Hi, this is my first go at a fanfic so please do give constructive criticism.
Back to the Old Ways
"We've been walking around here for hours," May complained as she trudged mindlessly across the forest, her shoulders slumping in despair. She was about to blame Solidad for dragging her along, but decided against it; for May remembered that she was the one who suggested the idea in the first place.
"Relax," said Solidad. Unlike May, her companion did not seem too concerned about having to walk long distances. She was the more experienced of the two, and the fitter as well. "If you're that impatient all the time, you'll never become top coordinator."
That did the trick, for May stopped whining immediately. She decided to sulk in silence instead, thinking hard about Solidad's words. The depressing part of it? She wasn't exactly wrong. Drew was always a step ahead of her in contests, and whenever she looked close to winning Harley would come up with some obnoxious scheme and ruin her day.
May crossed her arms and sighed. Why did life have to be so difficult? All she did was fail, fail, get up only to fail again. Hoenn Grand Festival? Nope. Kanto Grand Festival? Nope. Johto Grand Festival? Forget it. May didn't even come close to winning.
The two had been wandering across the vast forest of Kalos for a while now, and they were searching for pokéblock. Not just any pokéblock, what they sought was a rare specimen which could instantly revitalise the battling spirit of any pokémon. Well, if you believed in the stories anyway.
Unfortunately, the forests of Kalos were a lot less appealing than May had imagined. The once evergreen grassland was now littered with humongous roots that glowed an eerie shade of red, as if they once had lives of their own. The sky had a sinister tinge of crimson instead of the clear blue that May would have liked, and there was no sign of life except for the sound of the occasional Rattata scurrying desperately away from humans.
May glanced at her surroundings. There was nothing but heavily eroded soil and dried up figs, certainly not the ideal conditions for growing berries.
"I wonder-" May opened her mouth, but she was abruptly interrupted by a clear, ringing voice.
"This place is not safe. You must leave at once!" The voice rang with an air of dominance, and it echoed throughout the entire forest. May looked around in an attempt to the locate the source, but it seemed to be omnipresent.
On the other hand, Solidad recognised the phenomena immediately. After all, she was the more experienced coordinator. "That's telepathy," she muttered. "I wonder who is trying to communicate with us."
Right as she finished her sentence, the ground gave way as a single root sprouted from beneath the earth. This one was different: the tinge of red on the surface seemed darker than the rest, and a sinister aura radiated from its contorted body.
May realised that it was moving; it writhed around like a headless chicken searching for food. Beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable, she slowly backed away from the figure. This proved to be a mistake. The moment she took a single step, it lunged at her like a mindless zombie. Instinctively Solidad reached for her pocket, and her Pidgeot materialised in a flash.
"Pidgeot, Aerial Ace!" she ordered. "Pidgeot!" The avian dive-bombed fearlessly between the two and intercepted the threat with his powerful wings. There was a brief stalemate as Pidgeot struggled against the tree-sized root, but he mustered the strength to overpower it and sent the root flying into the air.
It landed on the hard ground with an audible thud. May remained on the ground, petrified as the root lay motionless before her eyes. There was a wretched gurgling noise, and it began to shrivel up on its own. The red tint gradually disappeared from its surface before being engulfed by the earth completely.
May heaved a sign of relief. What in the world was that? She came here for a nice stroll in the park, perhaps picking up a berry or two along the way. She didn't ask for evil monstrous roots who spent their lives hunting down humans for fun.
She wanted to tell herself that the frenzy root was merely an anomaly, that the others lay still like normal plants. However, she would also be lying to herself. Moments later, five or six identical roots simultaneously erupted around the pair, as if being alerted by their presence. Two of them quickly wrapped themselves around Pidgeot, immobilising the bird with an ironclad grip.
"Pidgeot!" Solidad cried. She wanted to run towards her trusted partner, but refrained herself from doing so. Years of experience in contests had taught her how to recognise situations which were simply too dangerous, and this was one of them.
"Geottooo!" Pidgeot returned the cry with a signal for help, as he squirmed and writhed around to no avail. One root latched firmly onto each of the avian's limbs, while another held his body in an inescapable choking position. With the only threat out of action, the rest of the roots turned and faced the two defenceless girls.
May turned and began to run, willing her tiny legs to carry her as far as they could. Unfortunately, the ground had become uneven due to the eroded soil, and her foot was caught in a gap. May tripped, falling face first into the cold, hard soil.
"May!" Solidad turned back and began to make her way towards her friend, but she knew that it was already too late. Solidad was a good twenty feet away from the girl, while the roots were already towering over her fragile body.
May froze in fear, her eyes fixated at the menacing roots which showed no intention of backing away. This was it. May placed her arms over her head in a futile attempt to stop the attack, but it never came.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a flash of blue streak across her vision. Too fast for the human eye to follow, May could only catch a blurred motion as it shot past her like a bullet, heading straight into the mass of vines.
A second of complete silence ensued as the figure disappeared, seemingly engulfed completely by the mass of roots. A moment later, small tremors could be felt from within, gradually increasing in magnitude until it grew into a significant rumble. The vines itself began to tremble vigorously, as if trying hard to suppress whatever lay inside.
They couldn't contain it any more. A flash of blue emerged from the pit of darkness, bursting into the sky as the figure emerged completely unscathed at the other end. It landed on the ground in a crouching pose, as every single root behind it was simultaneously sliced in half.
The figure stood in front of May, who managed to take a good look at the mysterious creature for the first time. It looked like a pokemon, humanoid in shape while resembling an amphibian at the same time. The pose it took was one of an experienced warrior, and in it's right hand lay what seemed to be a shuriken made out of pure liquid water.
"Um... Thank you." May stammered. She was still lying on the ground, attempting to process the bizarre events that had just unfolded. The creature grunted. It awkwardly held out its hand to help her up, to which May gratefully accepted. She stood upright and proceeded to wipe the dirt off her shorts.
Solidad's eyes narrowed as she approached the two. "That's a Greninja," she said warily, "the final stage evolution of one of the starters in Kalos. But this one's... different."
She fumbled through her jacket and brought out a pokédex before handing it to May. Dexter sprung to life upon contact, speaking in his usual robotic voice. "Greninja. The final evolution of Froakie. It creates throwing stars out of compressed water. When it spins and throws them at high speed, these stars can split metal in two."
May shut the pokédex and stared at the pokémon. Solidad was right. This Greninja was different.
It's legs seemed bigger and more muscular than the one in Solidad's pokédex. There was a red pattern on the top of it's head, and it's ears were black instead of blue. May heard the sound of the moisture in air condensing, and in an instant another water shuriken materialised on it's back to form a perfect "X".
"Ninja." The pokemon waved his hand, gesturing for May and Solidad to follow him. The girls quickly glanced at each other, contemplating whether to follow the weird frog or get crushed alive by evil tree roots. The former seemed like a more plausible option, so they nodded at Greninja in compliance.
"So much for coming all the way here to find pokéblock." May grumbled under her breath. Solidad ignored her. The younger coordinator still had a long way to go.
They began to travel through the forest as inconspicuously as possible. Greninja took the lead; he would leap from cover to cover, scouting each area thoroughly before signalling for May and Solidad to follow suit. The way he moved reminded May of a stealthy ninja: he barely made contact with the ground as he skipped across with finesse, and moved with such elegance that not a single sound could be heard.
Suddenly, Greninja stopped dead in his tracks. His ears twitched ever so slightly, as if sensing danger. May stopped moving as well, and scanned her surroundings in caution. Although they only made a minimal amount of noise, May had a feeling that they were being watched, as if the forest had a conscience of its own. She was right.
A noticeable rumbling could be heard from afar, and May knew that a wave of roots were heading straight towards their location. She was sure of it, she recognised the eerie noise as they moved ruggedly under the earth, the terrifying feeling of the ground breaking apart right under her feet.
They could see it now: the horde of wild vines rampaging across the forest, tearing down everything in it's path. There were even more of them this time, and May couldn't imagine how they would possibly escape in one piece. Her arms trembling with fear, May managed to fish out a pokéball from her fanny pack. She was prepared to throw it in a last ditch attempt, although she wasn't too confident. After all, they had all seen what happened to Solidad's Pidgeot.
It was now or never. May strained her arm, about to throw the pokéball when Greninja stopped her. He gave a May a reassuring nod before turning around and facing the incoming horde.
The strange frog reached for it's back and pulled out a shuriken, like an expert archer reaching for an arrow. Taking in a deep breath and holding it up in the sky, he brought the Shuriken crashing down into the ground with a mighty thud.
The ground cracked open under the sheer force of the impact, sending a mixture of debris and water soaring into the air. The resulting fissure ran along the length of the ground, heading straight towards the incoming mob. A stream of water bubbled across the surface, ready to be unleashed at any moment.
Two forces of nature were approaching each other with no signs of slowing down. May watched in amazement as the unstoppable stream of water met the impenetrable wall of roots with a deafening explosion, creating a shockwave that rippled across the entire forest.
The pressure built up within the fissure had reached it's limit. Water erupted from the cracks like a powerful geyser, slamming hard into the mass of roots. Despite their impressive bulk, they were no match against the strength of the sea as the towering wave came upon them like a ton of bricks. As the water gradually cleared away, all that remained was a pile of roots which lay motionless on the damp ground.
Without a word, the Greninja turned and grabbed May with one arm, and Solidad with another.
"Hey, wait-" May objected, but it was too late. The Greninja leapt from tree to tree with ease, as if this were it's natural habitat. May nervously gripped onto the amphibian, her vision a blur as they sped across the Kalosian forest.
After what seemed like an eternal roller coaster ride, Greninja decided to that it was a good time to stop. The frog gently lay the girls down on a piece of soft soil, and May opened her eyes. They were in some sort of cave which, although rather small, was warm and cozy as if it were someone's home. The entrance was decorated with a row of beautiful flowers. There was a simple bed made from soft hay, while in the middle of the cave lay a piece of perfectly carved stone, presumably meant to be a dinner table.
"Wow." May looked around in awe. "Did you make this all by yourself?"
"Gren." The frog proudly puffed out his chest, evidently pleased by May's compliment.
May turned around and rubbed her eyes. Perhaps she was hallucinating, but somehow the Greninja no longer looked different. In fact, it looked identical to the pokédex image right now. How did the Greninja change its appearance? Why were his ears black instead of blue? Was that real, or was she just imagining things? May's mind was bursting with questions to ask, but she decided to not pursue the topic further for now.
Greninja motioned for May and Solidad to stay put, before crawling through a small hole that appeared to lead to the surface. May wanted to follow suit, but realised that it was better if she remained in the cave. After all, she would be nothing but a burden to the frog, and how could she possibly expect Greninja to risk his life for her a second time?
Fortunately, he didn't take long. Greninja returned minutes later with a handful of freshly picked berries. "Gren." The frog carefully rationed the spoils out between the three. He plopped himself down in a corner, and began to happily devour his portion.
"That's very nice of you." May beamed at Greninja. There was a warm feeling inside her, for she rarely came across a pokémon with such a good heart. Complying with Greninja's wish, She nibbled at one of the berries. It was bursting with flavour, fresh and natural with a unique taste.
"Mhmmm!" she exclaimed in pleasure.
May glanced at Greninja, who was cheerily helping himself to more berries.
The frog seemed to be treasuring every moment of their company, as if they were some sort of precious jewellery. May wondered why he was in such a deserted and lonely place. She could see from his eyes how their mere presence, how a simple act such as eating together meant so much for him. Greninja longed company. He longed for someone who could take care of him, and love him like a trainer.
"Um, mister Greninja?" May asked, not sure how to address him. Greninja shot up instantly, eager to answer whatever question May had in mind. She chose her words carefully. "Why are you risking your life here to help people like us? That's a very noble thing to do, but I'm sure any trainer would be delighted to have you as their partner."
Greninja's face darkened. He looked past May and stared blankly into space, but May could see his webbed fingers trembling.
"What's wrong?" May asked nervously. "Did I say something wrong?" She glanced at Solidad, who responded with a shrug.
The frog remained silent as it made it's way across the room, crouching down before a particular piece of soil that seemed softer than the rest. May and Solidad watched curiously as it dug out what seemed to be a crumpled, dusty old photograph. There was the frog, but he was also alongside a boy. They were both smiling. The boy had wrapped an arm around Greninja's shoulder as both of them pointed triumphant V-signs towards the camera.
May and Solidad both gasped. That boy was Ash.
A single tear strolled onto the frog's cheek and landed onto the already tattered photograph, as the image continued to shake under his trembling hands.