Narrator

The bells were still ringing in the distance, vibrating across the forest trees and the small, independent village. Heavy metal feet crushed the pebbles on the rocky pathway, and the wind passing by the staffs on Y's back whistled in the wind, like a flute.

Villagers poked their heads out - some stepped out of their house and onto the porch - frightened at the sound of the old, creepy bells that passed through the walls and haunted their mind. Children clung to their parent's legs, and the elderly who sat on rocking chairs were intrigued to the presence of the figure passing through the village.

"May we help you?" asked a concerned parent

"No" Y answered simply

There were three teenagers on Y's mind: Serena, Ash, and Calem. They formed a triangle, and the centerpiece was Serena, who with one simple decision, could change the fate of Kalos as a whole. Of course, she was unaware that she held such importance - all three of them were - so she was, to a certain degree, blind.

"Mom, what are those bells?" a small child asked. "They're scaring me"

"I don't know sweetie"

Just as Y finished passing through the village, he felt a strange feeling come over him. He suddenly paused in his tracks and looked up towards the sky. "This sensation..."

Serena

"Finally!" Gary groaned as we made it to the entrance of the gym. "We're finally here! It took way longer than it should have!"

"Yeah, but at least we made it" I said as we entered the gym. In the hallway, professional photos taken of bug-type Pokemon were plastered on the wall.

"Look at all the pictures of these bug-type Pokemon" Ash said. "Is Zack the gym leader by any chance?"

"That would be me" a familiar voice echoed through the hallway. We turned, and Viola - the gym leader - was standing in front of a pair of doors. "I take it that you're Ash?"

"Yeah, that's right" Ash confirmed. "But how did you know I was coming?"

"I had a tip from someone" Viola winked before turning to me. "Nice to see you again Serena, how's Calem?"

"He's good" I answered, muttering I guess under my breath afterwards.

"Well I'm sure you must be eager for your gym battle, so let's get to that" Viola said

.

"This will be a two-on-two Pokemon battle! Once both Pokemon from either side can no longer continue, the match will end!" the ref stated out the rules. "Trainers, bring out your first Pokemon!"

"It's go time Surskit" Viola tossed up a Pokeball and released the Pond Skater Pokemon.

"Pikachu, I choose you!" Ash pointed out to the battlefield, and Pikachu hopped off his shoulder, getting ready for the battle ahead

"Hey Gary, are you going to enter the Kalos League?" I asked - we were on the stands behind the ref - "Ash told me you two were rivals"

"I'm not sure to be honest" He said. "For now, I'm more focused on my professor work; there's a lot of interesting stuff about Kalos"

"You got that right" I agreed as the ref declared the battle begin

The first move of the battle was Surskit firing up a beam of ice - I had seen this strategy before - that curved down and hit the ground, turning it into an ice rink of a battlefield. Ash looked confused first, but he had his thinking expression on.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Ash instructed at last

A white glow casted around him, Pikachu dashed forward, and was successful for a couple of moments until he slipped. Surskit took that to its advantage, firing a Bubble Beam that collided with Pikachu and set off a small explosion.

"Using Ice Beam to create a battlefield that has perfect conditions for Surskit" Gary analyzed. "I have to say, that's pretty smart"

"Surskit, it's time to skate" Viola said, and Surskit took off, beginning to circle around a Pikachu who was keeping its place. "Use Signal Beam!"

"I've got it" Ash said. "Pikachu, use your tail to stay planted on the ice, and then reflect that attack with Thunderbolt"

Sure enough, it worked as Pikachu's tail dug into the icy ground, keeping it in place as Signal Beam fired off. Thunderbolt collided with it, overpowering it after a couple of moments and electrocuting Surskit.

"Now use Electro Ball!" Ash continued

Pikachu jumped up and flipped, shooting an Electro Ball from its tail that hit Surskit, adding more damage onto it and setting off a small explosion. When the smoke cleared, Surskit had already taken heavy damage.

"Wow, you're good" Viola said. "I've never seen someone counter my ice rink so fast"

"Well I don't plan on losing" Ash replied. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt again!"

"Surskit, dodge it and use Signal Beam!"

Surskit skated out of the way of Thunderbolt narrowly, and fired Signal Beam, which hit Pikachu and sent him flying back to the other side of the battlefield.

"Are you alright Pikachu?" Ash asked, receiving an affirmative nod in response

"Surskit, use Double Team" Viola commanded

Multiple Surskit appeared scatted across the battlefield. Ash and Pikachu looked around for a clue that would point to the real one, but no clue was given.

"If we can't find the real one, then we'll just take them all out" Ash said. "Pikachu, get to the center of the battlefield and use Thunderbolt!"

Before Viola or Surskit could react, Pikachu dashed to the middle of the battlefield and let loose a strong electrical blast of energy that shocked each Surskit, until the real one went flying back, hitting the ground with swirls in its eyes.

"He did it! Ash beat the first Pokemon!" I said excitingly

"I thought it would be more difficult, but I guess he did" Gary added

"That was great Ash; that might even be a record defeat for me" Viola returned Surskit and pulled out a different Pokeball. She tossed it up, and an unexpected Heracross came out.

"A Heracross..." Gary said. "Now that it looks it'll be more of a challenge"

She didn't use a Heracross when I came here with Calem I thought to myself.

The ice rink melted away, and the ref declared that the battle resume. Viola made the first move, commanding for Pin Missile; Pikachu was unable to dodge as a frenzy of seeds exploded around it. The smoke cleared, and Pikachu had taken some decent damage from the attack.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Ash said

"Stop that with Focus Punch!" Viola defended

Heracross's fist glowed white as it flew forward, hitting Pikachu midair and sending him crashing to the ground.

"Now use Hyper Beam!" Viola added

"Dodge it Pikachu!" Ash attempted

Light particles began to gather towards Heracross, and it fired off a Hyper Beam; Pikachu was unable to dodge, getting hit by Hyper Beam, which set off an explosion. Before the smoke could clear, a Thunderbolt shot out of it, barely missing Heracross as it dodged.

"Looks like you're still hanging in there" Viola said. "Heracross, use Megahorn!"

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Ash replied

Horn glowing green, Heracross charged forward at Pikachu, whose tail turned to steel. Their attacks clashed, sending a shockwave throughout the entire room. They both went flying back, but Heracross quickly shot forward, hitting Pikachu with Focus Punch and finishing him off.

"That Heracross is super fast" I said

"So it won't be an easy fight after all" Gary said

"Thanks Pikachu, you were great" Ash walked over and picked up Pikachu to place next to him on his spot. "Froakie, you're next!"

Ash tossed up his Pokeball, which released Froakie, who looked happy to battle, from the red light.

"He's going with Froakie?" I questioned

"It seems like a bit of a risk, but knowing Ash, he probably wants to get some practice with Froakie in" Gary explained

"Alright Froakie, looks like this will be our first official battle together, so let's do our best" Ash said; Froakie nodded, a determined look on its face

"Well we're not going to hold back" Viola assured. "Heracross, use Hyper Beam!"

"Froakie, use your bubbles to blind him!" Ash instructed

Quickly reacting, Froakie jumped up and took a couple of pieces of bubbles from the back of its neck and tossed them; the bubbles stuck to Heracross's eyes, blinding him.

"Now use Water Pulse!" Ash continued

"Take the bubbles off and use Megahorn!" Viola countered

Heracross wiped away the bubbles and hit Froakie midair with Megahorn just in time, sending him flying down towards the ground; Froakie was able to land safely, not taking any additional damage.

"Nice landing Froakie" Ash said and Froakie nodded, a slight smile on its face

"Alright Heracross, use Focus Punch!" Viola commanded

"Stop that with Cut!" Ash said

Froakie conjured up a white blade of energy and jumped forward, using the blade to block Heracross's fist successfully. The two bounced back form each other, and Froakie acted on its own, hitting Heracross in the face with a Water Pulse.

"Looks like this isn't your run of the mill Froakie" Viola said

"You got that right. Froakie's amazing" Ash agreed

The two trainers and Pokemon stared each other off, waiting for the other to make the first move. For a moment, I noticed that both Ash and Froakie's eyes flashed bright blue, and their arms twitched in sync.

"Use Pin Missile!" Viola resumed

"Dodge it!"

Heracross fired a frenzy of seeds, and Froakie successfully dodged most of them, but was hit by the last one, which exploded upon contact. Viola continued with Megahorn, and Froakie wasn't able to move out of the way as it got hit by Heracross's horn, getting sent back to the other side of the field.

"Focus Punch!"

"Block it with Cut again!"

The two Pokemon clashed in the center of the battlefield again, but Heracross overpowered Froakie, landing a direct blow that crashed him straight down into the ground. As Froakie was slowly getting up, Heracross shot a Hyper Beam that hit and exploded.

"Oh no, did he lose?" I said

"I'm not sure" Gary mumbled

After a couple of tense moments, the smoke cleared, and Froakie was still in the battle, looking more determined than ever. Ash noticed his look, and commanded for a move I hadn't heard before: Hydraulic Punch.

An aura of water covered Froakie as it jumped up, hitting Heracross with a powerful uppercut and then another punch that sent him crashing into the wall behind Viola.

"What was that?" Gary asked, a bit surprised

"No clue" I replied

Ash himself looked surprised, but shook it off as Froakie returned to his original position on the battlefield. Heracross slowly got back up and hovered to its original position as well, having taken massive damage from just those two blows.

"I don't know what that was, but it won't be enough to take us down" Viola said. "Heracross, use Pin Missile!"

"Use your bubbles to stop it, and then use Cut!" Ash instructed in defense

More seeds shot out Heracross, but Froakie tossed its bubbles at it, canceling it out and exploding. Use the lack of visibility through the smoke of the impact, Froakie used Cut and slashed through Heracross mid air. Then, to all of our surprises, Heracross fainted and dropped down to the ground.

"H-Heracross has fainted; Froakie is the winner, which means Ash the challenger is the victor!" The ref declared

"He really did it!" I exclaimed

"I have no idea how he did it so fast, but yeah!" Gary said

Viola simply accepted her defeat, smiling and returning her Heracross. Ash thanked Froakie and returned them, and the two met in the center of the battlefield, shaking hands.

"You have one exceptional Froakie, Ash" She said

"I know, but we still have ways to go" He replied

The ref walked up to them with a case in his hands. Viola took out a badge I had seen before and pretend it to Ash.

"To show proof of your victory at the Santalune City Gym, I present to you the Bug Badge!" Viola handed it over, and Ash gladly accepted it

Elsewhere

"That sensation I felt..." Y muttered as he passed through a forest, the creepy bells that followed scaring off all of the wild Pokemon. "It couldn't be stage seven..."

A twig snapped, catching Y's attention. He turned around and spotted two Ursaring and a Machamp with unfriendly looks on their faces. Without a second thought, he removed a staff and thrusted it into the ground, calling out a Cinderace - Galar's fire-type starter in its final evolution. The wild Ursaring growled, and along with the Machamp began to approach slowly.

"Could it be Bond Phenomenon" Y thought to himself out loud, forgetting about the wild Pokemon

"Scaring the Pokemon are we?" A green-robed man jumped down from a tree. "I'm afraid that you've caused quite the disturbance to the wild Pokemon with your music"

"It's not music" Y said

"Not the point" the man dismissed. "All three of you, use Hyper Beam and show our friend a good time"

"God Sleeper" Y commanded, his voice echoing loudly throughout the forest.

A purple circle of light appeared beneath the Ursaring and Machamp; a massive column of white light shot out of it, swallowing up the Pokemon and exploding, the resulting shockwave shaking the tress in the forest to their roots. When the smoke cleared, all three Pokemon had fainted.

"Bond Phenomenon... I must investigate"