Two Bonds Battles

Alec's POV

The group had stopped near a Pokémon Center where they were waiting for Liz to arrive, though only Alec and Cassidy knew that. As far as the others knew, it was someone who could help Ash and Greninja master what happened to them in the cave.

"So, when is this person supposed to show up?" Ash asked, starting to sound impatient.

"She'll be here soon, don't worry. Some people just have their own pace," Alec replied.

"That's one way to word it," Liz's voice said as she stepped into the center.

"Liz?" Serena asked in surprise.

"Yep. I'm the one who's going to help Ash and Greninja," she answered.

"Wait. How can you help?" Ash asked, curious.

"Let's find somewhere to practice. We'll explain when we get there," Alec answered.

As the group started walking to a nearby field, Alec and Liz spent the time talking and he explained what happened in Speaker Valley. "You did what?! Do you have any idea how dangerous and risky that was?!" Liz shouted when he got to the part about absorbing Flame's Mega Evolution energy.

"That's what I told him," Cassidy added in.

"Please don't nag me, Liz. What's done is done and I was prepared to accept the risk," Alec told her.

"I'm allowed to be worried about you. I mean, you're practically my little brother," Liz said with a slightly teasing smirk.

Alec ignored it though. "I know, but you know I'd do anything for Flame. And let's be honest, if the roles were reversed you wouldn't hesitate to do the same," he replied.

"Got me there," Liz replied. "Though I do want to test that "Full Synchronization" you talked about after I finish training Ash," she added and Alec nodded.

"I didn't get the chance to ask last time, but how's everyone at Snowbelle doing?" he asked, referring to Liz's family.

"They're doing alright. Mom and dad were understandably worried when they heard about your injuries and the twins all but rushed out the door when they heard their adopted brother was hurt. Thankfully cooler heads prevailed. Though there have been a lot more injured Pokémon around Snowbelle recently so dad's been pretty busy taking care of them all with Wulfric's help," Liz answered.

"We'll have to check that out when we get there since Ash is planning to have his eighth gym battle there," Alec replied.

"Also, have you two become a thing now?" Liz asked, referring to him and Cassidy.

"Proud to say we are," Cassidy beamed.

"Finally! About time you got yourself a girlfriend," Liz told Alec.

"You're one to talk. You're still single," he replied snarkily. "I've been hanging around Ethan too much, have I?" he asked.

"Yep," Liz replied.

[Hey!] Ethan protested, which got a chuckle out of the three and Eve.

The three then reached the field where they'd be practicing at. "Alright! I'm ready for this!" Ash shouted excitedly.

"Good to hear. But first, I need to see how far you've come with this power, so we'll have a battle where you'll use your Greninja and I'll battle with mine," Liz told him.

"Sound great!" Ash replied.

Ash let out his Greninja while Liz let out Sino, wearing his red headband to help distinguish him from Ash's. Alec then stepped up to act as the referee. "The battle between Ash and Liz will now begin. Each trainer will use one Pokémon and the battle will be over when one side is unable to continue," Alec declared. "Now, battle begin!"

"Greninja, Water Shuriken!" Ash shouted.

"Counter with your own Water Shuriken!" Liz called out. The two threw the stars which exploded when they collided.

"Aerial Ace!" Greninja ran through the steam from the Water Shurikens and approached Sino.

"Counter with Power-up Punch!" Sino and Greninja clashed multiple times with their moves till Sino found an opening and struck Greninja in the stomach, sending him back.

"You alright Greninja?" Ash asked.

[I'm good. We just have to be stronger,] he replied.

"I think it's time to turn it up a notch. Let's go Sino!" Liz shouted. A familiar waterspout surrounded Sino as his transformation happened before the water turned into a large Water Shuriken on his back. Sino's eyes were hazel now and the tufts and diamond that Ash's Greninja had shown were a light blue. Liz-Sino had entered the battle.

Everyone sans Alec and Ethan were in awe by what they saw. "This is Greninja's full potential Ash. See how you fare against it," Alec told him.

"Alright then. We'll just have to be stronger Greninja. Let's go!" Ash shouted. Greninja was surrounded by his own waterspout, but unlike Sino, the water remained around him as the red diamond, tufts, and eyes were seen through it.

"Use Night Slash!"

"Use Cut!" The two attacks clashed together like swords and they had a brief scuffle before splitting apart.

"So they have some control on when they activate it, but they haven't truly become one yet," Alec noted.

"Greninja, Double Team then use Cut!" Ash shouted. Greninja split into multiple copies before charging at Sino.

"Hydro Cannon!" Sino fired a large stream of water from his hands which took down all the copies and did a lot of damage to Greninja, which Ash felt based on how he grabbed his chest with both hands in pain.

"Come on Greninja! Get up!" Ash called out once he got over his pain. Greninja struggled through, but Sino didn't attack since he had to recover from using Hydro Cannon.

"Power-up Punch!" Liz called out. As Sino charged Greninja he stood up and faced his opponent, only to get punched in the stomach before being sent flying back.

Greninja hit the ground and was somehow still standing, but it didn't last long when both Greninja and Ash collapsed and Greninja returned to normal. "Ash!" Serena called out as she, Clemont, and Bonnie ran up to him.

"He's more along than I thought. Remarkable considering how little time it's been since awakening that power," Liz commented as Sino returned to normal as well.

"They have some control at least. And with you helping him they can develop that power a lot faster than you two did," Alec added.

"It's pretty amazing though. I never imagined seeing something like this before," Cassidy stated.

"It caught me off guard too. I didn't know Sino was capable of this till an incident in a place called Ninja Village," Liz explained.

"Ninja Village? That's where Ash unlocked that too if I recall," Alec explained.

"Why do I get the feeling there's some kind of conspiracy littered somewhere in there?" Cassidy questioned.

"I wouldn't be surprised but I'm not going to check it out," Alec replied.

Liz then walked up to Ash, who was starting to regain consciousness. "You definitely have made some progress, but you've got a long way to go before being able to control that power," Liz told him.

"Well you did, so that means I can too," Ash said confidently.

"In the meantime, you and Greninja take some time to recover. After collapsing like that you'll need it," Liz told him before turning to Alec. "Now though, I want to see that Full Synchronization."

Alec smirked. "You're on."

The two took positions opposite of each other on the field while Clemont stood in the referee's place. "Alright, the battle between Alec and Liz will now commence. Each trainer will use one Pokémon and the match will be over when one side is unable to battle. Trainers, let out you're Pokémon," Clemont told them.

"Let's go Flame!" Alec called out, throwing his ball. It opened revealing a swirl of fire before Flame appeared in the center and let out a roar and landing on the ground.

"And Flame's making an entrance again. He really likes to do that," Liz commented.

"You try getting him to stop," Alec replied.

[I'm standing right here,] Flame said deadpanned.

"Alright then. Now for my choice. Zip, you're up!" Liz shouted, throwing an Ultra Ball. The ball opened into a small storm of lightning and the Pokémon was Zeraora, who stood at the ready.

"When did you catch a mythical Pokémon?!" Alec asked in surprise.

"Recently actually. Get ready Zip. We've got a battle to win," Liz told him.

[I'm ready,] he replied.

"Flamethrower!" Alec called out.

"Thunderbolt!" Liz shouted. The two attacks clashed and exploded, creating a large amount of smoke between the two.

"Dragon Claw!" Flame flew through the smoke and appeared in front of Zip and prepared to strike.

"Dodge with Extreme Speed!" Zip jumped into the air at incredible speed, barely slipping past Flame's attack. He then came diving down and slammed Flame into the ground.

"Use Focus Punch!" Flame stood up and his right claw was surrounded by yellow-orange energy as it became a fist.

"Keep using Extreme Speed and combine it with Ice Punch!" Zip charged in and slammed Ice Punch into Flame's face, but Focus Punch didn't disappear and Flame slammed it into Zip. "I thought Focus Punch disappeared when the user took a hit before it was complete?"

"It does, but Flame's done some special training with my Tyranitar Zilla and figured out how to use the move even after taking damage."

"Interesting, but I think it's time we stopped testing each other's power and get right into the main event."

"I couldn't agree more. Flame, Mega Evolve!" Flame then turned into his Fusion form and let out another roar.

"Plasma Fists!" Zip slammed his fist into the ground sending blue electricity towards Flame.

"Blast Burn!" Flame countered with his blue fire and the two attacks met and exploded, causing dirt and debris to be flung into the air.

"Extreme Speed and Ice Punch, back to back!" Zip emerged from the smoke and hit Flame multiple times while he was immobile from Blast Burn.

"Dragon Claw!" Flame's claws appeared just in time to clash with Zip's fist.

"Thunderbolt!"

"Flamethrower!" The two attacks fired at the same time, and with the two Pokémon so close together it caused an explosion that sent them both back. "Let's go Flame!" Full Synchronization then came into effect.

"Plasma Fists!" As the blue electricity approached Flame, he spread his wings and took to the sky.

"Dragon Claw!" Flame came down and slammed his glowing green talons into Zip's head, causing him to fall back towards Liz.

"I didn't hear a command. So this is what Full Synchronization can do. Thunderbolt!"

"Flamethrower!" Blue-yellow fire met Zip's Thunderbolt and overpowered it quickly and slammed into him.

"We can't win with raw power, so we'll just have to wear Flame down. Extreme Speed and Ice Punch repeatedly!" Zip was suddenly slammed into Flame's stomach before bouncing off and continuing the run at high speed while hitting Flame with the occasional Ice Punch. "Now Plasma Fists!" Zip was above Flame and his fist glowed with blue electricity.

"Focus Punch!" Flame reacted in time thanks to Alec and blocked Zip's attack with his move. The two clashed for a while before Zip flipped out of the attack. "Blast Burn: Stage 1!" Flame reared up and slammed his fist into the ground. Blue and yellow fire raced across the ground towards Zip.

"Jump in the air to dodge!" Zip leaped into the air as a yellow fire explosion happened, but he only was hit by the heat unleashed. "Nice try Alec, but I know how to dodge that!"

"Stage 2!" Alec called out with his voice. A second, larger, blue fire explosion then happened as Zip landed and he took that full force. "A little something we came up with while training this power. Since there are two separate fires while in Full Synchronization, we've been able to time them to explode separately. Took a lot of work, and now you've seen the result," he explained.

The smoke cleared to reveal Zip with multiple scrapes and burns, but was otherwise unharmed. Flame was in a similar state, but had bits of ice all over his body which were slowly melting off.

"Impressive work. I've seen enough," Liz said. Flame then turned back to normal as their eyes did as well.

"What?! The battle's over like that?!" Ash questioned, in shock of the sudden ending.

"Neither of us were fighting at full strength. I just wanted to see what Full Synchronization was capable of," Liz explained.

"Hope we gave you a good demonstration," Alec remarked as he stood beside Flame.

"You sure did," Liz replied before turning to Ash. "As for you, I hope you're well-rested because I'm going to be training you and Greninja quite hard till you can control that power," she stated.

"Well, I'm ready for it!" Ash called out.

[We'll handle anything you throw at us,] Greninja added.

"You'd better be ready. Because me and Sino aren't going to hold back," Liz told them.

Bit of a shorter chapter than normal, but this was to mainly establish Liz as part of the group for a while. Hope you enjoyed.