But someone else moved first.
Serena rushed to Ash's side at once, cradling his head in her arms. Clemont and Bonnie hurried over as well, surrounding the two of them.
Little Hoopa floated curiously in the air above them, tilting its head at Ash. "What happened to Ash?" it asked.
"There's a bond phenomenon between Ash and Greninja," Clemont explained, pushing up his glasses. "Any damage Greninja takes in battle is somehow shared with Ash."
"So that's how it is!" Little Hoopa said, suddenly understanding. It reached one hand straight into its ring. "Leave this to Hoopa! Hehe!"
A moment later, Little Hoopa pulled a bottle of Hyper Potion out of the ring and sprayed it generously all over Ash.
"When I got hurt before, Diantha used this to fix me right up!" Hoopa said proudly, still spraying.
Steven watched from a distance, his mouth twitching. Hyper Potion was made for badly injured Pokemon, so a single dose was strong. Pokemon bodies could handle that, but a person sprayed with it might overdose. A regular Potion, though, had no effect on humans, and could even be used for basic first aid.
Steven started forward quickly, meaning to stop Little Hoopa. But before he got there, Ash, still cradled in Serena's arms, opened his eyes and sat straight up.
Steven's steps faltered.
Right. Of course. Since when had Ash ever been limited by ordinary human standards?
Ash seemed used to this. As soon as he woke, he scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh, telling everyone he was fine. Then he raised a Poke Ball and recalled Greninja, still lying on the ground, back inside.
"You worked hard, Greninja. You did great," Ash said softly to the ball before clipping it back onto his belt.
"Mr. Steven, you must have been really strong when you were young!" Ash said, walking over to Steven with a wide grin.
Steven chuckled. "Greninja and you haven't been traveling together for long, have they? Give it time — you'll be even better than today before long." He paused. "And the strength you and Pikachu share hasn't even been fully unlocked yet."
Ash nodded firmly. "I'll keep working hard toward my dream!"
Pikachu paused for a second, then scratched its cheek with a sheepish little grin, as if it still had some acting to work on.
"That was a wonderful show, so here's your reward," Diantha said with a light laugh, arriving with two bottles of iced juice.
"Thank you, Miss Diantha." Steven accepted the drink she offered, then turned to warn Ash not to drink his just yet — Ash had only just recovered, and cold drinks probably weren't the best idea right now.
But Ash was far too quick. He thanked her and drained the whole bottle before Steven could get a single word out.
Steven's mouth twitched again.
Right. Of course his concern had been pointless.
"Ahh, that hit the spot," Ash said, letting out a satisfied breath.
"Um, Miss Diantha, is there any more?" Clemont asked, a little embarrassed. Ever since Ash had dragged him through the ring earlier, he had been dying of thirst.
"Diantha! Diantha! Hoopa wants some too!" Little Hoopa zipped over to her side, putting on its best pleading act.
"All right, I'll go grab some more. Just wait here," Diantha said with a warm smile.
Ash turned to Steven. "Mr. Steven, were you a Champion in your original world too?"
"Mm, yes," Steven said, smiling calmly. "Though I passed the title on to Wallace after a while."
"Do you have time to tell us about your journey?" Ash asked eagerly. "I never got to ask, back when we first met."
The moment Steven's adventures came up, Bonnie perked up immediately. "I want to hear it too! I want to hear it too!"
Little Hoopa looked around at everyone's eager faces and raised a hand as well. "Hoopa wants to hear too!"
Before Steven could say anything, Diancie began counting on her small fingers. "He fought Yveltal, and Regigigas, and Zekrom — and that other black dragon too!"
Hearing the excited chatter around him, Steven crouched down with a tired sigh and ruffled Diancie's head. "Let's not bring up those embarrassing memories."
Which one of those battles hadn't ended with him getting thoroughly beaten? The one against Regigigas had gone slightly better than the rest, at least.
And besides — how had the incident with the black Rayquaza even made it onto that list? By that point Steven had already been knocked flat on the ground. If Reshiram and Zekrom hadn't stepped in, he would have been entirely at Rayquaza's mercy.
"Honestly, I only crossed paths with them briefly," Steven said, a little helplessly.
Everyone settled onto the sofa, listening quietly as Steven recounted his experiences. None of it, of course, involved his life as Steven Stone back home.
"Here are your drinks — wait, what's everyone talking about?" Diantha asked, walking over with the refills.
"We're listening to Mr. Steven's stories about becoming Champion!" Bonnie explained.
"A Champion's journey, huh?" Diantha set the drinks down in front of everyone and settled in with clear interest of her own.
Little Hoopa, meanwhile, tilted its head, still turning over the names Diancie had mentioned earlier. They sounded so familiar. Except for the very first and very last one, Hoopa was pretty sure it had fought every single one of them before.
Hehe. Hoopa really was strong. Especially strong.
When Steven brought up the Hisui region, Ash suddenly jumped to his feet. "Mr. Steven, can you show us what the Hisui region looks like?"
"Of course," Steven said with a light chuckle. He had plenty of records from his time there.
Later on, he thought, if he could talk Cynthia into it, he might even be able to let her see ancient Sinnoh for herself. It might even help her, in a way.
As Steven pulled out his phone, Bonnie suddenly gasped. "Was that Champion Cynthia on Mr. Steven's wallpaper just now?!"
"Champion Cynthia?!" Serena leaned in as well, curiosity getting the better of her. Gossip, it seemed, was simply built into human nature.
"Yes, well — that's from my original world," Steven said with a sheepish grin. "In this world, Champion Cynthia and I really shouldn't have any sort of relationship." He'd nearly forgotten about that himself.
"Ohh," everyone murmured, nodding along.
Steven pulled up the photos he'd taken in Hisui, though there weren't many, since he hadn't stayed there for very long.
"I noticed something," Clemont said thoughtfully. "It seems like Mr. Steven's Pokemon team here is different from the Mr. Steven we know."
After all, this world's Steven relied on Fossil Pokemon alongside Metagross, Skarmory, and Aggron. He had neither Lucario nor Diancie with him here.
"It's only natural for things to be a little different from world to world," Steven said with a light chuckle.
Just as the mood turned lively again, Steven suddenly felt a bad premonition creeping up on him.
"Pika?!" Pikachu jolted upright and looked toward the sky.
Steven glanced upward as well. High above, a Braviary was circling slowly, gradually descending. A man leapt down from its back, a red cape snapping in the wind behind him. In his hand, he held a bottle.
Steven's brow furrowed as he took in the man's cold, unreadable expression.
Something told him this was about to go very badly.