On another bright day at Poké Island, embraced by the caressing warmth from the ever-present sun, students, teachers, and Pokémon went on with their lives, going about their daily routines at the campus. Over at the island's sakura tree, Louis, Taki, Roy, and their teams of powerful beasts sat in the cool shadows, contemplating their current goals for today's training session. As they conversed with one another, Miguel appeared in the distance, carrying a towel and wearing his swim gear. Catching a glimpse of this, Roy chuckled.

"Ma-ro-wak?" said Marowak.

"Marowak said…'What's so funny?'" translated Louis.

"Heh, check out what your Dad's wearing," replied Roy, pointing to the approaching man.

The attention of the remaining party members shifted to Miguel. His son became perplexed at Miguel's current attire. Before long, Miguel was within earshot of the party.

"Dad, why are you wearing your swimwear?" questioned Louis.

"Well, I figured since you guys have been going all out in your training, you could all use a break," responded Miguel.

"A break?" said Staraptor. "What are you planning?"

A grin began to appear on Miguel's facial features.

"Who's up for a day at the beach?"

The suggestion echoed through Roy's ears. His eyes glittered in excitement as a smile stretched far across his face. Quickly, Roy stood up, with determination and joy in his heart.

"I'm in!" he cheered.

In the blink of an eye, Roy dashed out of sight, leaving the other members of the group confused at their friend's surprising behaviour.

"He's quite enthusiastic," said Inteleon.

"More than usual, I'll say," replied Taki.

A few seconds later, Roy rapidly rejoined the party, now sporting his own swimming gear. His attire consisted of black board shorts, with white flowers imprinted to the outside, and a sleeveless, orange and white, rash-shirt.

"Well, what are you guys waiting for? Let's go!" exclaimed Roy, excitedly.

And so, with the other humans wearing the appropriate attire for the occasion, the party followed Miguel to the island's beach, where the waves gracefully crashed on the shoreline, and the Wingulls and Pelipper's glided with the wind blowing through their feathers.

"CANNONBALL!" cheered Roy, as he leapt into the water, his impact with the surface creating an impressive splash.

"Hehe, I guess we know who'll have the most fun here," joked Louis.

As the jovial mood began to sweep the group, tensions eased, and spirits rose. Soon, Cinderace approached Louis at the edge of the lapping waves.

"Hey Louis," she said.

"Yeah?" replied Louis.

"Whaddya' say we have a little race, for old times sake?"

He knew he wouldn't win.

He knew it would be futile.

He also knew it would be fun.

The young adult grinned at the suggestion.

"So, it's a challenge you want, huh?" he said.

"You bet," answered Cinderace.

Warm sand packed between his toes as Louis readied his sprint position.

He spun around to the other Pokémon in their circle of friends.

"Hey Feraligatr, can you count us down?" called Louis.

"Sure," replied Feraligatr. "Three...two...one-GO!"

The instant Feraligatr said the magic word, Cinderace bolted away, leaving a cloud of sand in her wake. The rabbit Pokémon was already miles away, as Louis just stared, dumbfoundedly.

"She's...that fast now?" he whimpered.

Soon, Cinderace had returned to the starting line, proud of her accomplishment. Then, Taki burst out laughing.

"I knew you'd win," she called.

"Me too," yelled an all-too-excited Cinderace.

Then, Louis' female friend stood up and looked to the young adult.

"How about an easier race, Louis?" she suggested. "First one into the water wins!"

"You're on!" answered Louis. "No countdowns, ...just GO!"

Then, Louis took off, heading toward the water, getting a headstart.

"Oh no you don't," called Taki as she sprinted toward the ocean.

Incineroar and Braixen watched the two humans racing as they sat down in the sand, basking in the sun's light.

"Some things never change," said Incineroar.

"Sure don't" replied Braixen.

Then, Cinderace joined the two fire-type Pokémon.

They watched as both humans made it into the water at precisely the same time. Before long, as Louis went deeper into the ocean, Taki splashed water on the boy's back, giggling. Then, Louis spun around and flicked a small wave of water at Taki, drenching her. What ensued was a playful and long splash fight between the pair.

Meanwhile, Dragonite was busy finishing the last, fine details of the sandcastle he had been working on during the current events. He placed a seashell and leaf on top of his sandcastle, which made him smile.

"There. All done," he said.

Suddenly, a sharp gush of water zipped through the sandcastle, causing a portion of it to collapse.

"Hey!" yelled Dragonite.

"My bad," replied Inteleon.

The dragon Pokémon grumbled under his breath and began fixing the bits of the sandcastle that Inteleon had accidentally destroyed.

As he did this, Lycanroc bolted past the structure and began playfully rolling around in the sand. The wolf-like Pokémon enjoyed doing this. Unfortunately for Dragonite, his sandcastle toppled over from Lycanroc's speed.

"Oh, come on!" he whined.

Back in the ocean, Miguel had brought out his Sharpedo during the previous event and began riding on his recently-acquired Pokémon, having gotten used to it during the previous month.

"WOO-HOO!" the man whooped.

"You better not let go!" said Sharpedo.

Soon, Louis and Taki's splash fight had concluded, with both individuals calling it a draw.

"Never thought we'd have this much fun," said Taki.

"Yeah, I haven't been to the beach since I was a kid," replied Louis.

Suddenly, the young adult felt something bump into his legs, startling him.

"What's wrong?" wondered Taki.

"Something just hit my legs," said Louis.

"Maybe a Mantine, or...or a Staryu?"

"Don't think so."

Then, Taki felt a bump on her legs.

"Wait...I felt it too," she said.

Both individuals gazed downward. A slight panic ran through the pair.

But then, the duo spotted a large shape heading toward them. However, instead of swimming out of the water, both of them nodded to one another and said;

"One...two...three."

Immediately following, Louis and Taki reached below the ocean surface and managed to grab the shape. They lifted the submerged shape over the water - It was only Roy.

"Roy?" blurted Louis.

"Were you trying to scare us?" questioned Taki.

The musician blushed slightly.

"Maybe..." he said.

Before Roy could say something else, he felt a sharp pain coming from his right leg.

"OUCH!" he yelled.

"What? What happened?" worried Louis.

"Something bit me!" whined Roy.

Below the water was another shape. As Roy rubbed his bitten leg, the mysterious, shifting blur rose above the ocean. Fortunately, it was nothing too serious - It was only Feraligatr.

"Gatr!" she said.

"Um...she said 'Gotcha!'" translated Taki.

"Hey, that's my job," joked Louis.

In the distance, still riding Sharpedo, Miguel watched on as his son enjoyed himself with the company of his friends. However, he couldn't shake a certain feeling loose, one of worry. Sharpedo's eyes gazed upward to see the man's expression.

"What's wrong?" it asked.

"...I don't know," answered Miguel. "Something just doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that...it's been a month since Louis had that argument with Azul. I mean, he seems to be happy now, but...but I can't stop thinking that I'm missing something."

Miguel stopped, allowing his Pokémon to process the information given to him.

"You ever tried talking to him?" questioned Sharpedo.

Miguel responded, "A number of times, actually. But, he doesn't really talk to me about things that have happened to him."

The man took a deep breath before continuing.

"I don't know if he thinks I wouldn't understand. I just...I just don't want things to end up as they did years ago."

"Years ago?" said Sharpedo.

"Yeah. This might surprise you, but Louis actually gave up being a trainer for a while."

"What? Why?"

"That's the thing. ...I don't know."

Back at the shore, Lucario sat in silence, watching the waves recede and flow back. Being at the beach was a nice way to think back to everything that's happened.

Hours passed and the sun began to lower across the horizon. All members of the party enjoyed the day away from training. The humans of the group changed out of their swim gear and back into their normal 'boring' clothing, Roy smirked.

Before long, the party decided to return to the field, sit by the sakura tree and watch the sunset. A series of smiles played on the group's faces, at the closing of their day of fun.

"I really enjoyed that," said Roy, after a moment in quiet thought.

"Tell me about it," replied Louis.

Taki twisted her body to face Louis' father.

"What did you think, Miguel?" she asked.

Then, she noticed Miguel's unexpected frown on his face, almost as if he was concerned or sad.

"Are you alright?" questioned Taki.

Miguel remained silent until the rest of the gang turned to the man.

"...mostly," he eventually answered.

The man locked eyes with his son.

"Louis...what happened between you and the others?" he asked.

"Him and the others?" said Lucario. "Are you talking about us and Azul?"

The man answered, "Yes. You were all so close years ago. Like nothing could ever break you guys apart. You seemed like great friends."

"...we were," Braixen said.

Then, a chilled breeze flowed past the party. Carefully planning his next spoken words, Louis took a deep breath.

"Dad..." he began. "...personally, I don't enjoy bringing up bad events. But, if you really wanna know everything...I'll tell you."

"I only want to know what happened, son," replied Miguel. "I was really worried about you after the Battle Royale a month ago."

"Miguel..." said Marowak.

"I mean...I'm your father, Louis," Miguel stated. "You can always talk to me if something's up."

Staraptor flapped toward the young adult.

"He's right, Louis," she said.

Both individuals stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity. Soon, a tiny smile formed on Louis' face, grateful for his father's concern.

"Okay then..." he said.

Louis cleared his throat and said;

"After the tournament, we basically spent a lot of time together, sometimes even during class. I helped the others master their attack moves at the time. Of course, I had assistance from Coach and my other friends. Then, on the same day as Suzuki's graduation, Azul went to Kanto for the training program Suzuki signed him up for. It was...really emotional that day."

"Things weren't really the same after Suzuki and Azul left," said Braixen, before turning to Lucario.

"You noticed that too, right Lucario?" she asked.

"I did," answered Lucario.

Miguel placed his index finger and thumb on his chin, processing all the words spoken.

"So, you all got along really well after the tournament, remained close to one another at any given time, felt sad when you had to separate...but..." Miguel paused.

"...it doesn't explain why your relationship feels completely different now."

Imaginary icicles pierced and chilled Louis' heart. As much as he wanted to say it, he dreaded for this moment. Louis turned to Lucario, wondering what he would say.

Knowing what his trainer was going to do now, Lucario nodded, signalling that it was the right time. Louis returned his focus to Miguel. He took a long, deep breath before finally coming clean.

"The next year, when I was about to sign up for another year at the academy..." he began. "...I bumped into Azul while he was on a short visit from the Kanto region."

Years ago, a younger Louis Serrano stepped up the stone staircase onto the main campus. The main quadrangle of the academy sent a wave of familiarity to the boy. He followed the path to where he believed led to the main office. As a water fountain came into his field of view, Louis noticed a Frogadier sitting beside the concrete sculpture of spurting water.

Louis stopped and looked at the Pokémon, noticing the sad expression on his face.

"He evolved into a Frogadier when he was there, so I didn't recognise him at first," said Louis.

"But then, I saw the pendant I gave him before he left. That's when I knew it was him."

Louis squinted his eyes, noticing a glint of sparkling light shining from its chest - It was a pendant. His eyes widened as he stepped toward the Pokémon.

"Azul?" called Louis.

The Frogadier, still displaying the depressed facial expression, slowly focused its attention to the boy. At the first sight of Louis, Azul's eyes widened.

"Louis!" he said.

The frog Pokémon leapt off the fountain ledge and dashed toward the human. Both individuals embraced one another in a tight hug. It was clear how much they had missed each other.

Then, Louis made eye contact with the Pokémon.

"I see you've evolved, man," he said.

"Yep. Sure did," replied Azul.

The pair had many questions that needed answers about one another and what had happened during their separation.

Louis began with, "So...have you been here long?"

"Not really," answered Azul. "I got here about half-an-hour ago."

Now, it was the Frogadier's turn to ask a question.

"Anyway, what's been going on with you?" he inquired. "You still training with the others?"

"Yeah," answered Louis. "I was just about to sign up for another year here. Who knows, maybe I'll learn some new techniques as well."

Unbeknownst to the human, the frown that had displayed on the frog Pokémon's face had returned. As soon as Louis finished his answer, Azul spoke one more.

"Hey...Louis?" he said.

Noticing the change in expression from his teammate, Louis cautiously replied, "Yes?"

But then, the Frogadier began to smile again.

"I'm in the mood for a sparring match," he said.

– "Ok...wait, you mean right now?"

"Right now."

"Um...why is that?" wondered Louis.

"I wanna know how much has changed between us since we last met," answered Azul.

The boy blinked twice.

"Uh...ok," he said.

At the academy's gym, Coach stood outside the entrance, marking off a checklist of events. Before ticking off the next box on the sheet of paper, the staff member caught a glimpse of Louis and Azul approaching the building. With a smirk on his face, Coach lowered the clipboard and locked eyes with the pair.

"Well well well, look who it is," he spoke. "Louis and Azul are back in town."

"Fro-gadier," said Azul, waving at the man.

Louis chuckled.

"Hey Coach," greeted Louis. "Azul was hoping we could have a sparring match with someone."

"Sure," replied Coach. "I've already got a student inside the gym now.

Before long, Louis and Azul faced off against another student in their sparring match. The battle went on for quite some time, with Azul and the opposing Grovyle exchanging powerful attacks.

"Unfortunately...we lost the sparring match," said Louis.

At the conclusion of the battle, Grovyle was still standing while Azul laid on the ground, in defeat. Both Louis and the opposing trainer shook hands.

"It didn't bother me that much, but Azul...well…" stammered Louis.

The sound of sobbing reached the boy's ears. He spun around and saw Azul, who was struggling to stand, shedding tears. Taking small steps, Louis approached the Frogadier. Unfortunately, before he could say a word, Azul ran out the entrance of the Gym. Worried for his teammate and friend, Louis quickly followed suit.

"Azul. WAIT!" called Louis.

The calling of his name made Azul abruptly cease his movements. By the time he was close enough to the frog Pokémon, Louis gasped for air.

"Azul...what's wrong?" he worryingly asked. "I've never seen you this upset before."

With tears continuing to stream down his face, Frogadier struggled to answer his trainer's question. Then, at a moment of impulse, Azul finally answered.

"...I can't do this anymore," he said.

Louis raised an eyebrow.

"W-...what?" he said.

The Frogadier clenched his fist and continued facing away from the boy, seething.

"Louis...I'm sorry, but…I'm done. I'm done with all of these Pokémon battles!"

Taken aback, Louis remained silent. Almost immediately, Azul took off and ran down the far away staircase leading to the docks. For the longest time, Louis remained motionless. However, by the time he snapped out of it and ran to the docks, it was too late. Azul was gone.

Louis had a difficult time to process what had just happened. He began to hyperventilate, as the consequences of the past events finally caught up to him.

'Look what you've done,' his subconscious spoke. 'You failed him as a trainer.'

Louis fell to his knees in shock, clasping his face in his hands.

'If this is what has become of Azul, who's to say the others won't feel the same way?'

Louis mumbled, "Shut up...shut up…"

His thoughts continued to belittle and question his abilities.

'You always thought that you and your Pokémon would have a strong bond with one another. Well, look at you now. You drove Azul away."

Louis shook his head.

"No...I didn't…" he stuttered.

Unfortunately, his subconscious continued in its relentless taunting.

'Just quit...'

'Quit…'

'QUIT!'

The words echoed in the boy's mind. That was it. The final answer to the boy's problem.

With a blank look on his face, he stood up, placed his backpack on, waited for the next boat off the island, and quietly uttered the words;

"...I quit."

Back in the present, every member of the surrounding party, excluding Miguel and Lucario, stared wide-eyed at the young adult. None of them could believe their ears.

"Y-...you...you quit?" blurted Braixen.

The young adult remained silent.

"Whoa..." said Incineroar. "...how come you didn't tell us when you first came back?"

"I wanted to, but...I was too scared of what you'd say," answered Louis.

Lucario sighed, drawing the gang's attention.

"I've known about this for a while, now," he said.

"You have?" inquired Marowak.

"Yes. Louis gave up being a trainer, because...he thought it was his fault for what happened to Azul."

The winged Pokémon, Staraptor, spun her head to her trainer, in shock.

"So that's why you thought you failed us," she said.

Then, Louis' father drew his son's attention back to him, giving his son a compassionate gaze. Then, he turned his head to the rest of the party.

"Even though Louis quit before, he had his family and friends to help inspire him again," he said. "That's what led him to come back...with all of you."

A single tear dripped from Louis' eye. He wiped it away. Then, the young adult's Pokémon, his friends and father brought him for a comforting group hug.

Later that evening, Miguel sat outside the dormitories, deep in thought. It broke his heart seeing how much his son was hurting, and the earlier revelation to the team shook him from his usual calm demeanour.

"Hey," a voice from behind said.

Miguel turned his head to see Lucario stepping through the doorway, closing the door behind him.

"Hey," replied Miguel.

Taking one step down the small stairs, the aura Pokémon sat beside the man, sensing his aura processing his son's detailed story. However, Lucario felt something amiss from Miguel.

"Do you feel ok?" he asked.

Miguel sighed and said, "Yeah."

Noticing the uneasiness displayed from his trainer's father, Lucario had a rough idea of what was troubling Miguel.

"You still feel like you're missing something, don't you?" he questioned.

Unknowingly to him, a hint of agitation suddenly appeared in Miguel's aura. Soon, it had built up to a considerable size. Miguel abruptly stood up and faced the aura Pokémon.

"Of course I do!" he raised his voice.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that Louis finally got his worries off his chest, but...there's something I don't understand."

"Like what?" questioned Lucario.

– "The most obvious thing being...what on earth caused Azul to just...suddenly give up like that? That's what's bugging me."

Lucario's train of thought ran wild with ideas and suggestions, but there was one that stood out amongst the others.

"If you want my advice, I suggest you talk to Azul himself," suggested Lucario.

"Huh?" said Miguel.

"If you hear things from his perspective, maybe you'll be able to get the whole story," explained Lucario.

Miguel drew his focus upward to the full moon and pondered the aura Pokémon's suggestion. The pale moonlight, and its quiet shadows of ancient, dried-lava seas, dormant for millennia, helped the man think. Eventually, Miguel came up with a solution and turned back to Lucario.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow," he said.

With the sun high in the sky on another bright day, as students and staff went on with their daily learning schedules, Miguel jogged through the dark forests, and the path leading to Suzuki's training field. The man peered past a tree, spotting Suzuki, Zack and his team of Pokémon, including Azul, out for more training.

"There he is," he silently said.

On the rough field, Suzuki was about to give the learning group some words of advice, when he spotted Miguel in the distance, waving for his attention.

"Excuse me for a moment," said Suzuki, as he jogged over to the man.

Suzuki opened and walked through the heavy, metal, grated door.

"Hey Miguel, what's up?" he said.

"Not much," replied Miguel.

Carefully thinking of the appropriate way to explain it, the man spoke;

"Listen, I need to speak with Zack's Greninja."

"His Greninja?" replied Suzuki. "Why?"

– "I just need to ask him a few things."

Then, to Miguel's surprise, Suzuki grinned.

"Miguel, I know it's Azul," he revealed.

The man's eyes widened and said, "You do?"

"I worked it out a few days ago," the staff member revealed.

Miguel remained silent, amazed by Suzuki's revelation. Then, the staff member asked the man to wait there as he got Azul. Suzuki jogged back to the training group.

"Hey Greninja," he called.

"Gre?" replied Azul.

– "Someone's asking for you over in the forest."

"Who is it?" inquired Zack.

"He's asked to remain anonymous," replied Suzuki.

After much consideration, Zack gave Azul permission to see the mysterious man. As the Greninja walked toward the forest, Suzuki placed a finger and thumb on his chin, pondering. Soon, the Pokémon stepped into the forest. Once he was in view, Miguel took small steps out of the bushes, revealing himself.

"Hello Azul," he said.

The Greninja's eyes widened. He wasn't expecting to see Miguel.

"It's you," said Azul.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned.

Both individuals stared at one another for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, Miguel broke the silence and said...

"We need to talk."

Holy crap. Now we know what happened years ago that drove Louis to quit. Now for Miguel to figure out the other big question, what the heck happened in the Kanto Region?

Anyway, thanks for reading. Is there something you enjoyed? Can you guess what happens next? Or...what do you hope to see in future chapters? If so, go ahead and leave a review explaining any of these reasons. (Please don't leave hurtful reviews)

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Thanks again. See you next time