Hello! SweetThorns here with a special announcement: Change My Mind is now fully written, and if all goes as planned, the last 6 chapters will be published every day from 4/11/21 through 4/15/21! (Chapters 8 and 9 will be published on the same day) Now back to the story!
•.•.••.•.•
His wish come true, Goh was able to walk out of the Pokemon Center with his friend Ash good as new.
At first, Ash seemed to have something on his mind. He walked down the sidewalk looking at the ground. After a minute, though, he lifted his head up and turned to Goh.
"So I was out, huh?"
"Yeah. You had us all worried, Ash!"
"For days?"
"Uh huh."
"Well then-"
Ash had a mischievous look on his face. He met eyes with Pikachu, who instantly perked up.
"Oh no what are you two thinking-"
"It's about time we had a battle!"
"But Ash!-"
Ash and Pikachu ran off, Goh and Raboot chasing after them.
Ash stopped at the town square. There, Team Rocket was gloating over a net full of Pokémon. From the sounds of unhappy trainers, it was obvious that these pokémon had been stolen.
"Team Rocket!" Ash shouted the name with his usual disgust for it.
"You!" Team Rocket shouted back with reflected disdain.
"Pikachu, use Iron Tail and free those pokémon!"
Pikachu grabbed his hardening tail and swung it at the net. It cut like a knife through the rope and pokémon rushed out.
"Now; use Thunderbolt!"
As Pikachu charged towards them, Jessie began,
"We didn't get to say our motto they were so quick!"
"And I wanted more lines in this fanfic!"
"Looks like we got da short end o' da stick!"
"Wobbuffet!"
As they flew off, they all shouted,
"Don't forget to rate and reviewwww!"
Their voices faded out with a shining twinkle in the sky.
"Great job, buddy!"
"Pi-kua!"
Ash and Pikachu did their special handshake, a back-of-hand high five/tail slap. Goh looked on with that judging smirk.
"Leave it to Ash to have a battle within the hour of leaving intensive care." He muttered to himself.
Raising his voice, he called out to Ash, "Hey, c'mon! Everyone back at the lab is going to be so happy to see you! Let's go!"
"Alright, we're coming!"
The party rushed down to the lab. The first one to notice they were back was Riolu, who jumped up from the steps in front of the entrance with happy surprise. He excitedly raced up to them and latched onto his trainer's leg, hugging him and refusing to let go. A laughing Ash had to walk lopsided all the way to the door. Upon opening it, Goh announced to everyone,
"Guess who's back!"
The party closed the door behind them, leaving us outside to imagine their happy reunion.
•.•.••.•.•
Meanwhile, somewhere in Kalos...
There were blurry voices overhead.
"Au—...
"au-DI-no!"
"...
"What is it?
"Greninja...
"waking up!"
Greninja opened his eyes halfway to see Nurse Joy and Audino.
"greh..."
As he woke up, he began to wonder where he was exactly. What had he been doing?
He remembered getting ambushed by Team Flare late at night...
Lysandre, an Oddish, machines, a red light...
and...
ASH!
Greninja sat up and frantically looked around. Then he faced the Audino and began questioning her. [the following is a translation of their discussion]
"Where am I?"
"You're at the Pokémon Center."
"Why?"
"You were in a coma, with some signs of brain damage. You have no other major injuries but we did find a cut on your head that's already been neatly stitched up, like from a surgery. Have you had any other trips to the Pokémon Center recently?"
Greninja's padded fingers flew to his head. One of them caught on a small raised line right up next to his middle head crest. He couldn't imagine how it got there.
Audino noted his obvious confusion.
"Do you remember anything before now?"
"Yes, I remember being kidnapped by some evil humans."
"What did they do...?"
"An oddish took me out with Sleep Powder, and when I woke up they shot me with an energy beam. After that I don't know."
"That's concerning... but as I said, you don't seem to have any other injuries, other than some typical battle damage that's already been healed. Do you have a trainer?"
"Yes."
"Then the person who brought you here must have been him."
Ash in Kalos? Greninja doubted it. Didn't Lysandre say he was in Kanto? But still, he was curious who had rescued him.
"Okay, let me and Nurse Joy get everything situated and then you can go to the lobby and wait for your trainer to get back."
In a matter of minutes, Greninja was sitting on one of the cushioned benches, waiting for this mysterious person to arrive.
He was curious to see who it could be, but his intrigue was soon drowned out by other thoughts hued in various shades of anxiety.
This was all too strange... Team Flare had to be up to something, this couldn't be all they were doing. But then, what were they doing? What were they planning to do with his trainer? What had Lysandre meant when he said
"...don't worry, I'm not planning on confronting him yet."
Something was coming, and Greninja needed to find Ash. He needed to make sure he was safe.
He needed him.
A door opened. Greninja stood up to face whoever approached him, half-expecting Team Flare to come and take him again.
"Hello, Greninja. Glad to see you're doing better."
Greninja relaxed at the familiar face. It wasn't Ash, but one of his friends. What was his name again? Oh yeah, Alain. He remembered now. Their relationship was a little complicated. But for some reason, Ash still trusted him, so Greninja did too. Maybe Alain could help him find his trainer...