Here is my entry for Paradigm of Writing's contest Comfort Zones Do Not Exist in Writing. I would say more, but anything could spoil this story.

Though, I will mention that since Smash Bros. refers to Greninja as an "it", I did that as well. ...Of course, at some points, the characters calling Greninja an it kind of sounds a little weird, but maybe that's just me.

Greninja stood before a rocky cliff, raising its left leg behind and opening its two flipper hands. Water began to spout out of them, hoping to keep itself relaxed and in focus. As it did this, the heavy rain began to pour onto the ground and its body.

But even then, it closed its eyes and trembled, struggling to concentrate on its water spouts. The thoughts of its dishonorable actions were still plaguing the Pokémon's mind. It was like being poisoned, but no antidotes would help cure it.

All Greninja could do was think about it more, right from the start of its match in the Kalos Pokémon League...

As Greninja stepped out of a Poké Ball and into the stage, the Pokémon started to eye its three opponents. The first was the princess of Ylisse, and the daughter of Chrom, Lucina. The second opponent was the black, 2-D fighter known as Mr. Game and Watch. Finally, there was the blonde psychic who went by Lucas.

Normally in a Smash Battle, the fighters fought for fun, and nothing else. No attack was ever severe enough to leave someone injured. Even those who wielded a sword could still use it without anyone getting seriously hurt. If one was knocked off the stage, they were transported back. It was one of the reasons why these fights were so famous among every dimension.

"May the best fighter win," Lucina said, raising her sword diagonally in a battle position.

"Yeah... Good luck." Lucas nodded, as did Mr. Game and Watch.

Greninja had given them a bow, and by the time the battle started, it propelled himself into the air with Hydro Pump, leaving behind a splash of water. The first thing it did was analyze the battle. So far, Lucas had shot a PK Fire in Mr. Game and Watch's direction, which he responded by catching it in his bucket. Since Lucina was one who the water ninja believed would be a greater challenge, it went for her.

Besides, with a new technique it came up with, using it on her was probably a smarter idea.

Greninja was swift with its attacks, and while Lucina did have her Counter to stop some of them, the Pokémon had its own tricks up its sleeves. When she'd thrust her blade, Greninja disappeared and surprised her from behind with a dropkick. Though she fell on her back, the warrior princess got up effortlessly.

"That wasn't bad," Lucina commented, aiming her blade's tip at the water ninja. "But I don't plan to lose to you."

Greninja took this as a challenge, and with two water blades conjured up, it used its new ability to turn them into ice. Lucina raised an eyebrow, but it had charged quickly, swinging its blades in her direction. While not experienced with blades in fights like these compared to Lucina, Greninja was confident that it wouldn't hurt anyone.

Lucina parried each hit, surprised by how tough these ice blades were. When she went for an overhead swing, Greninja raised its two swords and tried to hold them back.

When the blue frog found its arms trembling against Lucina's sword, it was forced to release its blades and leap back. But it wasn't going to give up just yet. It was a ninja, not a coward. Greninja conjured up more water, but this time, in the shape of a shuriken. With its ice powers added to it, the Pokémon started hurling them at Lucina.

"This should be no problem," Lucina said as she began to slice through each shuriken. When Greninja saw this, it stopped throwing smaller ones and began to create a large one. Surely that would be enough to stop her.

With the shuriken fully charged, Greninja threw it with such precision at Lucina. She prepared to counter it...had something not thrown her onto the ground.

Greninja's eyes widened as it spotted Lucas in Lucina's place, rubbing his head and completely unaware of the ice shuriken behind him. The Pokémon raced as fast as it could to stop it.

...But it was too late when Lucas turned.

Greninja opened its eyes in horror as its concentration made it drop to the wet, rocky ground. Just thinking about the moment only made the Pokémon shake. On the other hand, coming back to reality before that moment could strike was probably for the better...

As it stood up, Greninja thoughts about the future started to enter its mind. Going back for another Smash Battle was out of the picture now. Anyone would only shun Greninja for its actions. It considered going back to its trainer. ...No, there was no way. It already dishonored its trainer at this point.

Then the Pokémon sat down and looked down the cliff and the large waves in the ocean, and though it never considered the idea, Greninja finally knew what to do.

After the Smash Battle, the fighters had returned to the Smash Hotel, where they would normally stay before going back to their own world. While they do get their own rooms, most of the fighters' time spent was in the main lobby. The floor had a soft, blue carpet with a pattern of the Smash Bros. emblem. Even the gold clock on the white wall was shaped like that too. Around a fireplace were plenty of different colored couches, where the likes of Mr. Game and Watch, Luigi, Lucina, Little Mac, and the Duck Hunt duo were relaxing and having a good conversation.

Unfortunately, poor Lucas was not there to join them.

Instead of being out there with the others, he was stuck in his yellow and orange room, laying down in his pale red bed. A few bandages were wrapped around his left arm, legs, and even around the left side of his face, leaving the boy with only one eye to see. For his right arm, a cast had just been put on thanks to one particular person experienced with some medical history.

"And done!" Peach said, finishing the cast on Lucas.

"Th-Thanks..." Lucas weakly smiled. He had to admit, it was nice having Peach around. Her kindness and motherly attitude was always a warm welcome for him. He was always reminded of his deceased mother, Hinawa.

"How are you feeling, Lucas?"

"F-Fine... I think I should be better tomorrow thanks to my healing powers... Maybe I might be able to move around."

"Lucas! Those were some severe injuries!" Peach scolded, raising a finger at the boy. "Even with PK Life Up, it's going to take a bit of time to fully recover! You're just going to make it worse!"

"But..."

"No, Lucas. I'm sure your mother would've told you the same thing."

Immediately Lucas backed down, lowering his head with a sorrowful look. Peach realized what she said and lowered her head as well.

"Oh... Right. I'm sorry for bringing that up..."

"It's OK..." Lucas assured, raising his head to look at Peach, and she let out a relieved sigh. "But... There's something that's been worrying me."

"You're free to tell me."

"It's about Greninja..."

"Greninja..." Peach trailed. "It's the one that..."

"Yeah. I hope it's not too hurt after what happened. I-It was an accident, right?" Lucas stammered. "Do you think you could tell Greninja not to feel too bad, and that I forgive it?"

"Well... OK, I'll go tell Greninja. Its room is just a few doors down anyway."

Peach stood up from Lucas's bed and exited the room. She made sure not to fully close the door before making her way across the pink hallway. Just a few doors ahead was a blue door with a Poké Ball symbol.

Naturally, the first thing she did was knock on the door. Peach remained patient, but when a minute passed, she knocked again. Still no answer.

"Perhaps...Greninja's at the lobby?" Peach wondered, making her way to the lobby. Her eyes instantly darted to the couches the other fighters sat on. However, there was still no sign of Greninja. "Not in the lobby either? Strange..."

Before she could go back, Luigi had spotted Peach and gave her a friendly wave. "Hey, Princess!"

Peach came to a halt as she slowly turned to Luigi, trying to put on a friendly smile. "Hey, Luigi."

"What are you doing here? I thought you were taking care of Lucas?"

"I still am," the princess assured. "It's just that... He wanted me to go find Greninja. It wasn't in its room, but there's no sign of it here either..."

"Oh... I don't think Greninja came in here."

The Duck Hunt duo also shook their heads when Peach's eyes looked at it.

"The door didn't open since we sat down," Little Mac informed.

"Oh... That's a shame..." Peach frowned, placing a hand on her brooch.

"Well... When we left the tournament, I might've seen Greninja go elsewhere..." Lucina recalled. "I thought it was just going to do something before coming back here... But I guess not."

"If Greninja is still out there..." the princess trailed as the crashing sound of thunder caused a few to jump off their seats. Peach even felt her heart race when the ground shook briefly. Once it finally calmed down, her eyes had widened. "Is it such a good idea for Greninja to be out during a storm?"

"It's a water Pokémon, right?" Luigi recalled. "Shouldn't it be able to handle rain?"

"It's not just the rain! The wind is heavy, and there's lightning out there too! Greninja especially can't handle that!"

"Oh... As much as I'd like to go look for Greninja..." Luigi began, eyeing the heavy rain pouring onto the window. "It might not be safe for any of us to go out."

"If Greninja returns, we'll let you know," Lucina assured.

"...OK," Peach lowered her head, sighing in defeat. "I'll go back to Lucas..."

With no other choice, the princess made her way back to the hallway. As Peach walked, she swore she heard some footsteps following her. But she decided to disregard it and continue, assuming it was one of the fighters going back to their room.

The sound of the door opening and the light coming into the room was enough to grab Lucas's attention as his eyes caught sight of the princess.

"Did you find Greninja? What did it say?" Lucas wondered

Peach had remained silent, unsure of how to tell him what she just heard previously. The only thing keeping the room completely silent was the heavy rain.

But, being the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, lying was definitely not her virtue.

"Greninja...isn't here," Peach finally answered.

"It's not?"

"Apparently Greninja hasn't come back..."

"Where did it go?" Lucas questioned, worry filling his voice.

"I don't know... Lucina said she spotted Greninja going elsewhere... If I knew where it went, I'd tell you."

"Oh... OK..." Lucas trailed, looking down at his red blanket. Eventually he looked up with determination in his face. "Well... Then I'll go look for Greninja myself."

The psychic struggled to get himself out of his bed, but Peach immediately stopped him, grabbing his arm softly.

"Absolutely not, Lucas!" the princess exclaimed, startling the boy with her loud voice. "You are in no condition to go out there! Not at the moment!"

"B-But Peach... I don't want Greninja to feel bad..." Lucas trailed, stopping his movements. "If it's not coming back because of me..."

"Don't worry, Lucas. As much as I worry about Greninja's safety, I think it just needs some time to forgive itself."

"I understand... But..."

"For now, just get some rest," Peach advised, patting Lucas on the head. "I'll come back next morning to check on your injuries. Just don't moving around so much, OK?"

Lucas gave her an assuring nod, making the princess smile and stand up.

"Good night, Lucas," she said, closing the door. As she left the room, she was unaware of two figures watching her from one of the room on the opposite side of her.

But for Lucas, all he could do was close his eyes and fall into slumber.

When the clock struck midnight, all of the fighters were in bed and packed up to go back to their own dimension tomorrow. Most had slept peacefully, the pouring rain comforting them.

Lucas was the complete opposite.

He constantly flipped over, with each movement only causing him more pain from his injuries. The more Lucas moved, the more he felt the temperature rise and make him sweat. As much as the psychic tried to fall asleep, he couldn't get Greninja out of his head.

Having enough, Lucas sat up and looked at the pouring window.

"Peach didn't want me to go..." Lucas trailed, cringing from his injuries as he pushed himself out of bed. "But... I just can't stop thinking about Greninja..."

Lucas considered knocking on Greninja's door, but he wasn't certain that it would even answer at this time of night. So, instead, he brought his attention back to the window.

"I guess I'm going to have to go out there..."

He staggered over to the window, reaching for the handle. But it hadn't taken much effort to open it, for once it was unlocked, the wind forced it open. Rain began to pour into the room, and just the feeling of it made Lucas shiver.

But despite this rainfall, he wasn't going to stop here. No, that wasn't like him. Even when Lucas found himself near death against his twin brother, he refused to give up. If he could handle that, then this was nothing special.

Upon climbing out of the window and landing on the wet grass, Lucas closed the window and looked over at Greninja's window. He limped his way over, and when he reached it, he began to wipe the fog off in a circular manner before looking through the room.

To his dismay, there was no sight of the Pokémon.

"If Greninja's not here... Then it's still out here..." Lucas trailed, clenched his fists and putting on a brave look. "Maybe it's somewhere near the tournament grounds... Well, I'll find out soon."

Taking a deep breath, the psychic started to drag his way back to the tournament arena.

At the same time, another window had opened, and coming out were two figures that followed the young boy.

As Lucas traveled, his condition had only gotten worse. He found himself covering his face with his left arm to prevent the rain from getting in his eye, making his sighting worse. His cotton bandages were now soaking wet, causing a few on his arms and legs to hang off, his sneakers and socks were soaking wet from the splashing sounds of the puddles in the wet grass. The only things that were still in tact were the bandages on his face and the cast, but he wasn't sure how long they would last.

And because of being nearly blind at this point, Lucas had tripped and fallen into a large puddle of mud.

"Unnghh..." Lucas whimpered, slowly getting out of the mud puddle while sniffling, but holding the urge to cry. Now the front side of his body was covered from head to toe with mud.

As he rubbed his eye, Lucas spotted two figures approaching him. Suddenly, his depression had been filled with hope. Before the psychic could say anything, the quack made him realize who it was.

"It's you..." Lucas gawked as the Duck Hunt Dog and Duck approached him. The duck was carrying an umbrella in its beak, while the dog had sat and panted with a wagging tail. "What are you doing here?"

The dog got closer to him, and thanks to the umbrella, the rain falling on his body was gone.

"Oh... Thank you..." Lucas smiled, only to blink and stop himself for a moment. "Wait... Did Peach send you out to get me?"

The Duck Hunt duo shook their heads, with the dog sniffing the ground. For some reason, Lucas couldn't help but think about his own dog, Boney.

"Wait..." the psychic stopped his thoughts upon looking down at the dog. "Do you think you could track down Greninja? You must know its scent at least."

The dog gave a nod as it walked ahead while continuing to track down the frog's scent. Lucas followed it ahead, holding the umbrella that the duck offered him.

Despite his condition, he was at least relieved that he had someone to keep him company.

With the umbrella, Lucas didn't have to worry about the rain getting in his way. However, there was still the issue with the heavy wind as well. It didn't help that he only had one hand to keep a grip on the handle.

However, he still managed to tough it out, and eventually the three had reached a rocky cliff. There, they spotted a figure sitting down by the cliff's edge in a meditative stance. When getting closer, Lucas immediately recognized who it was.

"Greninja..." Lucas gasped, his voice not being loud enough to get the frog's attention. "I guess it's been here this whole time... I hope it'll listen to me..."

Taking a deep breath, the psychic staggered over to Greninja with a nervous look on his face.

"Hey, Greninja..."

Greninja's right eye opened halfway, recognizing the sound of Lucas's voice. Its eye caught sight of the boy covered in mud, the draping bandages on his arms and legs, the soaking wet cast, and the bandages on his face that looked like they were going to come off anytime soon. Just seeing him in this state made Greninja look away in horror.

"I... I know you feel bad for what you did to me..." Lucas trailed, his eyes staring down at the ground. "But... I'm not mad at you. You didn't mean to hurt me like that. Don't accidents happen?"

Lucas waited for a response, but Greninja made no sudden movements. So, he decided to continue.

"I was pretty worried about you when I heard you didn't come back to the hotel...and I think I knew why. You don't have to avoid me just because of that..."

Lucas looked up at Greninja, his heart beating at a rapid pace. To his surprise, the Pokémon did respond by standing up and fully opening its eyes. But rather than turning to face him, it got closer to the cliff's edge.

At the sight of this, Duck Hunt Dog's tail had drooped, and it let out a whimper. Lucas immediately knew what Greninja was planning, and he felt the tears coming down his face.

"Greninja, please don't go!" Lucas pleaded. "Don't blame yourself for what you did to me! I don't think anyone's going to hold it against you... At least, I know I won't... My brother blamed himself for not protecting my mother when she died, and things went bad for him... I don't want the same to happen to you..."

Greninja moved his head slightly to the right so one of his eyes met Lucas's. The boy seemed hopeful at first, but the sad look in the Pokémon's eyes was enough to bring his mood down.

And for a moment, Lucas swore he saw the frog shed a tear.

When it turned back to face the heavy waters below, Greninja had stood up straight and spread its arms out.

"Greninja! No!" Lucas cried, and despite his condition, he made a sprint for the Pokémon.

The water ninja had leaped into the air and dove into the ocean, creating a small splash that was silenced by the booming thunder. By the time Lucas reached the cliff's edge and looked down at the water, Greninja was nowhere to be seen.

The Duck Hunt duo had approached the cliff beside the psychic and looked down as well. Both had lowered their heads and whimpered.

But neither had taken it worse than Lucas. The boy felt the need to cry, but no tears came, as if all of his tears were gone.

All Lucas could do was turn around and limp back to the hotel while sniffling.

By the time he was away from the cliff, all of his bandages had been blown off.