Serena
Whatever had happened, it was't normal - Greninja, who had just evolved, was encased by an aura of water; you could say that he resembled Ash in a way, with some of his features. Mega Charizard landed back onto the ground, still in its Electric-Flame mode, taking interest in the change in its opponent.
"Greninja, use Hydro Slash!" Ash commanded, making the same movements as Greninja
"Use Fist of Zeus!" Jason countered, getting serious
Greninja conjured up two sharp blades, both made completely of water, and lunged forward rapidly; Mega Charizard's fists lit up with fire and electricity as it dashed forward; both Pokemon clashed in the center of the battlefield, exchanging attacks as they moved around.
"He's keeping up with Charizard now" Clemont said
"How cool! Greninja's totally different than any other one I've seen" Sawyer continued to write down notes
Finally, Greninja landed both slashes to Charizard, forcing the enemy Pokemon to retreat back to the other side of the battlefield.
"Use Water Vortex!" Ash continued
"He's using Hidden Arts now" Calem pointed out
"Maybe he unlocked it with the evolution" Gary guessed
Two spheres of water appeared in each of Greninja's hands, and he held them out in front of him; a massive vortex of water shot out, swallowing up Charizard and curving around like a rollercoaster before slamming him down into the ground.
"Looks like he's winning now" Tierno said, while Trevor took pictures of the battle
"Whatever's going on, it seems to be in Ash's favor" I said
"Use Water Shuriken Frenzy!"
A collection of water bubbles formed in the air around Greninja, and they began to form into medium-sized shurikens. Charizard took flight, flying around the battlefield in an attempt to avoid them, but was hit by most of the quick-moving water shurikens.
"Now use Aerial Ace!" Ash continued
Greninja jumped up into the air, above Charizard, and slammed its leg down onto the Mega Evolved Pokemon, sending him slamming against the ground again. Charizard quickly recovered and wrapped its tail around Greninja's leg as the Ninja Pokemon landed back down onto the ground; he began to spin in place with great force, before letting go, which through momentum, caused Greninja to go flying back to the other side of the battlefield.
"Use Dragon Fire!" Jason said
Charizard fired a Flamethrower that zipped through the air, curving around impossibly towards the opponent Pokemon, who was nearly caught off-guard.
"Water Slicer!" Ash countered
Forming two blades of solidified Water, Greninja sliced up the attack, stopping it completely before running across the battlefield and attacking Charizard with the blades, landing two swift cuts.
"Charizard, use Flamethrower"
At pointblank range, Charizard fired a Flamethrower that pushed Greninja back, but did no damage as the Pokemon's water bubble protected it from the flames.
"Secret Art: Heaven's Tower!" Jason exclaimed
A circle of red light appeared beneath Greninja's feat, and the massive column of flames erupted from the ground, carrying Greninja so high up into the air, that he disappeared from view. We waited for what seemed like forever, until Greninja came flying back down, using the momentum to slam Charizard down with Aerial Ace.
"That's gotta hurt" Gary winced
"Nice, Greninja" Ash said as it returned to its original position on the battlefield
Still, somehow, able to battle, Mega Charizard Y stood back up and shook its body, clearing off the dust and dirt it had been coated in from all of the impacts with the ground.
"Ash is actually winning now that Greninja is evolved" I said
"Not just that, it looks like the water bubble around him is some kind of power boost" Anna added
"It's the seventh stage of evolution" Jason explained
"Seventh?" Gary counted to four with his fingers. "I thought there was only four"
"The fifth is the advanced, or complete, mega evolved form, which is the one Charizard is in" Jason said. "Sixth, is the mixed-elemental form that Charizard also has active. Only type masters can achieve this state by having their Pokemon absorb enough of another masters element"
"And seventh?" I asked
"Bond Phenomenon, the syncing between trainer and Pokemon" Jason revealed
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Bond Phenomenon? Is that what's going on? I do feel I'm in sync with Greninja, but it's more complicated than that"
"Only one way to test it out" Jason said. "Charizard, use Flamethrower!"
"Greninja, use Water Slicer!" Ash replied
Charizard fired a column of flames, and Greninja ran forward, the blades of condensed water forming in its hands; Greninja cut cleanly through the attack, but was caught off guard by Charizard who hammered both of its fists down against its head, slamming Greninja against the ground.
Ash put his hand on his head, as if he had felt the damage from the attack as well.
Jason allowed Greninja to get up before commanding: "Burning-Thunder Fists"
Greninja attempted to jump back, but Charizard lunged after it, and began to pummel it with a fury of punches that were mixed with fire and electricity. Visibly, Ash slightly winced, and held one of his arms with the other.
"Water Vortex!" Ash exclaimed
Repeating the attack from earlier, Greninja sent Charizard flying back to its original spot on the battlefield by summoning a vortex of water that carried the Pokemon with it. Then, for no reason, the ground began to shake heavily as a dozen circles of energy appeared around Greninja, some floating, and others grounded.
"Secret God Art: Sacred Song!" Jason's voice echoed across the field
Before Greninja could move a muscle, a high pitch of sound was released from the energy circles, causing Ash to block his ears and Greninja to drop to its knees. Moments later, the attack finished, and we all took our hands off of our ears.
"Damage through pure sound. What a powerful move" Gary said
"It is a godly art after all" Sawyer said
Charizard flew across the battlefield, rocking Greninja in the gut as it recovered with another Burning-Thunder Fist, causing him to crash into the wall behind Ash. The water bubble dissipated, and Greninja's extra features broke off into sparkles, revealing the normal Greninja that I knew. Meanwhile, Ash dropped to his knees and fainted against the ground.
Ash / January 21st
My eyes opened slowly, and I took in my surroundings: I was back at my room inside the inn, but there was something holding onto me tightly. On my right, Serena was sitting on a chair beside my bed, but she had fallen asleep, so her head was resting on the bed with one of her hands still only chest, tightly gripped.
Memories from what had happened came back to me - Frogadier evolving, Bond Phenomenon, and the fact that I had fainted after the battle - and I sat up in my bed - on my left, Pikachu was resting on the bed as well, which meant it must have been early in the morning, or at least compared to the time I usually woke up.
Serena awoke a couple of moments later, rubbing her eyes and sitting up in her chair. "You're finally awake"
"How long was I out?" I asked
"Well it's ten in the morning, and you passed out around lunch time yesterday" Serena said
I looked outside the window, and the sun was shining brighter than it had yesterday. "That's a long time to be asleep. Any idea why?"
"Apparently Bond Phenomenon is pretty tiring if you're not use to it" Serena shrugged. "Jason left afterwards so we didn't get much information, but you and Greninja were in sync, right?"
"Yeah, it was like we were one," I said, "and after Greninja evolved, the Hidden Arts just started to come to me naturally. If I could capitalize on that, then I could have a real shot at battling the other tough opponents in the tournament"
A concerned frown formed on Serena's face. "I know it's exciting at all, but you should take it easy. I mean, you kind of fainted"
"But that's how you get use to it" I replied. "Sure I fainted this time, but who knows what'll happen next time"
"Exactly. No one knows what could happen" Serena said. "I just don't want to see you get hurt, so it would help if you took it easy first"
"I guess so" I agreed
Her smile returned, and she giggled. "Knowing you, you'll probably want to get back to training as soon as possible"
"Greninja and I are going to need a lot of practice so that we don't end up fainting in the middle of the tournament" I said
"I know you can do it, because you're Ash," Serena replied, "and to me, you're a Pokemon Master"
Gary / Hours Later
"The nerve of that guy" I muttered as I walked through a park in Lumiose City, looking around for the sight of a white cape
I spotted a kid around my age wearing a gray sweater in a further part of the park, catching bug-type Pokemon like there was no tomorrow, which I found oddly strange. A part of me told me to ask him for any clues, and I thought I might as well, and question him on what he was doing while I was at it.
"Hey, you" I said as I approached him
"What's up?" He stopped his frenzy and turned towards me
"You see a guy around here with a white cape?" I asked
"Not that I can remember" He replied. "You're Gary, right?"
"You know me?" I raised an eyebrow. "Wow. Someone finally recognizes me"
"I saw you at the party the other day. If I can remember correctly, you're competing for Kalos" He said. "My name's Gou, and I'm from Galar"
"Galar, huh? Can't say I know much about that region" I said as we shook hands. "Got any type masters on your team?"
"We have Aero, the flying-type master" Gou informed. "He's pretty powerful, though that's not much of a surprise"
"I see" I nodded, looking around at the lack of bug-type Pokemon. "So what's with the frenzy-catching? If the bug-type master weren't on our team, then I would have guessed you were him"
"My goal's to catch every Pokemon in the Pokedex" Gou said
"That's definitely one heck of a goal" I responded. "What made you want to do that?"
"The mythical Pokemon, Mew" Gou looked up into the sky, as if he was trying to remember some distant memory. "Ever since I saw it, I knew I wanted to catch every Pokemon, and one day, Mew as well"
"Yeah, well, I'm going to be the world's greatest professor" I said. "Anyway though, I should get going. I have to find who I'm looking for so I could learn Bond Phenomenon"
.
After wandering around Lumiose City for another hour, I was unable to find Jason, and I was just about ready to give up and go home when I walked by a familiar face sitting outside a small store, enjoying a cup of coffee.
"Hey! You're the crazy lady who attacked us a couple of weeks ago!"
"Can't say I remember you" Sabrina said
"Gary Oak" I reminded her
"Nothing" She shrugged
"We were at the really tall tower" I continued. "You were with some dude named Winchester, and you called yourselves gates or something like that"
"Oh. You must have been with Ash and Serena" She remembered. "Yes, you were the annoying one"
"At least she remembered" I muttered. "What's a villain like you doing out here anyway?"
"Villain?" Sabrina raised an eyebrow. "That's an odd choice of words, because I'm no villain. I was just simply doing my job"
"You tried to capture us"
"I didn't try to capture you"
I sighed. "You know what I mean"
"No matter what happens, we'll have our way" She took a sip of her drink. "After the tournament, things are going to change. Big time"
"That's not the first time I've heard that, which means you guys are up to something no good" I replied
"We just have a simple goal: to make the world a better place" Sabrina said
"Is exactly what all villains say"
"We're different"
"And that's how they all justify it"
Somehow, she kept her cool. "You may think its all fun and games now, but when the time comes, you'll see what I'm talking about"
