A Kalos Reunion
Howling could be heard through the Kalosian forest as a blue colored Gardevoir raced through the forest, desperate to escape her pursuers. The bushes rustled behind her, letting her know that she wasn't making any good ground at all. Gardevoir tried pushing herself to run faster only to wind up tripping and falling face first against the ground, the Psychic/Fairy type soon heard pawsteps all around her followed by deep growling as a pack of Mightyena had her surrounded.
"Good job, mates. This beauty will fetch us a fortune on the black market!" A figure stepped out from the shadows with a smirk before tapping a device on his arm which resulted in a golden beam of energy firing outwards, freezing Gardevoir in a statute-like state!
"Another one for the books!" The man smirked, checking the Pokemon off on his tablet before focusing his attention to a picture of a young blonde trainer who had a Dedenne and a silver colored Fennekin on her shoulders. "Time for the next target!" The man pressed another button on his arm device, seemingly disappearing into thin air as he and the Mightyena were whisked away along with their target!
"Lumiose City, man it's been awhile!" Ash gazed around at the sights as he exited the airport, the city had fully recovered from the Team Flare incident three years ago as there wasn't a single shred of evidence that the attack had ever happened! The streets were clean once more and all of the buildings fully intact, no vines in sight either! "I wonder how Greninja and Zygarde are doing..."
Zach meanwhile was flipping through a guidebook titled 'How to speak Kalos for beginners.', his eyes soon lit up after reading some words before his eyes scanned the crowd in the hopes of picking out a target. Ash noticed his friend soon walking up to a girl, one he recognized from his previous trip in fact, Astrid the Mega Absol trainer.
"Hello there, you smell like shoes and you look like dung. So how about a date, lovely?" Astrid gasped, slapping Zach across the face before hurriedly walking away.
"Ow, the heck was that for? I said she smelled nice!" Zach groaned out while rubbing his cheek.
Ash simply shook his head as he began leading the way to Lumiose Tower, where he and his former companions had agreed to meet up.
"So we're going to Lumiose City Gym, does that mean you're going to challenge your friend in a Championship match?"
"I would but there's no way Clemont would be competing, he hasn't left Lumiose City much since reclaiming his role as Gym Leader. Any spare time he has he dedicates to his inventions."
"So your friend's a braniac?"
"Pretty much, he seems to invent something everyday unfortunately they seem to have a habit of blowing up most the time."
It wouldn't take them too long to reach Lumiose Tower and the pair soon entered the elevator that was normally reserved for challengers, Clemont had shut down the gym for the day though so they wouldn't be disrupting any challengers from obtaining their next badge. Upon reaching the top Ash would immediately find himself being pinned down to the floor as Bonnie rushed him.
"Ash, it's so good to see you again!" The younger trainer had a huge grin across her face as she held her friend in a tight grip. It appeared that she had finally turned ten and received her trainer license, her hair was now shoulder length and appeared similar in manner to Serena's old hairstyle. She had grown taller as well, her head now almost coming up to Ash's shoulder. She also still wore a blue and white jacket that looked quite similar to the one that Ash had worn during his Kalos adventures, Bonnie had definitely modeled herself after her two role models... but what career had she chosen to pursue?
"Bonnie, let Ash breath!" Clemont lightly pulled his younger sister off of Ash before helping him up. "Hello Ash, it's been awhile."
"That it is, I've missed you guys!" Ash grinned as he and Clemont shook hands.
"Hello Ash," The familiar voice spoke up but it sounded different, more confident and sure of herself. Ash turned and noticed Serena standing there, the girl's face slightly reddened as their eyes made contact with another which didn't go unnoticed by Zach as his eyes flickered between the two before looking at Bonnie in a questioning manner to which she merely mouth back.
'I know right?' It seemed everyone seemed to know that Serena liked Ash apart from Ash himself.
"Serena, hey! How did the Contest life treat you?"
Serena merely flashed Ash a smirk before reaching into her bag as she withdrew a Grand Festival trophy, causing Ash's eyes to widen as neither May or Dawn had managed to pull that off on their first try.
"I had a bit of help studying under Lisia but I quickly came to realize that Showcases were my true calling after all, my Pokemon and I enjoyed our journey together so we've returned to take the Kalos Queen title from Aria!"
"That's the spirit you can do it, Serena!" Ash pumped his fist. "I finally beat a Pokemon League and entered the World Championship, I'm getting closer to my dream of becoming a Pokemon Master every day!"
"I just started my journey a few weeks ago!" Bonnie piped up, Ash finally taking notice of an oddly colored Fennekin as the younger trainer held it in her arms. "Dedenne was my first Pokemon but Fennekin is my official starter, together the three of us aim to take on the Kalos League!"
Clang! The sound of metal hitting the floor echoed through the gym causing Ash to quickly turn before spotting Scorbunny, her fur completely coated with chocolate liquids as she'd knocked over a bowl of sweets.
"Scorbunny!" Zach shouted out with a groan, Riolu shook his head while crossing his arms. Scorbunny sweated beneath the chocolate before holding out her chocolate coated paw to her trainer in an offering manner with a nervous grin across her face.
"I am so sorry about her, she's got quite the sweet tooth!" Zach quickly bowed to Clemont only for him to wave it off with a smile.
"Don't worry about it, my Chespin acts the same way." He pointed towards his Chespin who was currently laying on his back a few feet away from Scorbunny, uttering out a groan of pain as his belly was bloated outwards, having evidently gorged himself on sweets shortly before they arrived. "Besides our father cooked all this up so we could have a party and enjoy ourselves."
Zach breathed a sigh of relief before picking up Scorbunny, wiping a napkin across her face as he tried to clean her up. "That's good to know,"
"Whose your friend?" Bonnie asked while pointing her finger at Ash's newest companion.
"Ya could just ask me, you know. I'm Zach, a trainer just like you and Ash only I'm competing in the Galar League in the hopes of becoming the next champion!" Zach gritted his teeth as he continued furiously wiping away at Scorbunny's face while the rabbit Pokemon let out a joyful laugh.
"Well that would explain the Scorbunny, they're not known to be found in other regions." Clemont noted. "Anyways we should probably feed the Pokemon so why don't you all let them out while I go get the chow?"
"Good idea!" Ash reached down and grabbed a few Pokeballs, a burst of red light following shortly after as Oshawott, Kubfu, Emboar, Charizard and Scyther appeared on the ground next to Pikachu.
Zach merely called out his Caterpie as his other Pokemon were already out, Serena meanwhile released her Braixen, Sylveon, an Altaria, an Swampert and lastly Pangoro, revealing that Pancham had evolved at some point during her journey.
"No way, you've got an Altaria!" Bonnie squealed out, her eyes lit up with excitement as they took in Altaria. "I've always wanted one of those!"
"Yeah, I caught her shortly after arriving in Hoenn. She proved herself a useful and powerful companion during my Contest career, I'm looking forward to involving her and Swampert in my Showcase performances!" Serena's eyes soon focused upon Fennekin. "That's an odd color for a Fennekin though,"
"I'm actually lucky to get her, Sycamore had received her just shortly before I arrived to pick out a starter. Once the two of us locked eyes I knew she was the one, I was either going to go with her or a Froakie but it seemed fate favored Fennekin more."
"Fate seems to be favoring me today, too!" A man teleported directly onto the upper floor, a sinister grin across his face as he eyed the silver colored Fennekin. He wore a black leather coat, a pair of bright neon red shades that made him look like something out of a cyberpunk themed movie, his head completely shaved and leaving no trace of hair, he also had a rather dark skin tone. Ash noticed that the man wore a singular black glove on one hand which seemed weird at first but only got weirder when he noticed that the man's left arm was completely robotic with the area where the hand would normally be sat a rather familiar looking weapon, one that he hadn't seen since...
"H-How did you even get in here?!" Zach asked with a freaked out expression, Bonnie looked equally as startled.
"Please as if you would be smart enough to understand the level of technology I acquired," The man aimed his robot arm right at Fennekin, zapping her with a bright yellow ray of energy that left her petrified in a golden-like state. "She's coming with me, mates!" He tapped a button on his arm and Fennekin disappeared into thin air in a similar manner to which he appeared. His eyes scanned their Pokemon for a quick spell before making out Kubfu.
"Well hello there, I've never seen one of those! Must fetch a pretty high bounty on the black market!" The man spoke in an accent that Ash wasn't able to make out, it was possible he was from some region that he'd yet to visit. He aimed his arm at Kubfu and got ready to fire before letting out a cry of pain as Riolu blasted said arm with an aura sphere!
"Gah!" The Pokemon hunter turned and glared lightly beneath his shades at Zach. "Of course, some Riolu can communicate with their trainers without uttering a word. You'd surely be trouble had you been more experienced but alas..." The man shook his arm before slamming it against the wall, rebooting it as a light humming noise could be heard. "Now where were we...?"
"Thunderbolt!"
"Pikachuuuu!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked on he zapped the Pokemon hunter, causing him to let out a yelp of pain as the robotic arm began smoking heavily.
"Crikey, that's some Pikachu you got there! Perhaps I had underestimated you, I can afford to pass on Kubfu as that Fennekin's already going to fetch me a fair mint so ta!" It appeared that the teleportation was tied to his arm as he reached for a Pokeball and released a powerful and menacing looking Salamence before climbing aboard it's back. Salamence let out a mighty roar as he blasted the roof with a Hyper Beam, causing it to collapse and reveal the sight of a giant ship that also looked familiar to Ash!
"Bonnie!" Clemont ran into the room following the explosion only to let out a surprised gasp upon seeing the giant hole in the roof along with the Pokemon Hunter entering his ship.
"Clemont, that mean man took Fennekin!" Bonnie rushed to her brother as she threw her arms around him, tears flooding out of her eyes while Clemont clenched his fists tightly before looking towards Ash.
"Ash, can I borrow your Charizard? I'm not about to let anyone steal from my sister." Clemont spoke with an angry tone.
"I was about to give chase myself, I've been aboard that ship before... actually a ship almost like that, I've rescued several Pokemon from a different Pokemon Hunter's clutches and there's no way I'll give up now!" Ash was a bit thankful that the Pokemon Hunter had fled though, there's no way that Zach or Bonnie could have lasted during a fight.
"I-I'm coming with you!" Serena suddenly spoke up.
"Me too!" Bonnie chirped up.
"No Bonnie, you're staying here." Clemont ordered before turning his attention to Zach. "Keep an eye on her for me?"
"What the heck-? I wanna help too!" Zach responded with an upset tone, not seeming to like getting stuck with the role of babysitter one bit!
"You'll be more help here, Bonnie would be a distraction for Clemont and the rest of us. We don't need to worry about her getting hurt or worse, this guy seems dangerous and if he's anything like the other Hunter... he won't hesitate to put people down if they get in the way of a payday." Ash pointed out.
Zach narrowed his eyes before letting out a sigh. "Fine, I'll play babysitter."
Bonnie crossed her arms and let out a huff as she watched the other three climb aboard Charizard before giving chase after the ship!
"Pokemon Hunter R, so nice to hear from you once more. Do you have the Pokemon that I requested?" A distorted voice spoke as a shadowed figure appeared on the Pokemon Hunter's screen.
"More than that, mate. I got a bonus shiny!" Pokemon Hunter R turned and faced the statues, pressing a button to reveal their true forms as their heads briefly became visible and showcasing the shiny Gardevoir, Bonnie's Fennekin, along with a shiny Lopunny and dozens of other shiny Pokemon.
"A Fennekin? Excellent, exactly what I was looking for! I'll throw in an extra ten percent-"
"Try forty,"
"Thirty,"
"Deal!"
"I'll send you the rendezvous location."
Gardevoir's eyes flickered towards the window with a defeated expression on her face only for that to fade for a brief moment as she caught sight of three trainers riding a Charizard and headed right for the ship!
Boom!
A massive hole appeared in the side of the ship as Charizard landed within and allowed the three trainers to get off.
"Crikey, ya know how much this baby costs to repair?!" Pokemon Hunter R growled out as he threw out his arm. "Hyper Beam them out of the ship!" Salamence rushed forward, his mouth glowing bright orange as he prepared to blast them.
"Flamethrower!" Ash responded in retaliation.
Charizard opened up his mouth and fired off a long stream of fire that met and rivaled Salamence's Hyper Beam in strength as the attacks continually pushed against one another, neither seeming to slow down or have a desire to give.
"Give me back my sister's Fennekin!" Clemont shouted out as he released Luxray, the Electric type sparked in a threatening manner as Serena similarly released Braixen who began twirling her fire charged wand in a treatening manner.
"Ya just don't know when to quit, do ya?" Pokemon Hunter R tapped a button on his arm, resulting in a computerized voice speaking.
"Self destruct initiated, ten minutes until destruction!"
"Mightyena, use Crunch!" He activated another button and a pack of twenty Mightyena appeared, surrounding the trio who all looked relatively calm despite the situation they were in.
"Thunderbolt!"
"Thunder!"
"Flamethrower!"
Pikachu's cheeks sparked as he fired off a powerful thunderbolt attack at the Mightyena while Luxray joined in with his own Thunder attack, Braixen twirled her wand before blasting the pack with a powerful wave of fire, the resulting damage left the pack laying on the ground in defeat while Pokemon Hunter R bit his lip, a swear being audible for a brief moment as he turned to Salamence who'd managed to overtake Charizard, blasting the fire type away with Hyper Beam as Charizard's body flew right out of the ship and disappeared!
"Charizard!" Ash called out, worried for his friend as the Pokemon Hunter threw back his head and laughed.
"Well there went your transport!" He eyed the situation he was in, seeming to consider advancing with the attack for a brief moment before shaking his head. "You know what? I'm gonna finish this quick, Draco Meteor!"
"What?! In this small amount of space that's a death sentence!" Clemont shouted out but to no avail as Salamence shot off a beam of energy into the air that soon resulted in large meteors crashing down upon Salamence, Braixen, Luxray and Pikachu. All four crying out in pain as the Pokemon Hunter laughed despite his own Pokemon taking damage for he saw Pikachu and the others took quite the serious damage from that as parts of the ship caved in and landed on top of them.
"Finish 'em with a Hyper Beam!"
Salamence roared and began charging up the familiar beam of orange energy, Ash quickly ran in front of Pikachu and attempted to take the damage in order to save his friend from getting killed. Suddenly a blue blur sped on in, firing off a giant orange shuriken at Salamence and knocking it back with a grunt.
"What the-?! How many people are crashing into my ship today?!
"Three minutes until self destruct!"
"Gre!" Greninja stood before the trio in a protective manner, currently within his Ash-Greninja form as he glared at Pokemon Hunter R and Salamence. "Greninja!"
"Such power..." The Pokemon Hunter lowered his glasses for a moment before readjusting them, he quickly recalled Salamence before making a mad rush for the hole in the wall. "Salamence, Hyper Beam it! No chances!"
Salamence began firing up another orange blast only for Greninja to rush him, slashing outwards with Night Slash as he struck the dragon's stomach before tossing a water shuriken directly into Salamence's mouth and clamming it shut with his hands. Salamence's eyes widened before the attack went off, the Dragon collapsing with a loud thud as swirls appeared within his eyes.
"Crikey, what the heck is that thing?!" Pokemon Hunter R began backing up nervously as he realized he was now cornered.
"Turn off the self destruct and free the Pokemon!" An invisible voice spoke, the trio knew who was talking but Hunter R thought it was Greninja speaking.
"I-" He seemed about to crack only for the familiar hum of his robot arm to activate, causing him to smirk before waving his arm as he teleported right out of the ship!
"You there, braniac boy! The ship has a computer, surely it can stop the self destruct!"
Clemont swallowed before quickly nodding as he rushed towards the ship console and began rapidly tapping away at the keys.
"Self destruct in one minute... thirty seconds... ten, nine, eight-" The voice died out as the Pokemon also began returning to normal.
"You did it!"
Serena rushed towards Fennekin and picked her up. "We're getting you back to Bonnie, don't you worry!"
"Garde..." Gardevoir's eyes focused upon Ash as the action continued to unfold.
"How do we land the ship though?" Ash asked, knowing full well that nobody there knew.
"It's on autopilot, it's set to land in the forest nearby."
"And Officer Jenny will appear to arrest those criminals." A voice spat out as Squishy revealed itself on Greninja's shoulder. "I took the liberty of leaving an anonymous call, we were actually tracking them when we saw the ship. Greninja sensed you were up there and so I insisted on seeing you two reunited, hitching a ride thanks to your Charizard!"
Charizard landed alongside the ship as it eventually landed, reuniting with his trainer as the pair of them hugged. Greninja crossed his arms, sensing a bond even greater than the one Ash and him had between Ash and Charizard. A jealous look upon the frog Pokemon's face.
Officer Jenny already carted up the criminals by the time the ship had landed, giving Ash a salute. "We'll make sure to get these Pokemon back to their trainers, don't you worry!" One of her officers was already confiding in a list of stolen Pokemon as he eyed each Pokemon as they exited the ship.
"Some of them appear to be wild, ma'am. Gardevoir ain't on the list and nothing's being picked up by my device!" He held a scanner to Gardevoir that revealed she wasn't currently owned.
"If that's the case then you're free to leave," Officer Jenny addressed the Pokemon. "But if you have trainers please don't rush off, we promise to help you find them! Rushing off will only complicate things."
Several of the Pokemon left including Gardevoir though she lingered for a bit, her eyes focusing on Ash once more before disappearing into the forest.
"Fennekin!" Bonnie squealed out, squeezing Fennekin in a tight hug as the pair were reunited. Fennekin barked excitedly and licked her face in response.
Ash turned to Greninja, they didn't have much time to talk as they knew Bonnie was surely getting restless and worried back home so they hurried on back. "Greninja I... are you ready to come back home?"
Greninja nodded in response, smiling lightly before gazing towards Charizard's ball with a light frown.
"Then I welcome you back to the team!" Ash responded, withdrawing Greninja's ball before returning him to it. Greninja had officially returned!
"That was mighty brave of you, sticking up for Bonnie like that..." Serena spoke up, blushing lightly as she brushed some of her hair aside as her focus landed upon Clemont.
"H-Huh?!" Clemont's eyes widened as a similar blush appeared across his face.
"Oooh look Dedenne, maybe we don't have to look for a wife after all!"
"Dedenne!"
Zach glanced back at Ash wondering how he'd take that but Ash didn't seem upset at all, oddly enough he seemed to notice it this time. Ash flashed Clemont a smile and gave him a thumbs up while Clemont chuckled nervously before hanging his head.
Greninja's back!
