm sure he'd say the opposite."

He folded his arms. "I've heard about you, though, Ash Ketchum – and I've heard about your Pikachu, too. I wasn't surprised at all to see that your Pikachu was the one who saved the stadium yesterday."

"Pi-kaa!" Pikachu said proudly.

"Yeah, we didn't really know what was going on but we did our best!" Ash said, patting Pikachu on the head. "Have you really never lost a battle?"

He frowned slightly. "How do you do that? Do you think it's given you trouble? I learned a lot from some of the times I lost battles and had to think again, that's how I properly made friends with my Charizard!"

Leon laughed. "Well, maybe that's true!" he said. "I really look forward to a chance to see if it is."

"There you are, Ash!" Lance said, and Goh blinked.

"...okay, I know how Leon would want to speak to us, but you know Lance as well?" he said.

"Ash has helped me out a couple of times," Lance explained. "Though we've never had the chance for a proper battle."

"That would be cool!" Ash said, then subsided a bit. "But I don't really think I can do one at the moment. Pikachu's as strong as ever but we don't know how that Dynamax or Gigantamax thing works yet, and my other two Pokémon at the moment are still new – actually, Lance, you're a Dragon Tamer, right? I bet you'd love to meet them!"

"You've got some Dragon-type Pokémon?" Lance guessed. "I don't only train Dragon-type Pokémon, but they're the ones I started out with and I still focus on them. It sounds like it would be great to meet them."

"I'm interested, as well," Leon said.

"Isn't this going to give you an unfair advantage, if you know what Ash's Pokémon are?" Goh asked. "If he does reach the finals of the World Coronation Series, I mean."

"If I reach the finals, I'll know their Pokémon and they'll know mine anyway!" Ash rebuffed. "I don't mind at all!"

He held out a Pokéball. "Come on out, Dragonite! Lance has a Dragonite, too!"

"A Dragonite?" Lance repeated, then got thoroughly hugged.

"I see what you mean," he said. "She's new to being a Dragonite, isn't she?"

"Wow," Goh said, quietly. "That's really impressive. Lance must know Dragon Pokémon really well."

"Pikaaa," Pikachu agreed, nodding.

"Scoor-bun?" Scorbunny asked. "Bunbun. Bun?"

"Pika-Pikapi, pika chuuu," Pikachu explained.

"Yeah, that's one of the bonuses of being specialized!" Ash said. "Like my friends Brock and Misty, they were really experienced type specialists so they knew a lot about their specific kind of Pokémon. But Cilan was that good with loads of Pokémon, I really learned a lot from him!"

"I like your attitude, Ash," Leon said.

"And this is Latias!" Ash went on, sending out the other Dragon-type, and Lance stared.

"That's amazing," he said, a few seconds later. "I never thought I'd see one up this close… you're a lucky trainer, Ash. Though I'm sure you've earned having her!"

Latias waved, a bit embarrassed.

"So!" Leon declared, clapping his hands together, then got hugged.

"She does that with everyone?" Lance guessed.

"Yep!" Ash agreed. "It's really nice she's got such a good attitude, right?"

"So," Leon said, again, though with a bit more difficulty owing to having Wrap used on him. "Ash, Pikachu – how about I show you how Gigantamax works?"

Goh looked torn for a moment, then sighed and got out his phone.

Ash might be too busy to take photos, but he wasn't going to be.

"You've been to Unova before, right, Ash?" Goh checked, as he finally finished looking around at Castelia City. "It feels like you've been everywhere!"

"I haven't been everywhere, no," Ash replied. "I've been to a lot of places, though!"

He frowned. "I guess it depends what you count as going to a place… but I still probably haven't been everywhere. But yeah, I've definitely come to Unova before, it's a place with lots of great Pokémon!"

Goh laughed.

"Where do you think doesn't have lots of great Pokémon?" he asked.

Ash frowned, clearly thinking hard.

"Is this a trick question?" he checked.

"No, Ash," Goh replied. "All right… we were looking for an archaeology site…"

He checked his phone. "Where is it?"

"The Colossus Ruins," the Rotom Phone replied. "In the Desert Resort."

"That sounds like it could be right," Ash said. "Ruins sounds like an archaeology site! And the Desert Resort… huh."

"Huh?" Goh repeated. "That sounds like you've heard of it?"

"Well, I remember Professor Juniper said something about it," Ash shrugged. "There was something about a weird energy flow in the Desert Resort, it caused a Venipede stampede from there to Castelia. She said she'd go and find out what was going on, but I never heard back what was actually going on there."

He glanced at Pikachu. "Maybe we'll find out, huh?"

"Pika-ka-chuuu?" Pikachu asked.

"I guess the Rockets might have done it," Ash admitted.

"Those… you mean the Team Rocket agents we've run into?" Goh asked. "...Ash, how long have you been dealing with them?"

"Since I first set out!" Ash replied, with a grin. "I saw Ho-Oh first, but not really by much…"

Pikachu's ears twitched.

"Pika!" he said. "Ka-chuuuu!"

"Really?" Ash asked. "I guess we are in Unova!"

Goh blinked.

"I'm still not used to that," he admitted, looking at Scorbunny for clues.

Scorbunny shrugged, apparently not able to help, or possibly lacking context for what Pikachu had said.

Aww… a mental voice complained. You're way too good at that, Pikachu!

"Pikaa!" Pikachu said, proudly. "Ka-chuu, pika!"

"...who said that?" Goh asked. "Not Pikachu, the… voice."

"This is Goh!" Ash said, pointing at his friend. "And that's his Scorbunny. They're cool, Victini, you don't need to worry about him!"

"...Victini?" Goh repeated. "Isn't that another Legendary Pokémon?"

"Yeah, and, please don't catch him, okay?" Ash asked. "I helped him out when there was trouble with the People of the Vale, there was a guy called Damon and a Reshiram and a Zekrom and I helped convince the two of them to stop arguing so they could help save Victini…"

He let that trail off for a moment, then brightened. "Oh! Is that what this is about, Victini?"

Yeah! Victini agreed, becoming visible, and waved at Goh. I didn't know if you were going to be in Unova any time soon or if I'd run into you.

He looked around at the city, then went invisible again. ...but I didn't think through how many people there were here…

"Latias is the same, sometimes," Ash said. "She's getting better, but I think some of that is that she's my Pokémon so that means she's safe against people who could try and catch her. You're better off if people don't know you're there in the first place, except the People of the Vale."

Yeah, Victini agreed, then clapped his hands. But I was looking for you for a reason! I came up with a boon that isn't cheating!

"Ka-chuu?" Pikachu asked. "Pikaa!"

"Yeah, I was worried about if it would be making my Pokémon stronger," Ash replied. "I want to do as well as I can in the World Coronation Series, but doing it because you'd made my Pokémon way stronger would be cheating… working with a Pokémon for months so you can think the same as them and really resonate with them, that's being a good trainer, but just getting the strength for free isn't the same thing."

Exactly! Victini said.

His voice altered a bit as he moved around, flying in an invisible circle. So, um… you have a phone, right? I need to do something with it.

"Sure!" Ash agreed, getting the white-gold phone out.

"Bun?" Scorbunny asked.

Goh glanced at the Fire-type, and shrugged.

Some things didn't need translation.

And… there we go! Victini declared. Mewtwo helped me with making it into an app… now if you're having trouble with Team Rocket or need to help someone out, you can pick a Pokémon and make them stronger! It takes a bit of time to recharge, and it'll be really obvious when it happens too!

"Thanks, Victini!" Ash said. "Goh and I are going to head out to the desert in a bit, but… want to share some Casteliacones first? Dragonite and Latias haven't had any yet, either, so we can make it a tasting thing!"

"...who's Mewtwo?" Goh asked.

"Which one do you mean?" Ash replied. "The answer's different for the two of them… oh, no, hold on, I actually can't tell you a lot of it because I promised. Sorry Goh."

Goh blinked a few times.

"Can I at least get a picture of Victini?" he asked.

Some days later, Ash's team had grown by one with the addition of Gengar – a Ghost-type who'd been haunting the Cerise Labs – and Goh's Scorbunny had evolved to Raboot.

Something seemed to be troubling the Vermillion boy, though, and he glanced at Ash as Ash flicked through screens on his phone.

"What are you doing?" Goh asked. "I'm kind of afraid to hear what the answer is, I have to admit…"

"I'm looking for who would be a good opponent for my first World Coronation Series match!" Ash explained. "I'm trying to find someone who's local – Professor Cerise explained to me how the rating system works, and right now because I've not been in the World Coronation Series until now I'm really low ranking, which means that winning a match will let me get a long way up the ranks."

He shrugged. "But that can wait! Did you want to ask something?"

"Several things, actually," Goh replied. "Because, uh… have you decided who you're using?"

"Mostly!" Ash replied. "Not for this specific battle, but I'm making a new team for the World Coronation Series matches. So far that means Pikachu of course, and then Gengar, Dragonite and Latias!"

"Pika-chuuu!" Pikachu said, proudly, glancing back at the three much bigger Pokémon relaxing at the other end of the table.

"Gennn-GAR!" the Ghost-type agreed. "Gaar!"

Dragonite attempted to hug him, and went through.

Since she'd done that several times already, she just frowned slightly, then inspected her paws before trying again.

"You're building a whole new team?" Goh repeated.

"Yeah, I do it a lot!" Ash confirmed. "Unless I really need to bring back one of the older Pokémon, and of course I do that a lot to help train the others, but the way I see it is… so, you know I've got a lot of Pokémon, right?"

"I've seen at least half a dozen Pokémon show up so far, and you've mentioned others, but I've never counted them," Goh replied, thinking. "I know you don't try and catch every Pokémon you see like I do, so… you've got, what, twenty? Twenty-five?"

"I think it's up to fifty-seven, if you count thirty Tauros as just one," Ash replied. "I might be off by one or two though, some of them are kind of weird cases. I've never really been sure if Nebby or Mimey count, or if Rotom does either."

"I am quite good at counting!" Rotom said, displaying a Razz berry on its screen.

"That's, uh," Goh said, blinking. "More than I was expecting? You've caught nearly ninety Pokémon?"

Dragonite looked just as surprised as Goh did.

"Niiiii-te!" she said. "Dragoonn-nite!"

"Sure!" Ash agreed. "It'll take a while because some of them aren't even back at Pallet, but I'll make sure you can hug everyone some time!"

Dragonite pumped her paws in the air, cheering. "Niiii-ite!"

"So you must be even better at this than I thought," Goh resumed. "I was actually going to ask about that… a lot of my Pokémon seem happy with not actually battling, but I've got no idea what's up with Raboot now. How do you make sure none of your Pokémon feel left out?"

"Some of it is that I have my experienced Pokémon help out with training," Ash replied. "Some of it is that Bulbasaur is really great and I've got him to help out. Some of it is that the Pokémon who really want to can go off on training trips, and that they all have good friends back home to spend time with, and Professor Oak and Tracey are really good at keeping them all happy… but a lot of it is actually why I'm building a new team now!"

He grinned. "Everyone gets to be part of a team for one big thing! Then I swap around and build a new team, mostly. Sometimes that's a bit different, like Donphan especially didn't have much time in Johto so I made sure to use him in the Battle Frontier, but the Battle Frontier was an extra kind of thing… anyway, that's how it works. But Raboot… any ideas, Pikachu? I think you know him better than me."

"Chuuu, Pika, Pikapi!" Pikachu said, posing. "Pika-chuuu?"

Goh stared. "Did Pikachu just do an imitation of an Excadrill?"

"Huh," Ash frowned. "So… it's not like Excadrill, huh? Is there anyone it is like?"

Pikachu shrugged. "Chuu, pika-ka."

"Okay, I guess we don't know enough to help yet!" Ash replied, shrugging. "Sorry, Goh. I guess maybe… ask Raboot how you can help? But it might just be that there isn't any way to help."

His phone went bing.

"Oh, cool!" Ash declared, picking the Rotom-inhabited phone up again. "Vermillion City Gym… oh, Lt. Surge isn't in town but there's a substitute instead?"

Pikachu's cheeks sparked.

"I know, Pikachu, but you beat his Raichu anyway!" Ash said. "Let's see what this substitute gym leader is like, if she wants a World Coronation Series battle! Come on, guys!"

"Gaar!" Gengar declared, then Dragonite attempted to hug him again.

Latias made a querying noise.

"I could try using you, if you want!" Ash replied.

"Pii-kachu!" Pikachu declared.

"Oh, if she wants me to decide… I guess I'd feel more comfortable about it if she had another move or two," Ash replied. "Dragon Pulse isn't quite working yet and nor is Extrasensory. We could wait until then?"

Latias shook her head. "Tiii-as."

"Then you can watch!" Ash suggested. "And once we're done, I'll bring Noctowl and Gible over to have another go at both moves, okay?"

Days after Ash's first WCS battle, in the middle of a Pokémon Orienteering event organized by Professor Cerise, a boy called Oliver returned his Meganium with a sigh.

"I guess I should have expected that to happen," he said. "But it was a really cool battle."

"Thanks!" Ash replied, with a grin. "That's what really matters, right? Having a really cool battle… that's what matters."

Oliver nodded, looking rueful.

"Still…" he said. "I know your Pikachu is really good, because I've seen some of his battles before, but I really thought Meganium would be able to beat him. He's a tough Pokémon too."

"Yeah, your Meganium is amazing!" Ash agreed. "I guess… I don't really have an exact way to explain it, but it's something like… Pikachu and I have a really strong bond, and that means I know exactly what he can do."

Oliver thought that over.

"So… because you know exactly what he can do, that means you never ask too much of him?" he tried. "Or is it something else?"

"That's some of it!" Ash agreed. "But there's other stuff too, like… because I know what he can do, and Pikachu knows it, he trusts me really deeply. So that… so that he's always going to do what I say, without hesitation, because we trust one another."

"Kaa-pikachuu!" Pikachu agreed, sounding a bit tired.

"Still!" Ash went on, glancing at his teammates on the orienteering course.

They'd been doing most of the work, with Ash around to act as a special guide and help identify the Pokémon they ran into, but right now both kids were just staring at him.

"I guess I should say," Ash said. "You don't have to be that close to a Pokémon before you start battling. It took us ages, huh Pikachu?"

"Chuu!" Pikachu agreed, and Ash crouched down to let Pikachu run up his arm and onto his back.

"I wanted to mention that because it's easy to forget," Ash went on to explain. "But the only way to learn that is to work with your Pokémon a lot! So don't worry, Latias, Dragonite, you'll get your first battle soon!"

"Did you say Latias?" Oliver repeated, blinking. "And you have a Dragonite as well?"

"Yeah, but I'm supposed to be helping these two today!" Ash said, indicating the kids who were doing the Pokémon Orienteering with him. "So I wanted to set a good example!"

"Chuuu!" Pikachu giggled. "Pika-ka-chuu!"

Then he gasped. "Pika! Pikapi, pika!"

"Huh?" Ash asked, before following Pikachu's pointing paw.

There was the silhouette of a Lugia out over Vermillion Bay.

"Let's go and see what's up, guys!" Ash declared.

"Huh," Oliver frowned. "That's not…"

Ash's party met with Goh and Professor Cerise's parties on the waterfront, and Goh declared that he'd caught a lot of Pokémon.

Then, in quick succession, it turned out that the Lugia was actually Team Rocket's latest balloon, then they managed to trap Pikachu, Raboot and the Cerise family Yamper, and Ash realized that Team Rocket were up to their old tricks again.

Though admittedly that last one hadn't been much of a stretch to work out.

"Let Raboot go!" Goh shouted.

"Why would we do that?" James asked. "Their cage is over the water now anyway!"

"And you shouldn't be selfish!" Jessie added. "How many Pokémon do you have now, anyway? Why not let us have one?"

"Raboot is – he doesn't want it!" Goh insisted.

"Pikachu, hold on a moment!" Ash said. "Latias – Noctowl told you what we do to Team Rocket's balloons, right? Dragonite, get ready to catch that cage!"

He sent both Dragon-types out, then there was a sound like tearing cloth and an Aeroblast slashed across the sky, straight into the balloon – popping it in moments.

Then water swirled into a whirlpool, and a real Lugia appeared from underwater. It caught the cage before Dragonite could get there, letting all three Pokémon down safely, and Pikachu smashed open the cage bars with an Iron Tail.

"You could do dat all along?!" Meowth asked, sounding deeply offended, his voice slightly muffled as Jessie and James used his charm to activate the Rocket Gacha Machine. "What's da big idea lettin' us think we were gonna win, then?"

"Pika-chuu," Pikachu said, brightly, then glanced at Raboot. "Chuuu, Pika Pika-chuu?"

"...boot," Raboot muttered, glancing up at Goh.

"Well your moral lesson is kinda annoying to me!" Meowth replied.

A moment later the Rockets sent out a Skarmory and a Crobat, and Ash considered for a moment before pointing.

"Dragonite, hug Wobbuffet to keep him out of the battle!" he said. "Latias, you handle that Crobat!"

He glanced at Goh. "Think Raboot and Pikachu can deal with Skarmory?"

"Let's try!" Goh said. "Ember, Raboot!"

The first Ember attacks didn't work, even as Latias put her training in Extrasensory to good use under Ash's direction, then Goh had the idea of having Raboot kick his flaming-rock Ember at Pikachu so the experienced Electric-type could whack it in the direction of Skarmory.

That and a swirl of wind from Dragonite sent Team Rocket Blasting Off Again, and Ash congratulated Goh, Raboot, Dragonite and Latias for their good work before waving at Lugia.

"Hi!" he said. "Are you the one we met before, or are you a different one? And who was the other one who helped just now?"

The Lugia frowned.

I am the one you met before, but I don't know who the other one is, he admitted, and the voice sounded surprisingly young. I was going to help out when I saw what was going on, but the other one used Aeroblast first.

"Pika-ka-chuu?" Pikachu asked. "Chuu, Pikapi! Pi-kaaa!"

"Huh?" Ash asked. "In Johto – then you must be Silver, right?"

That's me, the Lugia replied. I came to look for you before because of the whole boons thing, but I got… distracted. I was caught up in that big battle against all those trainers!

"Ash, are you telling me you actually know this Lugia?" Goh asked. "By name?"

"We helped save him and his mom in Johto!" Ash explained. "With the help of Ritchie, I mean. Silver's the name that a human boy gave him… I think the guy who named him was called Oliver too! That's a weird coincidence, I met someone called Oliver today."

Oh, so you're who he came to battle? Silver asked. That's neat! I guess he does look different now, with the hair and stuff.

He frowned. Oh! Sorry, I almost forgot again… here you go!

A bell floated up out of the water, and Ash caught it.

That's the Tidal Bell, Silver explained. If you ring it, it can calm the sea, and if you ring it twice then it'll call on me in case you need a ride!

The young Lugia looked mildly embarrassed. It… might take me a while to get there though, unless you're somewhere near Johto…

Then Dragonite hugged him, mostly on general principle.

Silver turned out to have particularly suitable wings for hugging back, and the other Lugia got sort of forgotten.

The only one to see it turn back into a Mew was Latias, and she considered before shrugging.

It wasn't her secret to tell, after all.

"So that's what it looks like when an egg hatches," Goh said, as the white glow faded and left only moonlight illuminating the room. "It's different when I can see it in person."

"Yeah, you never really forget it," Ash agreed, nodding. "And there's something about it that a video doesn't really show you."

"Rio…" the hatched Pokémon said, looking around with confusion.

"Pika-chuu?" Pikachu asked, then jumped up on the table where Riolu's egg had been. "Chuu?"

"Lu," Riolu replied. "Riooo-lu."

"What do you think, Pikachu?" Ash asked. "How is Riolu doing?"

Pikachu shrugged. "Chuu, Pikapi?"

Goh looked at Ash. "I still don't have any idea what Pikachu is saying, so I hope you can understand him."

"I guess Riolu is still confused," Ash replied, and Pikachu nodded. "Eggs can pick up what was going on outside, you know, but I bet it's different going from one thing to another, especially since Riolu can sense Aura."

"Aura?" Goh repeated. "I've never heard of that before…"

He checked his phone. "Does Riolu's Pokédex entry say anything about Aura?"

"Yes," the Rotom phone replied. "Riolu can see auras, which change according to emotion. It uses these to communicate with others."

It made a beep noise. "Did you mean aura or Aura? The latter has a capital letter."

"I don't know," Goh replied. "Ash?"

"I guess I think of Aura as something with a capital letter," Ash replied. "Uh… hold on a sec…"

"Rio-luuu-riolu!" Riolu said, sharply.

"Ka-pika-chuu," Pikachu soothed. "Pika-chuu-pi? Pikapi?"

"Riolu's looking for something?" Ash asked. "I guess he's still not sure what's going on. I wonder who…"

He stopped. "Hang on… Pikachu, I've got an idea!"

"Pii?" Pikachu asked.

"Let's show Riolu a battle!" Ash explained.

"What?" Goh asked. "But hasn't Riolu only just hatched?"

"Pikaaa…" Pikachu said, sounding as uncertain, then glanced at Ash. "Ka-chuu?"

"I didn't mean attack Riolu!" Ash replied. "I mean-"

He reached for his Pokéballs, and Riolu tensed up – then relaxed, slightly, as Ash sent a Pokémon out instead of throwing a Pokéball at him.

Specifically, Ash sent out Latias, who yawned and blinked a few times.

"Tiii-aaas?" she asked, shaking herself. "Laa-ti?"

"Riolu's looking for something!" Ash explained. "I've got an idea what it might be, but if I'm wrong we should help him find it! What do you think about a quick battle?"

"Tii-as?" Latias replied, sounding nervous and looking at Pikachu, and Ash shrugged.

"It's okay," he decided. "Then I'll ask Gengar-"

"Rio! Riolu-luu!" Riolu interrupted, waving his paws and looking very confused.

"What are you talking about, Ash?" Goh asked, looking just as confused as Riolu. "You keep going back and forth between wanting to help Riolu and wanting to show Riolu a battle?"

"That's because I think they might be the same thing," Ash explained. "You know how I've been having these feelings of someone trying to reach out to me? Well, that started when Pikachu and I were in a battle, and Riolu can sense emotions, and there's no feeling that's quite like being in a battle, right?"

Goh exchanged a glance with Riolu.

Despite differences of culture, language and species, their agreement on the essential detail that Ash Ketchum was thoroughly confusing was plain to see.

Latias stifled a yawn, then frowned. "Laa-ti-tias?"

"Pi-ika," Pikachu pointed out the window. "Pi, Pikapi?"

"Yeah, I guess doing it outside makes more sense!" Ash agreed. "Want to watch, Riolu? Or do you want to come outside so you can watch more closely?"

Two minutes later, Ash was outside – still in his pyjamas – and Riolu was sitting on the windowsill to watch, mostly because that was where Ash's whirlwind of energy had left him.

"Okay, Pikachu!" Ash said, from behind Latias. "Do your best, okay?"

"Laaa?" Latias asked, glancing back at Ash.

"Well, yeah!" Ash replied. "I want you to do your best too, of course!"

He grinned. "Ready?"

Dragonite held up both paws, then slashed them down. "Nite!"

"Dragon Pulse!" Ash told Latias.

Pikachu used Thunderbolt, the electric attack bursting out near-instantly, and it hit Latias's Dragon Pulse with an explosion of sparkling light that lit up the night.

"Dodge – right!" Ash said, and Latias whipped off in that direction. "Cloak, and come around for an Aerial Ace… and – Extrasensory instead!"

"Chuuuuu-Pi-KA!" Pikachu shouted, using Iron Tail, and his shimmering tail deflected away Latias's attack. He twirled around in mid-air, using Thunderbolt as well, and electricity flashed along Latias's feathers as she went whipping past.

"Ri-oooo…" Riolu said, then saw Ash adjust his stance slightly.

It wasn't anything anyone could have explained. It was just something about the way Ash was standing.

"Fly up high and use Dragon Pulse!" he said, and Latias did just that – shooting into the night, and firing down a pulse of green energy.

Pikachu had all the time he needed to get out of the way, and Ash pointed. "Come around to here, Latias – and – Extrasensory the Dragon Pulse!"

The burst of psychic power intersected with the Dragon Pulse attack, knocking it off the course it had been on and into Pikachu instead, and for a moment a cloud of smoke obscured the Electric-type – until Pikachu whipped his tail to drive the smoke away, revealing that he'd wrapped himself in a Counter Shield.

"How did you do that?" Goh demanded. "That intercept shot would have been hard normally, but you knew exactly where Latias was – even though she's invisible!"

"Nite!" Dragonite called, waving her arms in a time-out signal. "Drag-oonite!"

"Yeah, heh," Ash said, rubbing the back of his neck and grinning. "I actually got reminded by the whole Aura thing! I can see them if I concentrate, but I don't normally need to… and training Latias is why I know how long her Extrasensory and Dragon Pulse take to fly, that's why! Then it's just kinda… like guesswork, but a bit more precise!"

"I don't even know what words to use for what that was," Goh admitted. "When it's you commanding Pikachu, it's easy to miss, but you're like that with all your Pokémon?"

"Not all of them," Ash replied, with a shrug. "I need a bit of time to get used to a Pokémon again after they've not been on my team, they might have gotten faster!"

"Ri-oooo-lu!" Riolu declared, jumping down from the windowsill. "Lu-riolu!"

"Pi-pika-kachuuu!" Pikachu said, walking over to shake Riolu's paw.

"Oh, that was what you were after?" Ash asked, glancing at Pikachu. "That sounded like, welcome to the team, to me!"

Riolu nodded.

Ash grinned. "You know, I met a Riolu once who could use Aura Sphere, I'm kind of out of practice on doing it myself but we could work it out together, right?"

"Stop making me have more questions!" Goh pleaded.

AN:

A much bigger one than normal! This one is a candidate "full series" for the future – it's not yet at that point, and I've been heavily focused on Golden-Eyed Heir To Myth over on AO3, but I thought I'd share this chapter to give people a chance to see it.

The basic idea is to have all the Legendary Pokémon who Ash helped in some way turning up to repay him, intermixed with the whole of Journeys, and Goh generally being like wtf.