When Ash eventually got back to his room – after Hoopa made him a portal, and Solgaleo lifted him up to reach it – it felt like he'd been gone for hours.
But his room looked just the same as it had before, so it seemed he'd only been gone for a few minutes. Even the clock looked the same.
"Ash, Dinner is ready soon!" his mom called up the stairs. "Did you finish tidying your room yet?"
...or maybe it had been a bit longer than that after all. And his clock was broken anyway.
Delia Ketchum hummed to herself as she scrubbed out a pot.
It had been a good day so far. Ash had had a great time at school, learning all about some bit of history that Delia couldn't remember from her schooldays but which seemed to fascinate him, and then he'd gone upstairs – and whatever he'd been doing from then until dinner hadn't made much mess in his room, so that was good too.
And it wasn't that much longer until bedtime – it was already dark, after all. But there might be time to watch some television together before then.
"Um, Mom?"
Delia looked around, smiling. "What is it, Ash?"
"That Bird-type's back again," Ash said. "Is it okay if I have some mochi?"
"Flying-type, dear," Delia corrected gently. "And that should be all right. Is it the same one?"
"I think it is," Ash replied, frowning slightly. "I think if it was a different one each them then a lot of Pokémon would know about it, and then there wouldn't just be one. Right?"
Delia chuckled. "Look at you, being a Pokémon professor!"
She got a box of dango out of the fridge. "Here you go, dear. And don't forget to let me know if your friend evolves, because then they might want more."
Really, Delia thought Ash probably ate at least half of it anyway.
There weren't many kinds of Flying-type Pokémon in the area and the only ones who tended to come close enough to town to interact with humans were a flock of Pidgey, the parents of which had occasionally been fed by herself and her friends when she was a young girl. But it wasn't like he was overdoing it if he was.
And he wasn't in any danger from a Pidgey, though perhaps if it evolved she might get a little more worried.
"So Mom asked me to let her know if you evolved," Ash said, holding out a skewer.
The big yellow-and-black Flying-type leaned in the window, and delicately removed a dango ball from the skewer.
"Does that mean you might get even bigger?" he asked. "Because I think you'd be too big to fit your beak through the window if you did!"
Zapdos looked extremely worried by the mere prospect.
The sun shone through the trees, and wind rustled the leaves, and Suicune stood perfectly still as she watched.
She was not sure what she should do under these conditions.
When Lord Ho-Oh had told her to check up on a human child, Suicune had understood. He wasn't the only Legendary Pokémon who kept an eye on how the human world was doing, and the Three Beasts of Johto criss-crossed the land at great speed maintaining the balance between the Human World and the World of Pokémon, and to look at how a particular human was doing was nothing unusual if they might affect that balance.
She'd arrived ten minutes ago, and discovered more or less immediately that the child was only seven years old. Which was considerably stranger.
Then he'd met what was probably the Kanto Mew in a hole underneath a tree, a Pokémon that even Suicune hadn't been able to track down in more than a decade, and she'd been about to jump in to help Mew out until the little Psychic-type had giggled and told the boy that now it was his turn to hide and their turn to hunt him down.
And she'd just become completely confused by the whole thing.
Aha! Mew announced, floating over a pile of leaves. I think I've found an Ash Ketchum!
"No you haven't," the pile of leaves replied. "Nobody here but a Seedot."
Are you suuure? Mew said.
"Seedot," the pile announced. "Seedot."
Suicune wasn't sure who could possibly think that was convincing, but Mew giggled before rummaging under the leaves. Found you!
"Aww," Ash grumbled. "You're much quicker at that than me."
That's because I've got more experience, of course! Mew said. But what about if both of us seek next time? I can give you tips!
"Uh…" Ash said, confused. "How would that work? Who would we be looking for?"
Mew pointed. Miss Suicune, of course!
Yes, Mew was pointing at her.
And now Ash was looking at her.
And waving.
...bugger.
Not long before his eighth birthday, Ash was trying to use a sail.
They'd had their first lesson with how to do it just the previous day, him and Gary and the other local kids, and it all seemed to make a lot of sense then. But now, on a day when it should have been easier because there was more wind, Ash was trying for himself and it seemed a lot harder to use a boat in this kind of weather.
Or maybe he was just forgetting something.
The sail creaked a bit, and Ash ducked down just before the boom at the bottom swung over and knocked him on the head again. Then he stood up to pull on a rope, but he quickly worked out he'd pulled on the wrong rope when it resisted for a moment before abruptly going loose just as he put his weight on it.
Ash yelped, and fell in the sea with a splash.
Then a smooth object lifted him right back out of the sea, into his boat, and Ash turned to see something that was half-flipper half-wing and as white as a cloud vanishing back into the water.
"Thanks!" Ash called, to the departing shape.
A moment later, it was replaced by a blue-and-white head.
Be careful, little one, the owner of the head said, speaking with its mind like Mew and Hoopa did. The sea is a dangerous place, and I will not always be here.
"Right," Ash said, nodding. "Sorry about that."
I think you should start on a calm day first, the swimming Pokémon added. Then you will be ready for the stormy ones.
It turned, then slipped beneath the water with barely a ripple.
Ash wasn't sure if that meant the Pokémon had left or not, but he decided he'd better take their advice anyway.