Well, here it is, the forty-second part of the fifth and final installment in my 'Heart' series. The Circhester Rock Contest is in the past and Dawn managed to get some revenge for May by defeating Harley in the final even if Dawn's shocking change when she Mega Evolved her Banette disturbed many and now she has to alert the committee if she's got Banette in her rotation for a Contest. That didn't matter to Dawn because she had to win against Harley and now she had and in the process secured her third regional ribbon on the path to the Majestic Festival and with time to spare before she has to go to another region. Well, that just means that it's time for Ash to enjoy Galar and have some battles with the best that Galar has to offer below Leon to keep in shape and maybe earn a few prizes that could come in use in the future. First up on that list is Piers, the only dark type gym leader in the world and a unique challenge for Ash so it's off to Spikemuth City to face Piers but who knows what might happen along the way because the journey can be just as exciting as the destination when you're with Ash Ketchum. That is all the administrative stuff I have for this Part and while there are no questions to answer nor guest reviews to respond to so I will leave this off here. Do please keep your reviews coming as I love hearing from y'all. That is it for this pre-Part note which means that it is once again time to sit back which and enjoy the latest installment in Heart of Champions. Part CCXXXI: Stranded in Circhester Bay.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

Part CCXXXI: Stranded in Circhester Bay

"This looks like a good spot to set up camp." Ash said as he and Dawn pulled off the path that connected Route 9 to the southern shore of Circhester Bay and onto a small grassy plain at the top of a low cliff overlooking the bay to the north of them. "It's warmer here and there's no need to press on now that we've crossed the bay. We wouldn't reach Spikemuth today anyway."

"True, it's getting late and from here we should be within a day of Spikemuth so long as we leave early in the morning." Dawn agreed as she put her bag down. "And now that we're free of the cold we can sleep under the stars, haven't been able to do that in Galar and I'd like to for the night."

Ash just nodded at that as he set down his own bag and began to pull out a small folding chair that he had while Dawn did the same. It was still a little too early for dinner so instead they'd just relax for a little bit after another long day of travel before getting food ready, playing with the Pokémon, and then turning in for the night.

They were two days south of Circhester now and three days since Dawn's win over Harley in the Circhester Rock Contest and finally they were closing in on Spikemuth. They had the time though so they weren't pushing themselves and had even taken a day off in Circhester to enjoy the city and for Dawn to recover, she needed it following Mega Evolving Banette in the final, before leaving Circhester and heading south on Route 9. According to their map, that was the fastest route to Spikemuth so long as they headed east at the fork after Circhester Bay and not west.

Until now they been in the cold, snow covered, areas south of Circhester as they made their way to Circhester Bay, an iceberg covered stretch of water that broke up Route 9 and which they would have to navigate across to continue their journey. They'd reached the bay the night before and camped out on the north shore of it before setting out that morning to cross it.

It hadn't been an easy crossing and for the first time in years Ash wished that he still had his Lapras as it would have made the crossing easy but he'd made Lapras a promise back in the Orange Islands to release it once he'd reunited it with its family and had kept it so Ash and Dawn had to find a new way across the bay. Thankfully they were able to get to the large ice and rock formation that was roughly in the center of the bay with relative ease thanks to a passing local who took them there on his Wailmer but he was training in the ice so couldn't take them further meaning that they had to find their way from there.

That hadn't been too hard over the ice and rocks as they could just walk that part even if it took a fair bit of time but after that there was a final stretch of water that they had to cross to reach the south shore and neither of them felt like swimming. Ultimately, Ash had had to call in Charizard and Dragonite to, after being engulfed by Charizard's welcome flame, to take them across the final bit on their backs. Well Charizard did that for Ash, Dragonite just carried Dawn and Piplup in its arms.

Ash hadn't planned on bringing them in but it had worked and he was considering using Charizard in his battle with Raihan and Dragonite was a dragon type so even if he didn't use the Dragon Pokémon in his coming battles, Raihan was a dragon specialist and thus Dragonite would be great for training for the battle. As such, Ash decided to keep both in his roster for the moment even if neither would likely be used against Piers.

Plus both were two of Ash's strongest Pokémon so their training and experience would be vital in preparing for his coming battle and therefore once dinner was ready in an hour or so he'd introduce Charizard and Dragonite to Grookey and Farfetch'd who were still with him so that they could get to know his newest two just like they'd done with Rowlet and Meltan back at the ranch. That would come later though as they had a bit of time to relax as Ash and Dawn sat back to looked out over Circhester Bay enjoying the late afternoon and the relative warmth on the southern side of the bay.

This would also be their last time to properly relax because all of tomorrow would be traveling to ensure that they reached Spikemuth, settled in there, and Ash at least sent a message to Piers from the Pokémon Center that he'd arrived in the city before dinner. He had a letter of introduction for the Spikemuth Gym Leader from Leon that also allowed him to have an official battle for the Dark Badge despite not taking the normal route to it, Spikemuth was the 7th gym in Galar's specific gym challenge order, so Ash was really looking forward to the battle and the chance to get a Dynamax Band.

That was just one of the two things that Ash was looking forward to in Spikemuth, however, the other was the fact that Piers ran the only dark type gym in the world that Ash knew of so facing him in an official battle would complete the set for Ash. He couldn't wait to see what that would be like and he was as ready as he could be for the battle as he and Dawn finished setting up their chairs.

"Ready for Spikemuth?" Dawn asked unaware that Ash was thinking about how ready he was as they settled into their chairs while Pikachu flopped down on the grass next to him and Piplup waddled over to look out at the water, he'd not been allowed to swim as it was too far for him to safely cross on his own, but he wanted to head down and play in it now that they were on the south shore. "We've been so focused on what I've needed to do that we've not had time to really think about the battles that you're going to have in Galar."

"Well what you're doing is more important as you're qualifying for the Majestic Festival while I'm just training by facing the toughest non-Champions in whichever region we're in other than Alola but that was an exception." Ash pointed out. "But yeah, I'm ready for it just need to swap one Pokémon in for the battle but I'll do that in the morning. Now that your Contests are over here, though, I admit that I'm starting to feel the excitement of a new battle against an unknown opponent just like I had with Gladion in Alola and this is something that I've never experienced before so I can't wait."

"A dark type gym, I've seen pretty much all the other types but yeah this is new for us to visit." Dawn admitted. "Never seen a dragon type one either, though, but I presume they exist as well."

"They do, I faced one in Johto and if I face Raihan I'll face another one here in Galar as the Hammerlocke Gym is a dragon type gym which I'm really looking forward to as well, especially as Raihan is supposed to be the second strongest trainer in Galar behind Leon." Ash said. "Plus there's one in Unova as well, I know about that one despite not facing it because Iris is likely going to take over someday but I never faced it while there."

"But you got 8 Gym Badges in Unova so how's that possible?" Dawn asked a bit confused. "You had them by the time we reunited there for a bit."

"Unova and Kanto are the only regions that I know of with more than 8 gyms but you just need 8 to qualify for a League Conference." Ash explained. "Those two have at least 10 gyms though I don't know what the other two in Kanto are, only that they exist because Gary got 10 gym badges in Kanto not 8."

"I see, that is odd but I do recall Iris mentioning that she's being considered to lead a gym in her home region though she doesn't think that she's ready yet hence why she's in Alola at the moment as she wants to get stronger and experience more of the world first." Dawn said nodding before she thought on all the gyms she'd seen with Ash and realized that there were a few other types that she'd not seen but which Ash had definitely faced as dark was the only type he'd not faced. "In fact, now that I think on it, I've not seen flying, ground, or normal type gyms either though I know that May's dad runs a normal type gym in Hoenn and Valerie's was a normal type gym before it became a fairy type one."

"He does and I've faced normal type gyms in Johto and Unova as well as Hoenn." Ash said recalling all of them well. "As for the others, I've faced flying type gyms in Johto, Hoenn, and Unova, that last one was after Cilan faced it due to how the gym leader handled things, or didn't as she just wanted to fly her plane all day, but when I faced and beat her I changed her mind."

"Of course you did Ash, that's just what you do." Dawn said with a smile. "And ground? I know that you've faced at least one of that type as well but it wasn't in Sinnoh, Kanto, or Hoenn so where was it?"

"Well there are actually two that I know of but my experience with the Viridian Gym was different though I hear that the new full time gym leader there is a ground expert who's doing a good job, so much so that he or she earned the position after only being an interim placement." Ash said recalling what Leon had told him about how Piers had been supposed to go to Viridian to be its permanent Gym Leader and make it the second dark type gym in the world but that they found a ground specialist from Kanto to take it over instead. "The one I did face though was in Unova, guy called Clay in Driftveil City. That was in a mine but such is the nature of Unova's gyms."

"You said, they're all something else." Dawn said recalling what Ash had told her about his adventures in Unova, as well as what she'd heard from Cilan and Iris. "Like how one is a restaurant and another is basically a fashion show."

"Yup, the others that I faced were a library, an airfield, a conservatory of sorts, an ice skating rink, and an underground metal rave." Ash said recalling the other Unova gyms that he'd challenged. "It's an interesting way of doing things just as all but Spikemuth's gym in Galar are stadiums. That's another difference though it's one that's changing to fit the standard Galar model when Piers retires and hands it over to his younger sister. However, the new gym won't be in the city apparently as there's no Power Spot there."

"You mentioned, well it will be interesting to say the least." Dawn said as she leaned back in her chair and enjoyed a warm breeze for a second. "And I for one am looking forward to seeing this new city and gym. I'm all ready for a little time off training and supporting you while also not freezing the entire time. I don't mind the cold but it can get a bit much after a while."

"Yeah, Circhester was nice but it does feel nice to get out of the cold." Ash said. "Feels like all regions have a really cold area to deal with."

"Or areas, Kalos had two what with the mountains between Dendemille and Anistar and Snowbelle City itself." Dawn said. "But yeah it is pretty normal for a region to have a cold area and sometimes it's hard to determine where or why like in Snowbelle's case."

"That's true, in Kanto it's the Seafoam Islands." Ash said thinking on it. "Which are in the southern waters. At least in Sinnoh Snowpoint City is in the far north."

"Yeah there's no doubt in Sinnoh and for what it's worth Circhester is both northern and in the mountains though Sonia told me of a tundra to the far south so regions seem to have their own habitats that defy what you'd expect." Dawn said. "Where are the snow areas of Hoenn and Unova? We know from Lillie that the only snow in Alola is atop Mt. Lanakila, that's where she won her ribbon and earned her nickname, but given how tropical Alola is that makes sense. I know that in Johto Mahogony Town is near ice and snow, I had a Contest there, but the town itself isn't that cold itself. However, I don't know where the areas of the other two regions are."

"I remember Mahogony Town, it's where Pryce is, he's and ice specialist and gym leader who I helped find his Piloswine during my time in Johto." Ash said recalling the memory. "As for Hoenn and Unova, Hoenn's main ice area is Shoal Cave in the north east, it's a bit like the Seafoam islands in that it's not on land. As for Unova, Icirrus City is where the ice gym is located but it's not really cold there. It's in the north west if I recall but I don't really remember anything like Circhester. Georgia would be better to ask when it comes to finding snow and ice in Unova though."

"Very true, that girl lives for snow, ice, and destroying dragon types." Dawn said with a chuckle as she recalled how focused Zoey's girlfriend was on being a dragon buster. "Well, whatever the case it's clear that each region has pretty much all possible habitats for the most part though I've not really experienced much in the way of deserts."

"There's one in Hoenn and I think possibly Unova as well." Ash said thinking on all his travels. "But yeah that's one habitat that I've not experienced much of. Otherwise I've been…"

"Piplup! Pip, Piplup!"

The cry from Piplup got their attention right away and they looked over to see him pointing to the water below the cliff with his right wing so they got out of their chairs and hurried over to look down at where he was pointing, Pikachu joining them as well. They were confused but as Piplup pointed the sand suddenly indented slightly as if something light had put a foot down there followed by water spraying around and onto the sand around the indent. Then, slowly, a Pokémon began to become visible.

Ash's first reaction was that it might be a Kecleon as the Hoenn normal type could blend into its surroundings and become effectively invisible but that was soon revealed to not be the case as a small, Pokémon only a foot tall appeared. It was almost entirely blue with a squat body, light blue chest and face and moderately blue everywhere else except for two dark blue circles on its cheeks like Pikachu's red cheek sacks and a blue center to it's large, coiled, tail. The only non-blue part of it, other than its white sclera and pupils, was the yellow head crest atop its head though the front of it was dark blue.

Naturally, neither Ash nor Dawn knew what the Pokémon before them was but it was clear that it was a water type by its coloration, body, and the fact that it had just washed ashore and shaken itself dry all while seeming to be completely unbothered by being in the water. However, as it looked around, they could tell that the Pokémon was clearly confused and lost and Dawn acted before the others could.

"I'm pretty sure that its not supposed to be here and needs help." Dawn said as she turned and ran back to the path that led up from the sandy shore. "I'm going to help it."

"Piplup!" Piplup cried turning and waddling after his trainer. "Pip, Piplup!"

Ash would have joined Dawn but she'd already taken the initiative and if he went down he might just get in the way of what she had planned so instead he and Pikachu remained atop the cliff looking down at the scene below supporting her. Dawn of course didn't notice this as she hurried down and onto the sand before coming to a stop a few yards from the Pokémon with a slight pant in her breath. Then, when she'd gotten her breathing under control, she slowly began to make her way over the sand towards the Pokémon to see if it needed help.

"First let's see what you are." Dawn said quietly to herself as she pulled out her Pokedex. "And then go from there."

"Sobble, the Water Lizard Pokémon." Dawn's Pokedex chimed as she got into range of the Pokémon, the chime alerting Sobble to her presence as Dawn confirmed that it was a water type. "When it gets wet, its skin changes color, and this Pokémon becomes invisible as if it were camouflaged."

"So that explains why we couldn't see what it was at first." Dawn said as she put away her Pokedex and looked towards Sobble. "Are you ok Sobble? Do you need…"

Before Dawn could finish there was a cry and Sobble leapt off the sand and at her, its right forepaw thing glowing with power and drawing back for a strike. Dawn blinked at the sudden attack and instinctively backed up confused at what was going on though she was not half as confused as Sobble was and that was why it had attack the strange thing it had just encountered.

The reason for this was simple, Sobble was completely lost and had no clue where he was or what was going on at the moment. One moment he was suddenly hatching from his egg, the next he was in the water and being buffeted around in the waves. He didn't even know how long ago that had been; all he knew was that he was now out of the water having washed ashore onto whatever these fine granules were while what he presumed was a strange Pokémon was before him so he attacked out of instinct with one of the two attacks he understood that he could use.

In truth, Dawn was of course a human but Sobble had no clue what that was as he'd never seen one before. He'd been bred in one of the special habitats that suppled the Galar starters to new trainers, in his case one on an island just off the north east coast of Galar, and when his egg had been deemed movable he, along with several others, were transported down to Professor Magnolia in Wedgehurst. There he'd be hatched in her lab and raised in it to be one of the starters offered to the new Galar trainers.

However, for whatever reason, he'd matured faster than the other Sobble eggs and had unexpectedly hatched en route without anyone noticing. Hatching with no one around to imprint on and on a ship on water had stunned Sobble and he'd ended up falling off the boat and into the water while he was wandering around it trying to get his bearings.

That had been even more confusing for him but as a water type the wasn't an issue and he soon figured out swimming. However, he was still small and inexperienced so he was buffeted around by the water, thankfully his camouflage protected him from other Pokémon that might attack him, until he ended up in a current that led into Circhester Bay.

From there it was just a matter of time before he either washed up on either shore or the main island in the center of the bay or was carried further inland and washed up somewhere there. In Sobble's case he'd ended up on the south shore and that had been when Piplup had noticed it, he couldn't explain how but he knew that a fellow water type had washed up, and called out that a Pokémon was there which had led Dawn down to the shore and the confrontation.

Dawn, of course, knew none of this and backed up from the sudden attack. As she did she reached for her Poke Balls as Piplup wasn't near enough to come to her air but knew that she'd not get one off in time. At least, she thought that but as her hand went to her belt there was the distinct sound of a Poke Ball opening and a flash as one of Dawn's Pokémon came out on its own and intercepted Sobble with a cry.

"Popplio!"

Dawn just blinked as Popplio materialized before her and as he did, he coated his body in water and shot at Sobble as Sobble brought his glowing paw to bear with his Pound attack. The moves collided with a boom and Sobble tried to push through it but he was weaker than Popplio who just cried through the intercept until he pushed Sobble's hand away and finished his Aqua Jet by slamming the attack into Sobble's face.

Sobble let out a wail as he was thrown back by the blow, though it was more a mix of indignation and surprise because he'd never been hit before as he was resistant to the attack, and landed on the sand before rolling over it for a few feet. He came to a stop long before the water's edge though and groaned as he pushed himself into a crouch. As he was doing this, Popplio landed on the sand in front of Dawn with a dull thud that sent a puff of sand into the air but Popplio ignored that as he kept his eyes on the other water type that had suddenly attacked his human.

"Thanks Popplio." Dawn said as Piplup finally reached her and bent over to catch his breath from waddling as fast as he could to Dawn's side but that ended when he saw that Popplio had already acted and grit his beak as he wanted to protect Dawn and Popplio would certainly rub this in later. "What's going on?"

"Popplio." Popplio said glad to help protect his human and not knowing what this water type was up to as he kept looking at Sobble and addressed it and ask it what it was doing attacking his human for no reason. "Pop? Popplio. Pop, pop, Popplio? Popplio, pop?"

"Sobble?" Sobble asked confused as to what a human was before glaring at Popplio and going off at the unknown Pokémon before him for what it did to him when he was just acting in self-defense. "Sobble, sob, sob, Sobble. Sobble, Sobble, sob, Sobble!"

"Popplio, pop, pop, Popplio, pop." Popplio said quickly seeing that Sobble was confused, afraid, and almost certainly a new hatchling so he calmy explained that he was simple defending his trainer before explaining that a human was not a Pokémon but something else and a being who worked with Pokémon to make them better and stronger. "Popplio?"

"Sobble." Sobble said shaking his head confirming Popplio's question that he'd never met a human before so didn't know anything about them. "Sob, Sobble. Sobble, sob, Sobble."

"Popplio?" Popplio asked as he tried to figure out what was going on with Sobble as he wanted to help his fellow water type but needed to understand why it was so confused, especially because Popplio barely knew this region at all. "Pop, Popplio?"

"Sobble." Sobble said getting angry as he was confused and had no clue what was going on or where he was as he'd just hatched so he'd fallen back on anger to handle it. "Sob, Sobble!"

"Popplio." Popplio reasoned trying to calm the other water type, and unknown to him the regional water type starter just like he was in Alola, down. "Popplio, pop, pop, Popplio. Pop, pop, Popplio."

"Sobble." Sobble said shaking his head and not calming down at all, he was going to fight and he didn't care what happened and unaware that his confusion, fear, and general lostness was blinding him to the help that Popplio was trying to offer him. "Sobble, sob, Sobble!"

At that Sobble opened his mouth and blasted out a stream of water that Dawn, Popplio, and Piplup all instantly recognized as Water Gun. Popplio had been opening his mouth to continue to try to calm Sobble down, not that Dawn could tell as she was thoroughly confused by the whole exchange, but he didn't get to finish it before the Water Gun blasted him in the face.

The force of the blow caused Popplio to slide back a few inches on the sand, which was impressive for a recently hatched first stage Pokémon, but didn't do much on a fellow water type. Popplio just shook his head and sighed at his failure to get through to Sobble as it was clear that whatever had happened to Sobble it had spooked the other Pokémon badly enough that it wasn't able to see or listen to reason. Well, to Popplio there was a simple solution to the problem and one that he knew would greatly help Sobble in the long run.

"Popplio, what's going on?" Dawn asked as Popplio turned his head to her, which clearly annoyed Sobble even more so he blasted another Water Gun attack at Popplio while it was distracted by the human with it. "I'm lost here. Sobble seems really agitated now, it's not ok is it?"

"Popplio." Popplio said ignoring the Water Gun and pointing his fore left flipper at Sobble as the water hit his side and pushed him a few more feet towards Dawn while he tried to explain to his trainer what he wanted her to do. "Pop, Popplio."

"Er…" Dawn said as Sobble huffed at another failed attack and began to bound towards Popplio across the sand to try to use his other attack to get Popplio's attention. "We can fight it, sure, but is that what you want? It seems more scared than aggressive and is lashing out because of that."

"Popplio." Popplio said shaking his head pleased that Dawn at least understood that this wasn't really a battle situation, he knew already that Sobble couldn't beat him if he took this seriously, as Sobble leapt into the air his forepaw glowing again. "Pop, Popplio."

"Piplup!" Piplup cried out getting it and waving his wings to get Dawn's attention as Popplio turned back to Sobble pleased that Piplup understood what he wanted Dawn to do, he may have rivalry with his fellow water starter when it came to competing for Dawn's affection but he had to give the Penguin Pokémon credit, he knew how to get things across to Dawn that none of her other Pokémon could manage. "Pip, Piplup! Piplup, pip, pip, Piplup!"

Dawn glanced to her side where Piplup now was and looked at her starter. As she did Piplup fell to the side and closed his eyes, his wings going under his head and fake snores coming from his beak as he hit the sand. The moment that he did that it all clicked for Dawn.

"Of course that's perfect, I'm sorry Popplio, I understand now." Dawn said as she turned back to the Alolan water type starter that she had just as Sobble brought down his Pound attack on the top of Popplio's head before landing in front of the Sea Lion Pokémon ready to use Pound again. "Popplio, use Sing!"

Popplio's head had been driven down by the force of the Pound attack that he wasn't weak or resistant to the normal type attack, well no Pokémon was weak to a normal type attack as fare as he knew, but he avoided hitting the sand. So, as Sobble raised its paw to use his physical attack for a second time, Popplio snapped his head up and began to sing.

Almost at once the notes burst from his mouth and hit Sobble in the face. Even if Sobble had been far enough away to avoid it he probably wouldn't as he had no idea what this attack was so didn't know what it would do to most Pokémon, but he wasn't and the first note hit home and burst as Sobble finished raising his paw. The paw continued to raise over Sobble's head as he fell back, his eyes closing, and a second later he landed on the sand with a soft thud and began to snore as Sing put him to sleep.

The moment that he did Popplio turned to Dawn and cried out to her to catch it but he didn't exactly get his point across as he was too focused on helping Sobble than being clear. Again Piplup came to the rescue.

"Piplup!" Piplup said leaping to his feet and shaking himself clean of sand as he did all while pointing to Dawn's waist where she had her empty Poke Balls. "Pip, Piplup!"

As he did he gestured from them to the snoring Sobble and Dawn instantly got it. Something was going on and even if Sobble woke up it would still be confused and lash out, probably more so after waking from the unnatural sleep that Sing caused, and Dawn didn't want to hurt it as it wasn't acting out of malice. This was easily the best course of action and she could then sort things out at Spikemuth and get to the bottom of what was going on. It wasn't her normal style when it came to catching new Pokémon but this had to be done and she'd see what Sobble wanted once things were cleared up.

Therefore, Dawn didn't hesitate as she ripped an empty Poke Ball off her belt, enlarged it and tossed it over Popplio, who turned to watch it fly over him, and at the snoring Sobble. It hit Sobble in the side and bounced up and into the air where it opened and sucked Sobble in in a flash of red light before it fell to the sand with a soft thumping sound and stuck there.

Dawn just watched as the light in the center of the Poke Ball flashed red and it shook a few times, her breath held in the usual tense way that one got when waiting to see if a catch was successful or not. It felt like forever but it was only a few seconds before the ball finally stopped shaking and there was a click as the capture was registered and the ball remained.

That was because Dawn had the space for Sobble in her roster seeing as other than Piplup, she only had her new catches that she'd made since starting on her quest for the Majestic Festival. As such she only had Popplio, Jangmo-o, and Sizzlipede in addition to Piplup right now.

Normally Dawn would have a few more but with her Galar ribbon secured and a little time before she headed to the next region, Dawn had decided that she was going to spend the rest of her time in Galar focusing on her new Pokémon. This would help her bond more with her new Pokémon while training them up at the same time so that in the next region that she and Ash visited she could do a Contest with just them and it looked like Sobble would be joining her for that, so long as it agreed to stay with her once she'd sorted it out.

"A bit different, kinda like Spiritomb in a way though Shuppet saved us there and I hadn't caught him yet when he did that." Dawn said as she walked over to the Poke Ball and crouched down to pick it up. "And there are a lot of things to sort out as something is off but for now I caught a Sobble!"

"Piplup!"

"Popplio!"

The pair of water starters cheered as they'd helped Dawn catch another water starter, though all three of them weren't aware of that just yet, and Dawn smiled at them as she shrunk the Poke Ball and put it on her waist before bending down to rub her Pokémon's heads to thank them for their help. She then picked Piplup up and put him on her head before taking Popplio in her arms and turning to walk up to Ash where he and Pikachu, along with all of his current roster that he'd let out while Popplio was trying to reason with Sobble, had been watching what was going on.

Ash just grinned as Dawn came up to him. True it had been a bit different to a normal capture but that happened often with them, and was nothing compared to how Dawn had caught her Malamar, so he wasn't surprised at all and was happy that Dawn had a new Pokémon.

"Well you caught it." Ash said. "Sobble if I heard right."

"I did though I'm pretty sure that something is off about the whole situation." Dawn said with a nod as she reached him and put Popplio down while Piplup leapt off her head and the water types went over to Pikachu and the others to regale them with their battle, well Piplup did while Popplio explained what was going on and how he couldn't reason with Sobble so he had Dawn put it to sleep and catch it so that they could all help it out later. "It doesn't feel like a Sobble should be here, something about the its reaction to washing ashore makes me feel like a Sobble doesn't appear in the wild often and the way it was acting, it was scared and confused in a way I've not seen before."

"Meaning that it no doubt went through something traumatic that it couldn't comprehend." Ash said understanding why Dawn had caught Sobble after putting it to sleep with Sing. "And so we need to get to Spikemuth as soon as possible tomorrow to find out if something has happened recently and see what Sobble wants after it's calmed down, come to terms with what's happened to it, and you've had a chance to befriend it properly."

"Precisely." Dawn said but as she said it Ash's stomach roared at her and she laughed. "Though I think it's time for dinner so let's get it ready and then turn in early, after a little fun of course, as we should get up early tomorrow to make it to Spikemuth in good time."

"Agreed." Ash said with a nod as he turned to his bag and began to get out their dinner materials. "So let's get to it."

Dawn just smiled as she let out her other Pokémon, other than Sobble as she couldn't until she'd had it checked out by a Nurse Joy, and began to prepare dinner for all the Pokémon present while Ash made their dinner. It had certainly been an interesting and unexpected end to a long and surprisingly eventful day but such was life when you traveled with Ash Ketchum. Next up was Spikemuth and it's unique dark type gym so neither could wait for that as their time in Galar shifted to what Ash wanted to achieve here before they moved onto the next region on their global journey.

I think that that's a good place to end this chapter, a standard transition chapter with a new capture that is a bit different to normal. I was a little torn on whether or not to give Dawn a Sobble but enough people made good points on it and it worked better than an evolution here as none of Dawn's new Pokémon are really ready to evolve at the moment so instead she got herself another regional water starter to go with Ash's Galar grass starter. Plus the path from Circhester to Spikemuth went over water so having Dawn catch a Sobble here made the most sense and worked with the flow and location of the story so in the end I opted for it. Other than that, there really isn't much else to say about this Part so I will leave it off here. As always if you like my work then please favorite (both this story and me in general to be notified of any new content I post), if possible leave a review as I really like hearing what you think of my work and your suggestions that help complete this story (and respond as best I can) and just in general keep enjoying my work. Until next time.

Stringdog