Chapter 2: A friend from Afar! - Part 2
-FLASHBACK: KALOS REGION (AN: Anime episode XY139)-
"Will you help us with your power?" Asked Zygarde. As son as Greninja heard that, he realized immediately what the Legendaries were asking of him. No... just no! There's no way he would leave Ash, even if that meant the Kalos will be forever scarred. It was selfish in a way, but he couldn't just leave the raven-haired teen! They made a promise to get stronger together! He was gonna say no to the Zygarde, but then the currently transformed Greninja heard Ash's footsteps.
"What will it be, Greninja?" Asked said Trainer, though it felt more like a statement. "What happened before, can never happen again. Remember what the Professor said, that maybe it wasn't a coincidence you and I met?... When you and me power-up, it isn't an accident. Maybe... you were meant for this moment. You've always gotten stronger for someone else, so this time, you'll help Kalos... and the world!" Said Ash, giving Greninja words of encouragement. How could Greninja say no to Zygarde now, after hearing that? No matter have conflicted he was, staying behind was the right thing to do... Ash knew that, if those tears were anything to go by.
Giving a handshake wasn't enough, Greninja pulled Ash into a hug, holding back his tears. He turned to go with the 2 Zygarde and out of respect for Ash, he didn't look back... at least, not directly as he used the reflection of the water to look at his beloved Trainer's face one last time.
A popping sound was heard... Braixen?! (AN: I know that didn't happen, just roll with it) The fox must've heard everything from within her Poke-Ball and came flying out to say goodbye to him as well... and shockingly, she didn't seem to care that her fur was getting wet and dirty from the creek she ran across. The hug they shared was slightly longer than Ash's. Watching this, Ash had a thought and approached Clemont. "Hey Clemont, you still have those Battle Pulse Meters?" He asked.
Clemont's Aipom-Arm pulled them out. "Yeah, why?" Asked the blond inventor. Ash only took one of the meters and went over to Greninja. He wrapped it around his left arm, confusing the amphibian. "This way, we'll always have a piece of each other" said Ash, he was tearing up now, there was no holding it. Likewise, Greninja's normally emotionless expression cracked as well, liquid flowing through his eyes. He shut them to try and turn them off... it only had a temporary effect.
Resisting the urge to hold Ash and never let go, Greninja then walked off into the forest... under the care of Zygarde, never to be seen again...
-END FLASHBACK-
Ash still couldn't believe his eyes and ears. 2 extremely powerful Legendaries, 1 of which followed him around without him realizing it, took the time out of their lives, just to bring Greninja back to him. He didn't doubt Greninja missed him as much as he missed Greninja, but hearing it from someone else's mouth (or in this case, someone else's telepathy) made him tear up. "Wait, but what about Kalos, won't it...?" Ash asked the 2 Pokemon of the ecosystem, but they assured him that Greninja's happiness was more important. Plus, they can handle a few stranglers.
Ash went into his pocket and pulled out a Poke-Ball. "Greninja... I never got rid of your Poke-Ball, I just couldn't force myself to do it. Even when I tried giving back to Professor Sycamore, he told me to keep it. It's very special to me, its the day my life changed" Ash explained, making Greninja feel touched. If there was still any doubt that the ninja-like Pokemon chose the right Trainer, its gone now. Greninja walked over to Ash and tapped the button on the ball, not before giving him a hug however. The ball pinged, not a single vibration was felt.
Ash didn't have time to reminisce because an explosions of Pokemon attacks occurred, it was coming from the beach! Looking behind them, the Kanto/Kalos friends noticed a large truck drive down the street with an odd symbol on it. It looked like a deformed skull, but Ash nor Serena couldn't be sure since it moved so fast. They got confirmation of what they say with people yelling: "AH! It's Team Skull", "Team Skull is back!", "Run!" (AN: I know that's not the way it is in the games, but I wanna try something different that I haven't noticed in Alola Region Pokemon fics. Honestly when Team Skull was leaked to the public, I thought they'd be a badass team... though they are far from the ruthless gang that my mind imagined. Stick with this, you'll see why I'm going in this direction soon.)
Ash mentally groaned. Why is it everytime he travels, Pokemon thieves seem to follow him or pop out of the woodwork? Still, he had to do something... was that Pikachu's cry?! And Braixen's too?! What happened while they were gone? Ash and Serena turned to ask Zy... where'd they go? No time to ask questions, Ash climbed over the wall, with Serena yelling to wait for her while she went around. When the 2 humans left, both Zygarde turned visible. "This is wrong, we should be able to help them" said Squishy. "Maybe, but this is their destiny, not ours... besides, our appearance would cause too much attention. Like the prophecy foretold, the world shall turn to Ash..." said Z2, before fusing with his red-cored counterpart and flying away with Extreme Speed.
A minute earlier, Team Rocket was running away from the truck that wasn't exactly chasing them down, but the thug driving it was honking his horn like an impatient businessman on I-95 during rush hour. "Move over, ya numbskulls! Get outta da way!" He yelled out the window while still driving. "Deja vu, eh old chum?" Asked Meowth to Wobbuffet, with the Psychic-Type agreeing. They haven't gotten chased like this since the Johto Region on that beach... at least it wasn't an out-of-control lawnmower this time. "This is not my idea of a vacation!" Cried James. "Why do we always start a new season off on a joke?!" Yelled Jessie.
Still running, the Rockets' made a sharp turn into one of the gates, dropping some items in the road. It was another pair of Solrock and Lunatone pendants and as the wheels of the truck ran over them, the tire popped (AN: I know, this is impossible, just roll with it). The thug began to loose control; so he had to stop before he, his fellow cronks, or their stolen crago got damaged. Swerving so the truck was blocking the road, he jammed on the brakes to come to a stop.
-BREAK-
Ash and Serena manged to catch up to the runaway truck further into the city, where an enormous crowd was watching what appeared to be a Pokemon battle. Weaving his/her way through, Ash and Serena saw Delia and Professor Oak battling a thug that had a skull-like bandanna on his head. The thug was also dressed in all black clothing, and a pendant which looked like a skull as well. The thug had a Pokemon that Ash nor Serena had ever seen before, and it was going to town on Mimey and Rotom. "Quit while you're ahead, granny and gramps. Spare your under-leveled Pokemon the embarrassment, Nobody beats Team Skull, Yo!" Said the thug, taunting Delia and Professor Oak. The thug's (now known to be a Team Skull Grunt) Pokemon, a wolf-like creature, laughed at the 2 Pokemon it was battling.
Despite this, Delia and Oak refused to give up. "Mimey, use Psychic!" Ordered Delia. "Rotom, use Thunderbolt!" Ordered Professor Oak. Both Pokemon, though extremely exhausted, began to charge up their mental/electrical energies. "Lycanroc, put them out of their misery with Outrage and Crush Claw" said the Grunt, simply. Roaring with... well, rage... Lycanroc pummeled both Mimey and Rotom with way more force than needed. Needless to say, they gained swirly-eyes.
"MIMEY!"
"ROTOM!"
"Ha! Your Pokemon aren't even worth taking, keep those weaklings and let this be a reminder to all of Alola: NO one... EVER... beats Team Skull!" Spoke the Grunt, his Lycanroc roaring in victory. "Got dat right, boss!" Said a second Grunt, who was just watching. "Just look at all these dweebs, the cops couldn't do any better before they ran off" said the 3rd. Ash didn't know what was fully going on, but he didn't like it. He also couldn't fathom why no one in this giant crowd was bothering to help his mother and mentor... was this villainous team really that strong? "Mom, Professor!" Called Ash, rushing up to the mentioned people. As soon as he did, he heard "Pika-Pi" and "Braix-Braixen" coming from the truck. The doors of the truck were ajar, just enough so Ash could see Pikachu and Braixen trapped in cages.
The Team Skull Grunt caught Ash's change in expression when Pikachu called out for help. "Wait... Oh-hoho, that's just rich! That's your Pikachu? Little bugger put up quite a fight when we nabbed him. Hate to break the bad new to ya kid, but when you leave something out in the open, finders keepers" said the Grunt. Hearing that, Ash was tempted to tell everyones favorite rodent to Thunderbolt his way out, but Braixen was in that cage with him... and with all his run-ins with Team Rocket, they always electric-proofed EVERY. THING.
This team seemed to be different from all the others' Ash has faced. The vibe he got off of them told him that they knew what they were doing, and given the fact that no one else aside from his mother and Professor Oak was willing to try and stop them, they instilled fear into the hearts of many. Pikachu and Braixen weren't the only ones in there; the rest of Serena's team as well as many Pokemon Ash had never seen before were also captured. "Those Pokemon aren't yours, let them go!" Ash said.
People in the crowd started muttering:
"What's this idiot doing?"
"Does he have a death wish?"
"He's gonna get himself hurt!"
Along with similar types of sentences as the 3 above, people weren't exactly hopeful that one 14 year-old could change this situation. There was even a news crew, documenting this, but like everyone else didn't try to help. "What'd you say, kid? I don't think you heard me... GET LOST! Your Pikachu is ours now... Ash" said the Gru... the heck?! Ash froze up, how did these guys know his name? One of the other Grunts pulled out papers... the same papers from the tourist center! He read out loud, Ash's full name and the only Pokemon he brought with him, and in a mocking tone of voice. Hearing this, the raven-haired teen remembered this morning...
-FLASHBACK-
"Alola, tourists! Welcome to the Alola Region, yo!" Said a man with blue hair, but held the same uniform as all the other employees. Currently, the Kanto and Kalos tourists arrived at a tourist center, known as the Alola Tourist Bureau. The man at the desk asked kindly for their passports, which each of them handed to him without a second thought. On these passports held their information, including the Pokemon (if any) they were carrying. 'Hmmm... nice. These tourists actually have some pretty decent Pokemon. Just in time for the scheduled heist' the blue-haired thought to himself. As he checked each of them, he pretended to accidentally set the passports down in his desk drawer, which actually had a copy machine in it.
"Ooh, silly me. I'm putting your only way in into my personal belongs. So sorry, its been a long day" he 'apologized' to his customers, handing back their forms. "I'm sure it has, this region is very popular for tourism" Professor Oak said, understanding since he was a 'famous' poet. "Enjoy your stay, and Alola!" said the man, doing the Alola-style wave, with Professor Oak and the rest of the tourists following. Once they left, the man got on a sinister grin and dialed a phone number. "That's right yo, we're all set to rob'em blind again!"
-END FLASHBACK-
Serena, who was watching all this, heard more muttering next to her. A group of kids: one looked like a Water-Type trainer; one didn't have a shirt on, showing off his abs (Serena couldn't help but stare for a sec); one had a very large hat... was something wiggling in her bag?; one had a Gameboy on his shirt and finally; the last one wore VERY tiny shorts.
"That tourist is gonna be destroyed" said the kid in the Gameboy shirt, then he was hit in the head by the girl with tiny shorts. "Shut it, Soph!" Said the girl that hit the boy. "I fear Sophocles may have a point..." said the boy with no shirt, folding his arms. "I think Kiawe is right, Mallow. The guy only brought a Pikachu and its been nagged" said the Water-type looking trainer. "Sorry Lana... it's just that Soph gets on my nerves with his as-a-matter-of-fact tone" said the tiny shorts girl. "Well, you heard them! Lillie, you agree with me, right?" Asked the Gameboy kid to the girl in the large hat, but she was apparently very shy and didn't answer him.
"Your wrong" said Serena, approaching the group of teens. "Ash will get your Pokemon back, no doubt" she said with the upmost confidence, stunning the kids. Was this girl in denial, or just over-supportive? "Last warning, give the Pokemon back" said Ash, not standing down the little slightest. "Kid... are you blind? Or just plain stupid? Maybe instead of telling you, I'll SHOW you what your dealing with, tourist!" Said the Lead Grunt, tossing a Pokeball. The same jackal-like Pokemon was released, snarling at Ash. "Your gonna be sorry you messed with us!" Said the second grunt, also tossing a ball, letting out a Mangeton. "Long live Team Skull, yo!" Said the final grunt, unleashing a Golbat.
"So where's your Pokemon, tourist?... Oh that's right, you HAVE no Pokemon. So do us a favor; get back on that boat, and go back to wherever you came from!" Said the Lead Grunt. The crowd just watched on, not bothering to help Ash, but he surprised them by reaching into his pocket, taking out... "What the...? I thought you said you had no Pokemon!" Yelled the lead Grunt. "Don't look at me, he must've smuggled it in" said the grunt that owned the Golbat. "Eh, whatever. It's probably empty... just trying to psyche us out" said the owner of the Mangeton.
Ash smirked, and tossed his supposed "empty" Pokeball. "Nin-Ja!" Said the creature released from it.
Now for an Authors Note! I decided that each one of Ash's friends will/might get an Ultra Beast, something I doubt the anime will ever do. Lille will be the only exception because of Nebby.
Ash will be getting both:
1) Poipole - Just cause its so ADORABLE!... and knowing the anime as well as I think I do, its gonna serve a big surprise down the road.
2) ? - This was the planned Ultra Beast... sorry, can't tell you who it is, but feel free to guess.
Serena will be getting:
1) Pheromosa - Since Serena is a performer, this Ultra Beast fits her style very well.
Kiawe will be getting either:
1) Blacephalon - Because its a Fire-Type.
2) Buzzwole - Since Kiawe is shirtless, I think its fitting for an alien Pokemon that's proud to show off its muscles is a match made in Ultra Space.
Mallow will be getting:
1) Kartana - Because Mallow likes cooking, an Ultra Beast that can cut a steel tower without effort will be a great kitchen partner.
Sophocles will be getting either:
1) Celesteela - Because he found it in the anime and bonded with it.
2) Xurkitree - Since its an Electric-Type.
Lana will be getting:
1) Nihilego - Obviously because it looks like a Tentacool after eating shrooms... and not the vegetable. Also because I thought it was a Water-Type when I first encountered it in the game.
