Reaching Saffron City was a bit of a mixed bag all around. On one hand, he could challenge for his next Gym Badge and that was exciting. Beyond that, he had confirmed at a Pokémon Center just outside the city that his ribbon had grown. Which supported his idea that any kind of creativity could bring him and this Meloetta closer. He had also had the chance to talk with his Mom about his journey and how things were going in Pallet.

All good things.

On the other hand, Butterfree had fallen in love with a shiny pink Butterfree. It was best for Butterfree to head out and leave with his love. Ash had been devastated but understood. He told Butterfree if he ever wanted to come back, Ash would leave his Pokéball with the Professor. And so his Butterfree and the pink Butterfree had flown off, free of the constraints of the human world.

More than that, Ash was concerned. In the past, both the when he got the music note and the quill, he had been visited by a dream. Yet, there had been no dream and Ash was pretty sure he had the change in tattoo for a couple of days before being able to verify it.

It seemed to suggest that the ribbon connecting across the back was unimportant. A step, a small step, but one of many that needed to be taken. Almost as if it were a hint of the path he needed to complete. Or that perhaps there was more he needed to do. After all, the ribbon was an accessory, a quill and a music note were symbols. Perhaps he needed to earn a new symbol to earn a dream.

It was confusing. Almost as if there needed to be a guidebook to being Touched, but because of various bad actors no book would ever be created.

The small group walked through Saffron. Smeargle lead the way, followed by Ash, with Pikachu on his shoulder, Misty and Brock trailing behind.

Before they could get to the Saffron City Pokémon Center, a small girl in a wide brimmed white hat and cutesy white floral dress appeared in front of them. Literally, between one step and the next, the girl appeared out of thin air.

"You have been Touched." The girl said, her voice being at once deep and sinister while also being the straight forward cheerfulness of a child.

Ash just nodded, somehow knowing better than to say anything. He did glance over his shoulder, but neither Brock or Misty moved or seemed to register the girl. Ash looked around, Pidgey were stuck in mid-flight. It was as if time had stopped.

"You are seeking the next step. I will help you get there." The girl said.

"Thank you," Ash replied, noticing Smeargle had moved to hold onto his leg and Pikachu's tail was twitching. At least his Pokémon were not frozen too.

She looked up, eyes having been hidden by the hat. Her eyes glowed a rich, bright blue.

Before Ash had a chance to say anything, the street was gone. Replacing it was a shadowy gym floor, Brock and Misty still frozen but up in the stands.

Across the gym, the young girl sat in a young woman's lap, while holding a Pokéball. The woman wore her bangs in a severe cut, dark hair cascading down a red suit top.

"You have been Touched. This battle shall be a one on one battle. Should you win the Marsh Badge will be yours."

Ash frowned, "Wait, how do you know I was Touched? That girl said she could help me take the next step, how can I do that?"

The severe looking woman paused before responding, "I am one of many who commune with Psychic Pokémon. The one who Touched you is a powerful Psychic type Pokémon. I sensed the bond. The rest, the rest will be discovered later."

With that, Brock and Misty were unfrozen, their exclaimations of surprise drawing Ash's attention for moment. Before he could talk to them, the Pokéball in the small child's hand popped open releasing a Kadabra onto the battlefield.

Ash took a deep breath, before replying as he pulled a Pokéball from his belt and releasing a Pokémon. "I choose you Charmander."

/\/\/\/\/\

Ash looked around, this time the dream had taken him to a music hall. There were small balconies with seating around the edges and a number of seating sections on the floor. A horizontal isle broke the main seating area in half, creating six sections. Each chair was upholstered in a red velvet fabric.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at where he was standing. A solid hardwood floor held him up, the main stage. Above he could see the bunting and curtains designed to frame the performance. Behind him a fabric wall with the image of the Kanto foothills hiding the mechanisms and necessaries for the performance.

The room smelled of dust and the air felt stiff, unmoving. The theater felt like a room separated and lost from time itself. Isolated, as if people had not been in decades, if ever.

Turning around in a circle, Ash's eyes eventually rested on a mirror off to the side, hidden slightly off-stage. He walked over to the mirror and turned around. As he turned, his shirt seemed to dissolve. On his back the masks of tragedy and comedy were tattooed on either side of the knot of the connected ribbon. The tail ends of the ribbon climbed towards his neck on either side of his spine.

Ash let his hands travel to his waist, feeling for the cool touch of his Pokéballs and found nothing. Stepping back to the main part of the stage, Ash took a breath ready to call for Pikachu. He paused, there was a figure just past the orchestra pit, sitting in the front row.

As soon as it was noticed, the figure floated upwards, soon coming to stand on air in front of Ash. They were soon eye to eye.

It was clearly a Pokémon. There were two large teal eyes, with white pupils, staring at him. The Pokémon had long green hair cascading beyond its feet and hanging off to the left. Ash was not a musician, but it looked like the hair was like the staff for music, light green all the way down with cross pieces in black and solid notes in the measures.

On the Pokémon's right was a head set like appendage, potentially the source for an ear mounted microphone. It's body was compressed, but clearly graceful. Finally, after what was either seconds or years, the Pokémon spoke in his mind.

'Hello, Ash Ketchum,my chosen one. You took a bit longer than I expected to reach this particular Stage. Still, you have made great progress. Your journey as the my Touched is just beginning and I expect it will take the rest of your life. For you to advance though, we must meet in the world of life, not these worlds of dreams.'

Ash nodded, accepting the last statement as true and vowing to deal with the rest at a later time.

'You were most intuitive seeing your connection to me as based upon your actions and my domains. Kanto is not my favored region, but the needs of the Bond and the demands of destiny direct my actions. I am on my way, we will meet soon.'

Again, all Ash could do was nod. He physically could not open his mouth to form the words to reply or to deny anything the Pokémon was saying.

'If we could, I would wait until you reached," Meloetta shook its head, 'No, no, that is unworthy of me and my thoughts on this matter are irrelevant given circumnstances. At this point, the Bond must be finalized soon. Go to Celadon City. It should take you about a week walking. I will be there and when we meet, we shall complete the Bond.'

Ash bowed, "As you command, Meloetta."

The creative Pokémon shook its head, 'None of that. I do not require subservience or worship. I only require that you demonstrate your creativity to the world. In your own way. Show the people the true meaning of the arts. We inhabit a world of conflict, some areas more than others and through art we can find peace and understanding. I reached out ot you because I believe together, we can show the world a better way. In this we are partners. Now the reason I ask you to come meet me in Celadon is the Bond I have with you is based on the art we create together. As such, we need to meet physically to finalize the bond.'

"I don't understand, I have written several haikus, but I am a trainer. My Pokémon fight in the Gyms and everything I do is for that purpose. What art do I create?"

'There is much you have yet to learn and experience, young one. There is grace and creativity in battle. There are other was to compete than brute force, but that is all I can say at the moment. In completing the Bond, I can only set the challenge, it is up to you to overcome that challenge. The last piece of advice I have is that the art we create is unique to you. I have Touched others before and each time the art we created was different. You and I will create art.'

Ash let out a sigh of relief, his muscles visibly relaxing. "That sounds wonderful, I look forward to it."

'Good, now wake up and remember, what is life if not a stage?'

/\/\/\/\/\

Ash's eyes snapped open and he jerked up. He smiled, even as Pikachu gave him a dirty look. He stood up and stretched, catching the sight of himself in the mirror. He pulled off his shirt and frowned. The ribbon was longer than it was in the dream. Everything else was the same though. Except the ribbon was starting to change colors, into a brown as it came over his shoulders.

Running a hand through his wild, sleep tousled hair, Ash walked over to the private phone in his room at the Pokémon Center.

He selected a specific option and then dialed two numbers. A moment later, the screen was filled, with his mother on one side and Professor Oak on the other.

"I just woke up from one of those dreams and I wanted to let you know before I forget any of it. I spoke with Meloetta."

/\/\/\/\/\

Ash looked sadly at his badge case, the three gym badges he had earned taunting him with the loss of his fourth. Sabrina had easily defeated him and at the moment, he was not planning on taking the advice of his traveling companions or the strange man. It was not time to go to Lavender Town to hunt down a Ghost Pokémon.

Instead, he was leading his companions towards Celadon City. He was choosing to meet Meloetta. There was no compulsion, no drive, just the sense way back in his mind that this was the right thing to do.

So he, along with Pikachu on his shoulder and Smeargle trotting next to him, lead Brock and Misty towards Celadon.

As they walked, Ash tucked away his badges and pulled out his notebook, not noticing the exchange of glances between his two human companions. Neither had yet asked him about his fascination with writing in and reviewing his notes in the notebook.

However, he could feel their gaze every once in a while. His skin would prickle and hair would stand on end. They never really looked over his shoulder, unlike Pikachu and his other Pokémon, but he could sort of sense their unease.

To be honest, he could understand their confusion. If you asked his teachers, he wasn't much of a student. He was rash, energetic, and confident. None of which readily translated to intense study and research. And yet, as they walked, there he was. Trying to get the right words on paper. Not any words, but he wanted the best words to say to Meloetta when they officially met.

He took a deep breath and started to write, words coming from his pen faster then he thought they would for something as important as an introductory speech. There were a couple of errors of course, but surprisingly few. After a few moments, Ash focused on the page and his eyes seemed to twinkle, while Pikachu and Smeargle patted him in approval.

In the longest night

The shadows creep and slither

In the brightest day

The shadows stretch long and grow

My shadow travels time and space

It was an interesting idea, focused loosely on his dreams featuring Meloetta and its voice. That Pokémon and his own curiosity combined could lead him to travel endlessly, searching for the next thing to hold his attention, the next battle, the next challenge.

He looked up and saw the path before him and smiled. There was something new over the horizon and it was callign to him. A quick glance over his shoulder, past Pikachu and he saw the two gym leaders talking quietly. With a shout, he called to them before taking off in a jog.

They were closer to Celadon every minute and he could not wait.

/\/\/\/\/\

Celadon City was massive, you could tell that from the hills outside of town. It stretched for miles in each direction, light shinning off the windows fo the towering buildings. In the center, there were a couple of buildings with banners on them, fluttering in the wind. Using Brock's binoculars, they could make out the banners as advertisements.

Ash tried to find a place for him to meet Meloetta when a voice spoke up.

'What are you looking for?'

"It seems like Meloetta would be most comfortable in an art venue, so I was looking to see if there was anywhere that it would make sense for us to meet."

'Many have become famous on the strength of their art depicting landscapes and cityscapes.'

"Really," Ash turned around and saw the floating form of Meloetta. He blinked and continued to turn slightly, seeing Brock and Misty pointing at the Legendary Pokémon in shock and trying to talk.

Meloetta floated down with Ash's movement, as the boy used the turn to sit down on the grass. Ash tried to wrap his mind around the idea that this Pokémon that he had waited so long to meet was finally here. Smeargle patted his shoulder while Pikachu climbed to the top of his head.

'It is good to see you again Smeargle. Thank you for watching over my Touched, my Chosen one.'

Smeargle nodded, with a serious, "Smear smeargle, smeargle gle smear."

'I look forward to spending more time with you than, Smeargle. And you Pikachu, I see your noble and honorable intent. You will do well in protecting your Trainer, he is blessed to have you by his side.'

"Piii Pika pi pikachu pi chu pikachu."

'To a degree all fo the Pokémon classified by academics fo the human world as Legendary or Mythical can communicate with humans. I should be able to teach you, in time. After all, it is a power of Aura and Aura is a gift of Arceus to the world.'

Ash gulped and finally spoke again, "I am glad to meet you, Meloetta."

'As I am glad to meet you. The bond is almost complete. However, we must make an affirmative step to complete it.'

"That was the challenge you mentioned." Ash agreed.

'Yes, and remember it is an art you alone are able to create. I have been watching you and while your poetry is passible, that is not what will finalize the bond. I am no fighter, unlike you. What can we do together that will be a unique piece of art?'

Ash was smiling as Meloetta spoke. "You know, I have been puzzling over this since the dream in Saffron. Actually, the hint for me was Smeargle, Sketch, and my Pokédex."

He paused, frowning, "So, I understand many Legendary Pokémon had a move unique to them, something that represents them fully. Yours is Relic Song, right?"

'Yes, and I am impressed you discovered that.'

Ash smiled, "Well, I have know who you would be for a while. I may not be the best studier, I do know how to do it. Anyway, a few days ago, I caught a Jigglypuff. This Jigglypuff loves to Sing. Smeargle mentioned having Sketched Perish Song the day after. I am not really sure when she got a chance to Sketch it, but that is a different question."

Smeargle shrugged, "Smear, smeargle."

"My thought is that there are three song based attacks and if each of you uses an attack at the same time, the combined music could be really cool." Ash finished as he pulled a Pokéball from his belt.

Meloetta nodded, a smile on its face. 'You are correct, this is something that is unique to you. Let us try and see if the Bond is completed.'

Ash smiled, releasing Jigglypuff. He pointed to Smeargle who started to sing Perish Song. While it was directed away, it was still a haunting tune. It was a tune of regret, despair, and the pain of loss. The tune seemed conflicted within itself, even as the lack of lyrics meant all that was truly heard were notes rising and falling from one to the next.

Jigglypuff came in next, her song of rest and respect. The tune was soft and flowing, a lullaby comforting you to close your eyes. Smooth and soft.

The two songs intertwined, shifting the haunting melody to one of healing. A song of the comfort of standing up to pain and dealing with it.

Meloetta came in last. Meloetta's Relic Song was old, older than one could imagine. However, the beat was driving, strong, almost as if the idea of a mountain snarling against time had been put into the beat. The song had the sense of moulding of building, of the glories long lost and yet to come.

Together, the three songs melded. Together, it was a story of remembrances of the honors of the past, the loss of those glories, and the desire to find new honors and glories.

As they sang, Ash sat up straight, adjusting his posture. He rolled his shoulders back into alignment with his body, this was working.

By the end, none of the humans had kept a dry eye and all were smiling.

From where she sat, Misty muttered, "That was one of the most, if not the most, beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard."

Brock nodded as Ash hugged Smeargle and Jigglypuff.

There was a flash and a Pokéball appeared in front of Ash. The ball had the standard white bottom, but the top was not red. Instead, it was pink, with a rosy pink heart above the button.

'Ash, we have a long journey ahead of us and many trials to face. I am happy to travel near you, or should you wish it, you may capture me with this Love Ball.'

The young boy took the ball and quickly put it in his backpack. "You are amazing Meloetta. I would love to capture you. But if I do, it would register at least with the regional Professor, if not at other locations. If someone found out, you would be targeted by poachers and criminals. For now, I think it best if we travel as friends and not with you registered."

'Well reasoned, young one. Very well, for now I will shift into invisibility should it become necessary. Now, I would like to confirm the Bond is complete. I sense it is, but I want certainty. Please remove your shirt.'

Ash stood up, he pulled off his jacket with ease. He placed his hat on Pikachu's head as the electric type jumped away. With a deep breath, Ash pulled his shirt off and he looked to his chest.

There, in the middle right over his rib cage was the ribbon. The tails pointed away from each other towards his hips, but held there was a bronze ring.

'What is life if not a stage?'

Ash answered, "Life is the opportunity for honor and glory. We are humble performers playing our roles, seeking our destinies and the rewards of them."

'An interesting answer and one I see you ready to live. Prove it to me.'

Ash nodded, "Every day."

'Now, I want you to notice something.' Meloetta touched one of the tails. 'I told you once that many have chosen you.'

"I remember that." Ash agreed.

Meloetta nodded, 'The openness of the Ribbon means another with a claim has not given up yet. We may have to deal with that in the future. But for now, it is simple, enjoy your life and be creative.'

Ash nodded, reaching down and grabbing his shirt. He looked over at Celedon City for a moment before turning around. He pulled his clothes back on and adjusted his hat. Pikachu leapt up to one of his shoulders and Meloetta sat on the other. Jigglypuff was returned and Smeargle nodded as Ash started to lead the way back towards Saffron City.

"Ash, where are you going?" Brock asked.

"Lavender Town. I have a rematch with Sabrina that I need to prepare for."

Misty pointed at Celedon, "There is a Gym right over there."

"I know. This way feels right."

The two Gym Leaders sighed and started to follow their companion. After a while, Misty spoke up, "So, Touched? What is that all about?"