Chapter 18: Aura
"Lucario, power-up-punch! Charizard Dragon Claw!"
"Grouuu!"
"Grauuu!" Ash, Pikachu, Tyrunt, and Fletchinder could only watch in awe as Charizard and Lucario both tried to go at Greninja from two sides. However, the ninja pokemon moved like a swift shadow, dodging or blocking their attacks as if he knew where they'd strike for a thousand years.
"Gre." Greninja blocked another two blows with Night slash before acrobatically leaping high into the air and unleashing Water Shuriken.
"Dragon Pulse! Aura sphere!"
Lucario and Charizard both blasted the attacks apart but saw Greninja too had vanished.
"Grauuu!"
"Grouuu!"
"Behind you!" Charizard and Lucario turned just in time to see Greninja's webbed fingers jab them both with Feint Attack.
"Grauuu!"
"Grouuu!" Ash's pokemon staggered, and Greninja leaped backward onto a tree branch.
"We'll get you! Pikachu!"
"Pika!" Charizard and Lucario reluctantly moved away to give Pikachu a chance against Greninja.
"Pika!" Pikachu growled while sparking his cheeks.
Greninja kept his arms crossed and observed the electric mouse carefully.
"Gre!" Finally, Greninja leaped forward and hurled a trio of water shurikens at him.
"Agility and electroball!"
"Pika pika pika!" Pikachu moved fast enough to mistake his agility for teleport and hurled his tail, unleashing a ball of electricity.
While in mid-air, Greninja couldn't dodge, but alas, Ash and Pikachu soon realized he didn't have to. The Ninja pokemon hurled a curved rock that Ash quickly recognized as Smack Down, instantly destroying electroball.
"Iron tail!"
"Pika chu!" Pikachu flipped himself over, shattering the rock as he did so, only to see Greninja land and draw his arm blades.
Greninja's eyes met Pikachu's, but neither he nor Ash showed any fear.
"Iron tail!"
"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu and Greninja danced around each other, neither able to land a blow. After several minutes, Pikachu breathed heavily and felt his sweat-drenched fur grow heavier.
Greninja, by contrast, showed no visible fatigue and merely bowed his head in admiration.
"Pika." Pikachu smiled back. Ash and his other pokemon did the same, but Greninja's eyes turned sharply onto the Prince Consort.
Ash saw this and smiled while grabbing the hilt of his sparring sword.
"En garde!" Greninja came upon Ash with both arm blades and exchanged a series of lethal blows, which the chevalier struggled to match. However, Greninja saw the human's sheer determination and noted his improvement from their last sparring session.
Greninja continued sparring with Ash and his pokemon for another hour, leaving the team on the brink of collapse, their muscles on fire.
"Merde, you're more intense than Red." Ash laughed while resting against a tree with his pokemon beside him.
Greninja similarly leaned himself against a tree and couldn't help but smile a little.
"That's good, though. With you helping us train, we'll reach even greater heights!"
"Pika!"
"Fletch!"
"Runt!"
"Grauuu!"
"Grouuu!" Lucario issued a direct challenge to Greninja, who shook his head slightly.
"Grouuu!" Lucario sprung up despite his fatigue and growled while taking a fighting stance.
Greninja sighed until he saw Ash similarly back on his feet with matching determination.
"Allez!"
"Grouu!" Greninja almost blinked when he saw Ash and Lucario's eyes glow blue for a brief moment.
"Gre!" Springing to a fighting stance, Greninja accepted the challenge and went straight for Lucario.
"Grouu!" Lucario furiously countered each blow, ignoring his aching muscles.
"Pika!"
"Grauuu!" Ash's other pokemon cheered. Greninja, however, took a bit more interest in Ash himself. Just like Korrina, he made the same motions as Lucario at the same exact time, as if they shared one mind, or perhaps, something else.
Later that morning, Ash, his team, and Greninja sat with the others as they ate breakfast. The Prince consort stared longingly at the empty spot across from him where Red usually sat and sighed before feeling Serena's warm hand on his.
"Ash, are you doing alright?"
"Oui, I'm still getting used to it, is all."
"Hmmm, I still don't see why Red and Korrina couldn't travel with us and let Count Gurkinn lead his troops." Bonnie pouted.
"Because Red is the Count now. That means he has bigger responsibilities, Bonnie." Clemont said as he poured some tea for his pokemon and her.
"Responsibilities?"
"Oui." Clemont started sipping.
"You mean like having babies with Korrina?" Clemont spat out his tea and bega violently coffing.
Ash and Serena sweatdropped a little with their pokemon.
"Well, she's not wrong." Ash admitted, earning a slight giggle from Serena.
"Charr!" Charmeleon growled tenderly as she nuzzled her head against Charizard, who continued to sweatdrop. Since she'd evolved, Charla became increasingly clingy towards him, even worse than before.
He didn't mind her doing it as a Charmander since he thought it was a little girl's crush she'd grow out of. However, now he was starting to wonder if she actually thought they were mates.
"Grouuu!" Lucario muttered with a wide grin, earning a fierce growl from Charizard.
Pikachu and the others chuckled.
"How is Charla taking her newly evolved form?" Ash asked.
"Merveilleuse!?" Serena beamed.
"She's flying better than ever, and her more powerful moves are synching well with Braixen's!"
"Just think, once she evolves again, you'll be able to do some truly spectacular performances."
Serena nodded before reaching into her bag and taking out a small box Korrina gave her just before parting ways. Inside lay a keystone and piece of Charizardite X.
Charla slowly approached the box and looked inside as well. The Charmeleon and her trainer both shared mixed feelings about the mega evolution stone.
"I wonder what Charla will look like as a Charizard X since she's already a dragon type?" Ash wondered.
Serena also wondered about this and felt slightly anxious about Charla's mega evolution, given her uniqueness.
"Don't worry about it. When she gets there, we'll make sure she's ready!" Ash promised Serena. Charla similarly felt Charizard give her a reassuring nudge with his snout and beamed brightly.
"Merci!" Serena kissed Ash's cheek before grunting slightly.
"Êtes-vous OK?" Ash asked. Bonnie, Clemont, and the pokemon also noticed her look of discomfort.
"Oui, just a little tender in my chest." Serena said while stroking her breasts slightly.
"Huh, that's étrange. Was something off about your wing-suit? I could take a look." Clemont offered.
"Non, it felt fine. I suppose we did train a little harder than usual this morning."
After breakfast, the group made their way down route 12's paved road, Greninja and Fletchinder both scouting ahead. Fletchinder from the air, and Greninja from the trees.
"Did Red say if he and his forces would lay siege to Coumarine City?" Serena asked.
"Non, he just said they were heading west with the Catalan Company to support Calem."
"What did happen to Count Ramos?" Serena asked, slightly nervously.
Ash and Clemont both sighed, but the Prince-Consort tried to remain optimistic.
"He escaped the battle with most of his men. But we haven't heard anything about another great defeat, which means he and his forces are still out there!"
"Pika!"
"Oui! Maybe we'll find them!" Serena cried with similar enthusiasm.
"And you can perform for them!" Ash added, making her blush.
"Maybe we could help them retake Coumarine City too!" Clemont's enthusiasm caught the others off-guard, though in a good way.
"You think your cannons could take down the city walls!?" Ash almost muttered.
"Oui! They might!" Ash marveled at the idea of walls cities no longer having the same protection from sieges that once did.
"Gre!"
All eyes turned to Greninja, who drew his arm blades.
"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked.
"Routiers!" Clemont yelped before Ash threw himself in front of Serena and drew his sword. Clemont snapped out of his fright and put Ash's suit of armor on him within moments before armoring up himself and taking out a hand cannon.
However, moments later, Fletchinder flew in with a very different expression.
"Fletch!" Fletchinder landed on Ash's shoulder, looking very happy.
"Huh? Fletchinder, are you happy there's routiers?" Serena asked in bewilderment.
"Look!" Bonnie pointed to something in Fletchinder's beak, and the others soon realized he was eating a pokebiscuit, a special type of treat that travelers gave their pokemon.
"Attendez, the Routiers gave him a pokebiscuit?" Clemont mumbled in disbelief.
"Gre." Upon looking closer, Greninja retracted his blades and relaxed.
"Bonjour, your majesty!"
Ash raised his visor and saw four men-at-arms approach them with a Furfrou, Pangoro, and Honedge beside them. These pokemon and the blue iris sigil on their brigandine/steel breastplates identified them as Kalos soldiers, specifically men from Arnaud's company.
All four and their pokemon breathed a heavy sigh of relief, with Ash and Clemont putting their weapons away.
"Merci Reduka, we thought you might be routiers." Serena exhaled. However, they quickly saw a mixed reaction from the soldiers. The man in a suit of plates grinned behind his visor while the three in brigandine looked more uneasy, particularly when they saw Bonnie.
"Bonnie, why don't we stay here for a minute." Clemont said.
"Awww, I want to see Monsieur Arnaud!"
"You just saw him the other day!" Clemont countered.
"l' enfant, would you like to pet Furfrou?" One of the soldiers asked as he came over with Furfrou.
"Oui!" Bonnie and Dedenne eagerly began playing with Furfrou while the man-at-arms in plate armor led Ash and Serena further down the road.
"The truth is, there were routiers here, your majesty. They sacked two nearby towns and intended to hit another one today."
"Intended." Ash and Serena noted the word and soon an all too familiar foul stench that, sadly, the Princess had grown all too accustomed to. Serena braced herself and then saw what remained of a Galar Routier company scattered across the road ahead of them.
Serena covered her mouth while Ash and their pokemon took deep breaths.
"Magnifique isn't it. We caught these salopards in an ambush, over two hundred dead and just as many taken prisoner." The soldier boasted. Ash and Serena, however, didn't share his enthusiasm. They were, of course, grateful that the routiers wouldn't hurt any more innocent people, but death in itself wasn't something to celebrate.
As they walked about the battle's aftermath, they spotted many live Galar soldiers and pokemon being bound with rope and led aside while other soldiers/knights searched the dead for anything useful.
"Philip! Shame on you! Bringing Princess Serena here!" A familiar voice growled. Monsieur Raymond came forward and gave the soldier a stern look before taking over for him.
"Bonjour your grace, Monsieur Ash. I'm sorry you have to see this." The knight sighed as Serena and Ash both petted his Pyroar.
"We're just glad you were able to stop them. Is Monsieur Arnaud ok?" Ash asked.
"Oui, he's near the front interrogating the Routier Captain."
Serena went pale as she looked down at a dead Galar routier who almost seemed to stare back at her with a haunting gaze.
"Serena!" Ash and her pokemon tried to pull her away, but the damage was already done. Monsieur Raymon took another deep breath and knelt beside the young with sympathy.
"How old do you think he was? Eighteen, seventeen, peut-être même 16." Raymond reached into the young man's loot sack and took out a handful of silver coins, clearly made in Kalos and what looked like a silver spoon.
"Regarde ça, he came all the way from Galar, sold lies about adventure and fortune that awaited him. He had his whole life ahead of him, and yet he died here, far from home, for this." Raymon held his face to hold back tears.
"Raymond, it's not your fault." Ash tried to assure him.
"...N'est-ce pas? Duke Lysandre is just as responsible for this as King Victor, and I once served him."
"But you recognized your error and now fight for Kalos! You've more than made up for it, monsieur!" Serena assured Raymond while placing a warm hand on his armored pauldron. The knight wiped a few tears away and smiled.
"Merci, your highness."
"Fletch!" Fletchinder landed on Raymond's shoulder and nudged against his head.
"You want another biscuit? Ahhh, merde." Raymond sighed before giving another pokebiscuit to the firebird.
"You're still heading west then?"
"Oui." Ash answered.
"Well, I'd suggest you head to the nearby town and remain there for a day or two after we leave tomorrow. We'll clear the road ahead of any further routiers."
"Merci, but first, I think you've all earned a performance!" Serena cried enthusiastically.
Raymond and the other soldiers/knights/pokemon all nearly jumped in excitement upon hearing this and beamed with eager expressions.
"Ahhh! You're too kind, Princess! Oui! The men would love that!"
"We wouldn't mind it either." Ash, Serena, and their pokemon gasped upon hearing a familiar voice speak in Kanto. They turned to see a particular samurai approaching them with a sheathed katana and several steel-type pokemon beside him.
"Rokusho!" Ash and Serena cried.
"So good to see you both again!" Rokusho placed a hand on both their shoulders with a cordial smile.
"You too!? Say, where's Zinnia?" Serena asked.
"And Felix."
"I go wherever dragons are in need." Serena yelped when she saw the dragon lady appear behind her.
"Zinnia." Rokusho sighed with a slightly embarrassed sweatdrop.
Ash then noticed Felix and his Lucario nearby, surveying a few dead bodies quite distinct from the other routiers.
"Felix." Ash said as he, Pikachu, Lucario, and Greninja stared at the mysterious samurai with interest.
"Wait! Are those!?" Serena yelped.
"Yep, Rocket Clan shinobi and at least one samurai." Rokusho narrowed his eyes and spoke harsher as he stared at their bodies.
"These fine warriors warned us that some criminals from Kanto were among the routiers and helped us lay the ambush." Raymond said while nodding gratefully to Rokusho and Felix, the latter not turning to acknowledge the knight.
"Rocket clan." Ash and Serena grimaced, both remembering their last encounter with the clan all too well.
"You're both looking well, growing your hair even longer I see." Zinnia got a little too close for Serena's comfort and stroked her smooth-honey blonde hair, which had grown since their last meeting, nearly reaching her waist.
"Uhhh, oui. I was actually thinking about cutting it short again." Serena muttered while sweatdropping. Zinnia narrowed her eyes and stared closer, nearly making Serena tremble in discomfort. She glanced over at Ash, hoping he'd see her cues and do something, but alas, he proved as oblivious as always.
"Ahhh, Ash." She sighed before yelping upon seeing Zinnia's face directly in front of hers.
"No, I wouldn't recommend it. Long hair suits you."
"Oui." Ash added, making Serena blush a little.
"Ahhh, I'll keep it long then."
"I see you have a Tyrunt now and a Greninja." Rokusho said as he approached the pokemon with interest.
"Well, Tyrunt is mine, yes, but Greninja isn't actually my pokemon."
"Is he yours?" Zinnia asked Serena, who sweatdropped again.
"Not exactly. He's watching over me."
"Gre." Greninja watched Rokusho, Zinnia, and Felix cautiously, but eased a little when he saw how friendly Ash and Serena acted around them.
"Are you still looking for Duke Wikstrom?" Ash asked.
"Absolutely! We ran into Captain Arnaud the other day, and he told us his company was heading that way, so we decided to tag along. Plus, all this fighting will keep us sharp for when we face the Duke, right team!"
Rokusho's steel pokemon cried in unison.
Serena noticed the way Ash, Pikachu, and Lucario kept glancing over at Felix with intrigue.
"And Felix?" Ash asked.
"We heard that members of the Rocket clan were searching the local towns for something and joined the Galar-"
Just then, they saw Felix kneel down and take a small sack from the dead samurai and stare at it with apparent interest.
"Find what you were looking for, quiet one?" Zinnia asked.
"Gre!"
"Grouuu!" Greninja and both Lucario sensed the danger before it happened, but Felix did so too late. He tried to draw his sword, only for a smokeball to hit his chest.
"Felix!" The Samurai's Lucario tried to intervene, but a powerful flamethrower came within inches of him, forcing the fighting pokemon back.
Moving like a swift shadow, another Rocket Shinobi dashed across the road, evading every Kalos knight/soldier in his path before delivering a punishing kick to Felix's chest, forcing him back again. However, unlike the other shinobi, something about this man's attire made him look fiercer and perhaps more important.
"Doom!" A similarly ferocious-looking Houndoom ran beside him and snapped at Lucario with fire-fang, giving his shinobi time to seize the sack that Felix collected.
"Arrête-le!" Raymond shouted, and dozens of soldiers/pokemon tried to intercept the shinobi and his Houndhoom, but they proved too agile and avoided each attack.
"Gre!" Greninja leaped in front of Serena but then saw Ash race after him alongside Felix, Rokusho, Zinnia, and several soldiers.
"Ash!" Serena cried as she too went after him.
"Princess!" Raymond, his Pyroar, and Greninja quickly followed.
As all this happened, Bonnie and Dedenne gleefully groomed the man-at-arm's furfrou.
"So soft!" She cried in glee while Clemont showed the three soldiers his latest cannon model.
"Incroyable! It's even better than the ones you used during the siege of Shalour! If we had some of these, we'd send the Galar swimming back to their home!"
"Well, I could certainly provide you with-" Clemont eagerly started before he and the soldiers saw someone racing towards.
"Quoi!" The ninja master acrobatically leaped over all four armored men alongside his Houndhoom. However, both collided with Furfrou and stumbled.
"Frou!"
"AHhh! Watch yourself. You could've hurt Furfrou!" Bonnie scolded the Ninja master before noticing something had fallen out of his sack.
"Eh?" Bonnie looked closer and saw a chocolate-flavored cupcake with awe.
"Ohhh, it looks so good." Bonnie picked up the cupcake, broke off part of it for Dedenne, then ate the rest herself. However, the little girl instantly started coughing violently, feeling something metal go down her throat.
"That's a bad cupcake!"
The ninja's eyes widened, and he held his head for a moment before noticing the squire and three soldiers turn to him. Dashing forward, he sized Bonnie in his arms and raced off.
"Hey!"
"Bonnie!" Clemont shrieked.
"Reviens ici!" The soldiers ordered their pokemon to attack, but no move hit its mark.
"Ahhh!" Clemont grabbed his head when he saw Ash and the others racing after the ninja.
"Clemont!"
"Bonnie! He took Bonnie!"
Ash and Serena's hearts raced as they looked on.
"Merde! You three, get the Princess back to safety! We'll save her!" Monsieur Raymond cried.
Serena tried to protest, but Ash didn't seem to disagree with Raymond and instead raced off alongside his fellow knight, Felix and Rokusho.
The Princess sighed, but realized there was little she could do, and would probably have only gotten in the way.
"Come on, let's get back to the company. I'd like to take a closer look at Charla now that she's evolved." Zinnia said while placing a hand around Serena's shoulder.
"Bonnie!" Clemont tried to race after the ninja too, but Serena, Zinnia, and his pokemon pulled him back.
Greninja looked out at Ash longingly but then turned back to Serena with a conflicted expression.
"Go! Help them rescue Bonnie!" Serena cried. Greninja eagerly nodded and raced after the others.
Elsewhere, Ash and the others lost track of the ninja.
"Merde! Bonnie! Bonnie, can you hear me!?" Ash cried.
"Pika!"
Yet no response came, filling Ash with an unrelenting dread.
"Bâtard! Je vais lui couper la bite!" Raymond snarled alongside his Pyroar.
"Fletchinder, Charizard, try and find them!" Both pokemon were about to obey when Felix and his Lucario stepped in front of them.
"Ehh?" Ash and his team looked confused until Rokusho smiled.
"He's reading the aura around us."
"Aura?" Ash and Raymond asked.
"Yes, the same aura your Lucario can feel. Some humans are intuned to aura like Lucario and with enough training can channel it themselves. We call them Aura Guardians."
"Vraiment!?"
"Pika!"
"Grouu!" Ash felt beyond amazed at the prospect of possibly being able to channel aura. He and Lucario turned to each other before noticing Greninja stepping forward to do the same.
"Greninja, can you-" Ash started.
Felix, his Lucario, and Greninja all pointed in one direction.
"Là?" Raymond asked.
"Yes, monsieur. Aura Guardians are never wrong about these kinds of things." Rokusho and his pokemon followed them without hesitation.
"Well, I trust Rokusho." Ash soon pursued with Raymond doing the same until finally, the four warriors and their pokemon arrived at the base of a ruined castle.
Mold, roots, and other vegetation spread across the cracked stone, almost giving the fortress a green shade, contrasting the ominous darkness within the many open doors and windows.
"He's in there?" Raymond asked, dreading the answer.
Felix nodded and earned a sweatdrop from the knight.
"Merde. Alright, you better not suggest we split up-" Raymond didn't even finish when Felix and his Lucario raced inside without a word.
"Est-il fou !? That assassin is in all black. He'll sneak up on us in there like a shadow and-" Raymond started before Rokusho and his pokemon went in next.
"Samouraï fou ! Can you believe this monsieur Ash, we-"
"Vas-Y! Raymond! Bonnie is waiting!" Ash, his pokemon, and Greninja raced inside, leaving the second knight and his Pyroar outside.
"And now we're all alone, merde. How did we get ourselves into this." Monsieur Raymond and his Pyroar sighed. Drawing his sword, the knight followed alongside Pyroar.
Upon penetrating the castle, Ash entered a world of darkness, unable to see anything beyond a foot or so in front of him, made worse by his visor.
"Pika." Pikachu felt much the same and sparked his cheeks.
"Everyone, keep on your guard." Ash drew his sword and moved into a guard stance when Lucario and Charizard provided some light.
"Pika!" Pikachu picked up movement with his keen hearing and pointed behind them.
"Gaah!" Ash readied himself to lash out, only for another sword to catch his own. The knight saw none other than Felix staring back at him from behind his mask.
"Ahhh, gomen." Ash said in Kanto while sweatdropping a little. Felix remained silent and sheathed his sword. The samurai turned away and began walking further into the ruined castle, his and Lucario's eyes flashing blue every few moments.
"Ahh, Felix. I know you took a vow of silence and everything, but considering our situation, being able to communicate with each other could save our lives, as well as Bonnie's. So-" Ash started before almost hearing a strange voice in his head.
It wasn't a typical voice, more a direct message, possibly from Felix himself. No discernable human vocals came out, only the words.
"You'll know."
"Ehhh?" Ash felt bewildered at how he'd done this and began to wonder.
"Lucario, did he?"
"Gre." Greninja seemed to answer this for Ash as he came up beside him and nodded.
"Aura." Ash muttered with increasing interest. He'd always felt a strong bond between himself and his pokemon but never considered that there might be something more to it. What if he, too, could use Aura?
"Felix, can you tell me more about aura?" The samurai didn't respond, making Ash sweatdrop. Charizard and Ash's other pokemon, save Pikachu, looked annoyed at Felix's silence, taking it as disrespect.
"Grouuu!" Ash's Lucario roared, racing up to Felix only for the older Lucario to seize him with instantaneous reflexes.
"Grrrr." The older Lucario stared into Ash's Lucario's eyes for a moment but then blinked.
"Grou?"
"Grou?" Ash's Lucario looked confused when Felix's Lucario let go and backed up.
"Ehhh? Wha's wrong?"
"Pika?"
"Gre!" Greninja drew his blades at the same time Felix drew his.
"On guard." Ash heard from another aura message and didn't hesitate to draw his sword/lower his helmet's visor. The pokemon each took a fighting stance, all except for Felix's Lucario, who continued to stare at Ash's Lucario before snapping to attention.
"Grauuu!" Charizard lit up the damp chamber with fire, revealing a dozen black-clad shinobi hiding in the shadows.
"En garde!" The shinobi spring into action with Golbat, Primeape, and Raticate.
Three shinobi sprung into action, wielding kusarigama chain weapons, maneuvered around Ash, and hurled the ends of their kusarigama around the knight's wrists and one ankle.
"Merde!" Ash felt himself pulled to the ground and held in place as another two shinobi moved in to assassinate him. At the same time, four shinobi tried to hit Felix with the same attack, only for the samurai to dodge or block their kusarigama and then cut down two shinobi who moved in two assassinate him.
"Pika!" Pikachu and Ash's other pokemon desperately tried to intervene, but the Rocket pokemon prevented them from doing so.
"Pas comme ça!" The young chevalier roared as he threw his body in the same direction that two of the shinobi pulled him. In doing so, he caused the third to stumble forward and crash into the pair trying to assassinate him.
"Baka okiro!" The others roared.
"No problem!" Ash sprung to his feet, sword drawn and with two precise blows, slashed through the unarmored shinobi who'd been holding him in place.
"Kare wa yuruidesu!" The remaining shinobi all drew swords and attacked Ash from multiple directions. The chevalier's armor might've proved decisive had he only fought two or three, but four attackers kept him from focusing on any single one.
"Gre!"
Ash's eyes lit up when he saw Greninja knock out two Raticate and Primape with night slash and then rush in beside him.
"Pika!"
"Grouuu!" Pikachu and Lucario felt amazed when they saw Ash's eyes light up blue for the briefest moment and then saw the same from Greninja.
Felix's Lucario saw it too. Ash and Greninja's movements started to mirror each others'. Within a minute, all four shinobi lay on the ground.
"Merci." Ash said to Greninja, who nodded with similar admiration.
"Pika!"
"Grauuu!"
"Grouu!"
"Grouuu." Felix's Lucario looked at Ash with ever-growing intrigue, at least until he felt his trainer's aura messaging.
"Let's go." Felix stood over half a dozen dead shinobi and used one of their masks to clean the blood from his weapon.
"Grouu." Ash and the others saw Felix moving on and followed.
"Felix, I really want to know." The samurai remained silent and focused solely on his task, earning a weary sigh from Ash.
"Gre." Ash felt Greninja's hand on his shoulder and turned to him.
"I don't suppose you know anything about aura. Ahhh, maybe Felix is right. I should focus on Bonnie." Ash sweatdropped, only for Greninja to shake his head.
"Bond."
"Eh?" Ash heard another aura message, but something it felt different from Felix's.
"Greninja." Ash muttered.
"En garde!"
"Eh?" Ash and the others raced to the nearest source of light and found themselves on a balcony overlooking a courtyard. Below, Raymond and Rokusho both fighting ten or so shinobi alongside their pokemon.
"We need to help-" Ash started directing his pokemon to assist when a familiar voice sent a shiver down his spine.
"AHhh! Papa! Clemont! Ash! Aidez-Moi!"
"Bonnie!"
Pikachu and Ash's other Pokemon had already gotten down to the courtyard when they froze and looked up with Ash at the castle's highest tower.
"Charizard-" Ash started, only for a powerful tongue to wrap around him.
"Eh?" Without warning, Greninja scaled the castle better than any of the shinobi and carried Ash with him.
"Pika!?
"Runt?!"
"Fletch!?"
"Grauu!?"
"Grou!?"
Bonnie wailed in pain again as the lead shinobi violently performed the heimlich maneuver on her repeatedly.
"S'il te plaît, arrête!" The little girl pleaded while Dedenne did the same, pinned under Houndoom's paw.
"Dee!" Dedenne tried to use an electric move but to no avail and trembled when she saw Houndoom's fangs. Finally, after one more heimlich maneuver Bonnie coughed again, and this time something shot out of her mouth and landed on the floor with a clang.
"Kī!" The shinobi tossed Bonnie aside and raced over to pick up a small key she'd spit-up. The shinobi almost sounded giddish as he took out a wooden box and used the key to open the lock.
"Bonnie!"
"Eh?" The shinobi looked up to see Ash and Greninja across the chamber from him.
"Ash!"
"Greninja, get her!"
"Gre!" Greninja shot his tongue out and swiped up Bonnie and Dedenne in one swoop, placing them behind Ash.
"On your knees!" Ash roared in Kanto, his sword and buckler held high.
The ninja's eyes widened in surprise, and intrigued, he stepped closer.
"Well, I wasn't expecting the average Kalos chevalier to understand Kanto." The shinobi removed his mask and revealed his face, and he appeared middle-aged with teal hair and matching eyes.
"Who are you, monsieur?"
"Ash! Royal knight!"
"Bonjour, monsieur. You can call me Archer, and I'm afraid there's no need for further violence. I have what I need." Archer emphasized the parchment he'd collected, but Ash and Greninja remained on their guard, making the shinobi laugh.
"Ahhh, you're smarter than you look!" Archer put his mask back on and hurled three shurikens towards the slint in Ash's visor, at the same time, Houndoom unleashed dark pulse at Greninja.
"Greninja, dodge, and use Water Shuriken!" Ash knew Greninja wasn't his pokemon but directed him more out of habit/impulse. However, to his slight surprise, Greninja obeyed and did just as Ash commanded.
The chevalier knocked away all three incoming shurikens with his bucklers while Greninja acrobatically flipped himself into the air, masterfully evading the dark pulse.
"Gre!" Greninja hurled three water shurikens of his own at Houndoom, who dodged one, burst another but howled when the third his him dead on.
"Doom!"
Archer drew his sword and carefully watched Ash for a moment, then sprinted, running across the wall and flipping himself into the knight, who just managed to parry the shinobi blade and lashed out with his buckler.
Archer grunted and stumbled backward, barely bringing his sword back in time to block Ash's strikes, but felt himself driven backward.
"Doom!" Houndoom let loose Foul Play, hoping to turn Greninja's attack against him.
"Double team and then use Water Pulse!"
Greninja brought both webbed hands up to his face, and two copies of himself appeared beside him.
"Doom!" Houndoom blasted one copy, which broke apart, and instantly shifted to the second but suffered the same result.
"Gre!" The real Greninja sprung up behind Houndoom and blasted him into a wall with Water Pulse.
"Doom!"
Archer's swordsman impressed Ash, who found himself fighting to a standstill, neither warrior able to advance. The knight tried to take advantage of his armor and press the attack, but Archer merely backflipped and kept enough distance to prevent him from doing so.
"What's wrong? You can't kill what you can't hit. Think you're safe in that armor?" Archer carefully aimed the tip of his sword at Ash's visor and lunged forward.
Greninja and Houndoom frantically looked back when they heard metal clanging, only to see Ash's sword and buckler holding the shinobi blade.
"Ehhh?" Archer sweatdropped while Ash smiled behind his visor.
"Oui, I do." Ash flung his opponent's sword aside and bashed him back with his buckler.
Archer grunted, stumbling backward and nearly tumbling to the ground.
"Cut!"
Ash and Greninja both moved in, blades raised in the same motion. Both would've ended their opponent had they fought them alone, but two more shinobi appeared from the darkness and blocked Ash's blade with moments to spare. At the same time, two Golbat snapped their jaws around Greninja's arm blades.
"Gre?"
"Eh?"
The shinobi drove Ash back while both Golbat did the same with supersonic.
"Water shuriken and then night slash!"
"Gre!" Greninja hurled two water shurikens into the Golbats' mouths, making them violently cough.
"Gre!" Greninja wasted no time, and drawing both arm blades, he slashed at the Golbat, mirroring Ash's sword strikes against the new shinobi.
All four went down, but it gave time for Archer to get up and touch a stone on his wrist. Neither Greninja nor Ash saw it in time, but Houndoom mega evolved and raced towards the water ninja.
"Thunder fang."
"Doom!" Greninja had only just knocked out the second Golbat when Mega Houndoom slammed him to the ground and bit into him with unrelenting streams of electricity.
"Gre!"
"Greninja!" Ash tried to intervene when a kusarigama chain ensnared his ankles, and Archer whipped the knight onto the ground.
"Gaah!" Ash grunted.
"So sad, fighting with honor will get you killed!" Archer laughed. Greninja tried to get up, but Mega Houndoom's attack left him paralyzed and at his mercy.
"Ash! Greninja!" Bonnie cried.
Archer readied himself to charge in when another sword caught his.
"Nani?" Archer's eyes widened, and he visibly trembled when he saw the samurai in front of him.
"Yyyyyou!" Archer stuttered.
"Grouuu!" Mega Houndoom barely avoided a thunderous power-up punch from Felix's now mega evolved Lucario, who quickly placed himself between Mega Houndoom and Greninja.
Archer backed up and looked towards the exit.
"Hmp, another time, samurai-" Archer tried to throw a smoke ball but nearly lost his hand when Felix slashed forward.
"Gaaah! Fine, it looks like I'll just have to kill you like we did your precious wife and boys!"
Ash couldn't see it, but he felt a fire light inside Felix. Yet the fire maintained controlled, like a pokemon using a flamethrower attack.
Archer desperately tried everything, from sword blows, shuriken strikes, and kusarigama chain, but Felix blocked or evaded these attacks with skills that made Greninja pause.
Each time, Ash and Greninja saw Felix's eyes flash blue for a moment, while his Mega Lucario's did the same.
"Doom!" Mega Houndoom blasted Mega Lucario with Flamethrower, but Felix's pokemon used bone rush and held the attack back while preparing another.
"Grouuu!" Mega Lucario pressed forward simultaneously with Felix and smashed Mega Houndoom's face with his prepared Focus Punch.
Mega Houndoom's skull shattered upon impact, his limp body reverting back while embedded into the wall.
"Ahh!" Archer saw his pokemon's death only to feel a sharp pain in his stomach. The shinobi convulsed and coughed up blood, looking down to see Felix's sword impaled through his stomach.
The samurai's fiery eyes met the shinobi's one last time before Felix violently pulled his blade free and decapitated Archer in two swift motions.
"Ahhh!" Bonnie and Dedenne ran over to Ash and buried their faces in his chest. The knight saw plenty of similar bloodshed but felt the pure hatred in Felix and how much he relished killing Archer.
He didn't speak, but Felix exhaled deeply while sheathing his sword.
"Ahh, Arigatōgozaimasu." Ash muttered, but Felix didn't respond. He knelt down and stared at Archer's head which lay a few feet away. Unaware that another shinobi entered the chamber and picked up the parchment.
"Hey!" Ash tried to get up, yet his legs remained ensnared.
The shinobi threw a smokeball and vanished into smoke.
"Merde! Ahh, at least you're safe." Ash sighed while hugging Bonnie.
"Gre." Greninja had gotten up and sliced apart the chains holding Ash's feet in place.
"Ahh, merci." Greninja offered his hand and lifted Ash up as the two shared a look of mutual respect while Mega Lucario continued to watch with intrigue.
"Grouu."
"Bonnie!" Clemont screamed, tears in his eyes as he raced forward and scooped her up.
"Clemont!" She cried back.
"Ahhh, merci Raduka." Serena sighed in immense relief.
"Well done Rokusho." Zinnia said while resting her head against his shoulder.
"I didn't actually rescue her. It was Ash and Felix."
"Merci! Merci monsieur!" Clemont broke down in front of Felix who merely stared off into the distance.
"A man of few words." Raymond muttered while sweatdropping, not understanding the concept of a vow of silence.
"Greninja shined too. He and I fought well together."
"Pika!"
"Grouuu!"
"Ahh, I'm happy to hear that." Serena beamed. She'd expected Greninja to return beside her, but he didn't. Instead, the water ninja continued to stare back at Ash.
"Ehhh? Greninja?" After a deep breath, Greninja extended his fist to Ash.
"Quoi!? It couldn't be!?" Serena almost yelped in disbelief. Ash and the others understood it too.
"Greninja, you, you want to join my team?"
"Pika!?"
"Gre." Greninja nodded without hesitation.
"Bien! I'd love to have you!" Ash bumped Greninja's fist back while his pokemon cheered and surrounded their new teammate while Serena beamed even brighter.
All the while, Felix's Lucario continued to shift his eyes between Ash, his Lucario, and Felix himself.
"Grouu, no, it couldn't be."
Author's note
Yep, Greninja has officially joined Ash's team, giving him six!
The Rocket clan is after something, or rather, someone. Who could it be? Think of who else lies in Kalos in the X and Y games :)
Ash will look more into aura moving forward, and some of it will involve Greninja, make of that as you will :)
One last thing, updates may be slower over the next few weeks since this Thursday I'll be leaving the country.
So until next time,
Please review, comment, suggest, or ask (VIA PM)