Sorry this is so late, everyone. A lot of things happened: holidays, surgeries, work, car accidents. I'm ok, but I had to make a part 5 because of this, so Greninja's battle will take place in the NEXT chapter. That's a promise, so let's continue on with the story! This one is still longer than the last 4 chapters, totaling almost 2000 words, though I might rewrite all of this into 2 chapters someday.
1) Zinniach31: Give Ash Polipole? No promises. Everyone is expecting that to happen in the anime, and as I said I've been a fan a VERY long time. It's implied it will happen and even if it does, he might not keep it. The franchise has a habit of doing that: Goodra, Greninja, Larvitar, Pidgeot and most recently Buzzwole... should I go on?
2) Amourshiper35: Glad you enjoyed the flashbacks but if you paid attention, you'd know that they reunited last chapter. XD
Chapter 4: A Friend from Afar! - Part 4
-FLASHBACK #1: KALOS REGION (AN: Basically, 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...
-FLASHBACK #2: ALOLA REGION-
"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 FLASHBACKS-
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 bandana 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 underleveled 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.
So this is where we are gonna stop. Greninja's battle debut WILL happen next. Again, sorry for all these short chapters, but hopefully his battle will make up for it. See ya soon!
