"Oak?!" Ash said in disbelief getting back to his feet. "What the hell are you doing here?" He snarled. "You've got a lot of nerve to come to me." He warned.
"My, my. You really shouldn't talk to people like that. Especially your elders." Oak shot back.
Ash took a few steps back. Wary of the man he once called 'professor'. "You're not very smart, are you? I should drop your ass here and now. You've done your damage, what do you want now?"
"My boy, I've come for you! My employer has quite the fascination with you, chosen one. You can come willingly or," He threw a pokeball into the air letting out a shiny Noctowl. "we can use force."
"Great, you brought the little chicken with you." He sneered at his former pokemon. "Thought I'd seen the last of you. Alright old man, I'm going to say this once, and only once. Don't call me 'chosen one', get that thing out of my sight, and leave before you regret it." He threatened.
"Don't talk to me in that tone, boy." Oak shot back. "Don't make me-"
"Don't make you what?" Ash taunted. "Shoot me like Pikachu, or just finish me like Gary!?"
"Don't bring him up! Do you think I wanted that to happen?!" He said as they both started sidestepping in a circle, ready to fight. "I dragged him out of that building! But he just had to go back in for some employee trapped inside. I told him he wouldn't make it! He said he had to try!" He said defending himself. "I truly cared for Gary! I didn't want him dead!"
"And yet you let him go alone!" Ash shot back. "Should I point out how uncaring that sounds!"
"I did go after him! But by the time I reached him, he was trapped under a beam! He shoved the lackey into my arms and told me to leave! I had no choice. If I stayed we both would've died!"
"Like I'd believe a word of that! I oughta-"
"Ash!" A voice called from above them. Above them, descending quickly was Charizard with Serena on his back. He landed forcefully on the ground, kicking up dust around him. Serena jumped off him immediately. "There you are! We have to-" She interrupted herself with a heavy gasp. "What the...what are you doing here?"
"Nice to see you too." Oak interrupted. "But if you'll excuse us, we have some business to attend to, little girl."
"Stay back, Serena!" Ash called back.
"No way! Charizard, are you with me?" The pseudo-dragon gave her a heavy nod.
"Hypnosis, full power!" Oak ordered. Noctowl obliged and hit Serena with his signature move causing her to fall over.
"Serena!" Ash called looking back behind him. Charizard retaliated quickly by firing a powerful Fire Blast at the owl, knocking it back into a tree and knocking the assailant out. Ash ignored Oak and quickly ran back to Serena. "Out cold." He deduced. "Watch her in case the traitor wakes up again." Charizard nodded before grunting a query. "Me? I'm going to take care of our friend, here." He said returning his attention to Oak. "We're gonna 1v1." He ordered. "If you win I'll come with you and meet with your boss or whatever. If I win you leave Kalos and never come back."
"Deal." Oak agreed. "Just keep your end when you lose." He taunted. "Come out, Dragonite!" He called letting out his strongest pokemon.
"To my side, Greninja!" Ash called letting out his strongest. "When I win, I'll finally have some closure." His and Greninja's eyes simultaneously glowed a deep red and a water vortex sprouted around them. The water then burst out in all different directions revealing Ash-Greninja.
"So I finally see Ash-Greninja in person. Only one person every ten thousand years." He observed. "Dragonite to the air! Use you flight to your advantage!" Oak ordered. The dragon nodded and sprung off the ground into the sky.
"Don't let him get too high. Duplicate yourself then hit him with your shuriken." Ash retaliated. With a cloud of smoke covering them Greninja split was able to safely make multiple copies of itself. When it cleared four Greninja stood where there was once only one. All four proceeded to rocket off the ground towards the Dragonite.
"Hyper Beam all four of them!" Oak ordered his dragon. Dragonite shot his most powerful blast from his mouth into the first of the clones making it poof out of existence then swept the blast straight into the remaining three. What was weird though was that instead of two of them disappearing and one taking damage, all three were taken out. Oak figured it out quickly but due to Hyper Beam's draining feature was unable to do anything. "Behind you!" He called.
Dragonite swung its head back to see the real Greninja rise up behind him.
"Hit him now!" Ash ordered his amphibian friend. Greninja pulled the shuriken from its back and slammed it straight into the dragon's head sending it flying into the ground below with a loud crash. "Aerial Ace while he's still recovering!"
With flash movements everywhere Greninja shot down into Dragonite's stomach with magnificent force.
"While he's still there! Focus Punch!" Oak called out. Without any of its normal chargeup a focus punch hit Greninja square in the chest sending him straight back into the air causing massive damage to both the dark type and Ash who felt a large pang of pain in his chest.
"Brace yourself!" Greninja spread out all his limbs as he glided down at a much slower and safer rate. "Good job, buddy." Ash called, not taking his hand off his chest.
"So it's true." Oak said. "You do share pain."
"Yeah. But no pain you could inflict on me in this battle could surpass the pain you caused me one year ago." Ash growled.
"Looks like throughout all your travels there was one skill you never honed, getting over it. Ancient history." Before him Greninja finally landed on the ground. "Ice beam Dragonite!"
"Cut through it Greninja!" As the beam of ice came closer and closer, Greninja shot forward with a newly formulated blade and just as it was about to hit him sliced through it send the blast two different ways away from him he continued forward and slamed the blade into the dragon's chest with an uppercut. "Now kick him back down!" Greninja used its extra strong legs to jump up to the dragon, did one flip, then used its full strength to slam its leg down on the dragon's head sending it back down.
"Send a twister up towards him!" On the way down Dragonite shot a small tornado straight at the vulnerable frog.
"Use the tree next to you!" Ash called. "Get out of the way!" Greninja manuvered itself towards the nearest tree and flipped itself so its feet were facing it. Connecting its feet to the tree, it pushed itself past the twister and past Drgonite and landed in front of its trainer. But not before sending another Water Shuriken down into the recovering pokemon.
"I'm surprised." Oak praised. "No Greninja's legs should be that strong."
"There's a lot you don't know about us." Ash snarled. "Like how much pain we can put you through." He said as his eyes began to glow a deep blue.
"It can't possibly hurt as much as having nearly all your pokemon turn on you. Remember no matter how much you hurt me, you'll never get your friends back, and I bet one day the rest will give up on you as well." He shot back.
Ash began to shake with even more rage than ever and by the power of their bond Greninja felt every ounce of rage as well. In the distance standing with a glowing hand was none ogther than the boss himself. He held his hand in front of him and forcefully clenched it into a fist
Back at the field Ash let out a loud scream with Greninja echoing him.
I know boss man said to push him as far as possible.' Oak thought to himself. 'But maybe that was a little too far.' Oak realized he needed to finish this fast. "Ice beam them Dragonite! Freeze him solid."
Still blinded by rage Greninja didn't even notice the attack seemingly even after it hit him. It had the desired effect for Oak. Greninja was currently frozen inside a block of ice.
"Go." Was all Ash said in response. Suddenly Greninja bursted out of the iceberg prison sending little chunks of ice everywhere.
"Give it your best Water Shuriken." Ash ordered. On Greninja's back the shuriken doubled its original size and Greninja quickly took a hold of it. He hurled it forward and before they knew what happened it had hit Dragonite. Though only partially hitting him it still had enough force to knock the pokemon out cold, but it didn't stop. In a flash the shuriken of water forcefully collided with the good professor. His eyes widened as he fell over on his chest.
Exhausted Ash fell to the ground bracing himself for impact on the ground with his hands. Greninja fell straight backwards, passed out from exhaustion. The aura from their fusion disappeared around them as did their bond phenomenon. From the bodies of Oak and Dragonite a middle-aged man walked past and came to a stop in front of Ash.
"Well that is unfortunate." The man said looking back. "Though not too much of a tragedy." He turned his attention back to Ash and offered his hand, "Need a hand, friend?"
Ash looked up to see the man smiling at him. He looked over to see Oak on the ground unmoving. "Who are you? What happened?"
"A friend. And I've been watching you for a long time Chosen." As soon as he finished he took on big step to the right just narrowly avoiding a sea of flames. Ash looked behind him to see his Charizard looking very angry at the mention of 'chosen', mouth flaming. "Please refrain from any more violence, my friend." He said calmly. "You won't hit me. You did quite a number on the old man, didn't you?"
Ash slowly got back to his feet. "Return Greninja." He said recalling his pokemon who was still passed out. He looked behind him and scanned the still unconscious Serena. "Thanks for watching her buddy. Get some rest." He ordered recalling Charizard as well. "What are you talking about? What'd I do?" Ash asked.
"Your shuriken didn't just hit Dragonite. It hit your friend too." He said. "I wouldn't want to be him right now."
"No. No, no, no, no." Ash panicked. "I have to call an ambulance for him." He said preparing his watch.
"Won't do you any good, he's long gone. That shuriken was a direct hit. No one you know will be able to help him now." The man said looking back.
"You mean I-" Ash started not taking his eyes off the body
"Killed him? Yes. But don't worry, I don't blame you."
"How? I don't remember anything."
"You have quite the anger problem. But it's not all your fault." He said with a warm smile. "He was very provocative, wasn't he?"
"What are you talking about?!" Ash practically screamed. "I just committed probably the worst crime you can commit! I'm no better than him now! What happened to me?" He said looking at his hands.
"Your evolution form exceled to such a high level of power, that you couldn't control it." He elaborated knowledgably. "Whatever your dominant emotion was took over completely."
Ash began to get tears in his eyes. "I just killed a man. Not beat, not crippled, killed." He cried. "What have I done? I need to talk to the professor, maybe we can revive him somehow." He panicked.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. The good professor would just turn you in to the authorities, where you'll face a one-sided trial that you'll lose. You'll never see your loved ones again and you'll die alone." He said smirking. "You need to come with me."
"He wouldn't turn me in! He'd help me find a way to fix this!" Ash argued
"I think not. He's at the top of the food chain around here. HE sees a criminal, he turns them in."
Ash thought about it. He was officially a criminal. It didn't seem right to run, but he didn't want to be locked away from the world and all his friends. "Who are you?" Ash asked "Why are you offering to shelter a criminal? I need to face what I've done. Oh, Arceus, what'll my friends think of me now?!"
'That's it. Keep going.' Unbeknownst to Ash his doubts were being manipulated. 'You're making this too easy.' The boss thought to himself. "They'll think you've gone over the deep end. They've been so patient with you. Your anger and resentment for those who have wronged you and your Pikachu has ruled over your life for the last year. So sad."
"Shut up." Ash growled.
"Everyone's got problems. Many of them much worse than yours. Even your pal Pikachu, who has it much worse than you, is over it. But you can't let the anger go. I can help you with that." He offered.
"Shut up! How do you know so much about my life! I've never even met you before!" Ash yelled. Behind him Serena began to stir.
"I've watched you for a long, long time, Chosen. The Indigo League? I was there. Battle Frontier? I was watching. And guess who was in the stands of the Kalos League. We were destined to meet today. I'd foreseen it. But enough of that. I need you, and you need me."
"Why do I need you? What I need is a way to undo what I've done!"
"I won't turn you in. I will help you control your anger. I can help you harness the power of your evolution. No one else has the kind of knowledge I do. Come with me and I will make sure this," He said pointing to Oak. "doesn't happen to someone you actually care about." He finished gesturing towards Serena. "I just want to help you." As Ash looked back at Serena and thought of the rest of his friends. Meanwhile the man was enhancing the doubts he was having inside through the power of aura.
"You can really help me?" Ash said not looking at him.
"Indeed. You needn't commit to my cause, or even pay me back." He lied. "I only wish to make Kalos a better place. And to do that, we need to get you under control."
"Or just lock me up." Ash added solemnly.
"No need for such harsh actions, I know you don't want to be locked in a cage and I don't want you to be either, besides once you have Ash-Greninja in your control, I'll help you with the Jennies, I can be very persuasive. We'll take Oak with us back to headquarters. There we might be able to help him."
"I thought you said no one could help him?!" Ash shot back.
"I said no one you know can help him. But I just might be able to." He promised offering his hand once again. Ash turned back to the man. "Do it." He ordered. "They won't take you back as long as he's dead."
Ash nodded and took his hand. "Serena comes too. And if I don't like what I see, I'll just leave and turn myself in."
"Deal." He smiled. "She won't be waking up for another 20 minutes though, you might want to just carry her." He said pointing to her. Ash complied and hoisted her up on his back resting her head on his shoulder, not even bothering asking how the man knew how long it would take for her to wake up.
"You never told me who you are." He pointed out. "And how do you know so much about the bond phenomenon?"
"I am the head of the Kalos Restoration Association or KRA. But you may call me Aaron, Chosen One."
"Call me Ash." He retorted annoyed. "I'm no Chosen One." The mysterious man just chuckled.
'That's what you think.' He thought to himself. "As for how I know so much, you're not the first to have this ability, many before you have had it too. But we must be going." He said slinging Oak over his shoulder. He grabbed Dragonite's pokeball and recalled him and placed the pokeball back in Oak's pcket. "This is a public place after all. Follow me."
~Somewhere in the Hoenn Region~
~The next day~
Inside a giant company building just inside the Hoenn border sat an old man in a nice suit typing rapidly on a computer stretching all around him. A bar to his left and a library to his right. Suddenly, the door behind him flew open and a purple jumpsuit clad woman stomped through the doorway.
"What have I told you two about taking liberties with the missions?!" The woman scolded looking behind her as two Weavile filed their way in. "I don't care how good of an idea it seems, never deviate from the plan! It's been 4 years since you became my partners and you still can't follow directions." She sighed.
"Vile." The one on the left sighed dejectedly.
"Just don't let it happen again or it's back to basic training for you two." She said before finally acknowledging the old man in front of her. "Banks, I'm back! For some reason the kidnappings in Unova have ceased. No one knows why, though."
"Yes Kidd, I'm very aware of the current state of things. How was your undercover mission? Not too boring I hope."
"Never a dull moment." She replied. "Anyways, I just came to say hello and tell you I'm leaving for Almia now, so see you in a month?" She said phrasing the last part as a question.
"Yes, about that. I gave that mission to TImothy." He replied swiveling his chair around to face her.
"What!? You know I've been looking forward to going to Almia for months! Why would you give away what would be my greatest achievement to that prick?! Of all people!" She ranted.
"You got a call a few hours ago, Kidd. Someone who claims to know your old friend, The one with the Pikachu. What was his name, again?" Banks said tapping his forehead in thought. "Abe?"
"Ash?! I haven't heard from him over half a year! Call him back immediately, on the big screen!" Kidd ordered Pointing to the room sized TV screen at the front of the room. Banks just nodded and began typing on his keyboard again. Kidd quickly recalled her pokemon and turned her attention back to the television.
Before them the TV lit up with the upper bodies of Clemont and Bonnie.
"You're not Ash." Kidd deadpanned.
"Uh, no. I'm his friend Clemont. And that's my little sister Bonnie." He explained to the agent. "I assume you are Kidd Summers?" He inquired.
"Yeah, but I only really called to speak with Ash." Kidd complained.
"Well Ash isn't here. But Pikachu is!"
"PIkachu!" The little mouse cried from offscreen. He made his way up Clemont's back and onto his shoulder with his prosthetics making noise with his movements. "Pika!" He said waving.
"Aww. It looks like you're doing better, huh Pikachu?" She asked. "Where's Ash, little guy?" She watched in pity as Pikachu's ears dropped at the mention of Ash.
"We don't exactly know." Bonnie answered for the mouse. "He left yesterday and hasn't come back." She said lowering her head in sadness. "Serena, either."
"Who? Oh, is that his obsessive girlfriend?" Kidd asked.
"Hey, she's not obsessive!" Bonnie defended. "She's just in love." She said changing her tone from an annoyed one to a mesmerized one.
"Uh huh. Well anyway it's nice to see you again Pikachu but I'm really busy, so if Ash isn't there then-"
"Wait!" Clemont interrupted. "We need your help. Ash needs your help."
"I'm listening, but you've got three minutes." Kidd said crossing her arms. "I might still have time to catch Timothy and beat him into giving me my mission back."
"We've got serious problems here in Kalos. Some evil mastermind has found a way to eternal youth! We're gonna need help to take him on!"
"Kalos is an awful long way away. Besides you've got Ash. The kid can handle an apocalypse on wheels." Kidd retorted.
"But the guy's going after Ash, too!" Bonnie said. "We think that's why he hasn't come back yet! He says he's behind all the kidnappings too!"
"Really? Is this true, Pikachu?" Kidd asked the rodent.
"Pika! Pika Pi! Pikachu!" The rodent ranted gesturing all over the place.
"All right. I suppose if it helps solve the case of the missing persons, then I'll still be doing my job, right Banks?"
"Why not?" He shrugged indifferently. "I stopped trying to tell you what to do years ago. Just come back alive. Though, I do wonder, why not call the authorities for help?"
"We tried!" Bonnie yelled. "They're all too busy investigating the kidnappings. It's all hands on deck here in Kalos. They couldn't even spare us one Jenny!"
"Good." Kidd answered. "Authorities would just get in my way. Jennies really cramp my style. I'm in."
"We'll send someone to pick you up immediately." Clemont said switching off his transmitter.
"Well, I'd better pack my bags." Kidd said.
"I'm not sure this is a good idea. You're storming the base of someone who's pulled off countless kidnappings and evaded the authorities while doing it." Banks cut in.
"Meh." She shrugged. "You did give away my Almia job."
~Slateport City Pokemon Center~
At the center of Slateport city stood the biggest Pokemon center in all of Hoenn. Inside this monumental building was a boy who was rather new to the whole 'pokemon trainer' scene. On a bed in room 120 lay a Plusle a Minun and their best friend and trainer, 14-year-old Tory, who was currently on the phone.
"And bring it to room 120, please. Thank you." He said putting the center phone back in its place. "Traveling's a lot more tiring than it looks, huh guys?" He sighed turning his head towards his two favorite pokemon who just nodded in agreement. "Still, two badges in two months of leaving home? Pretty good don't you think? And now look at us! Chilling out in a great hotel room with room service on the way!"
"Plu!" The first responded.
"Minun!" The second echoed.
The three turned their attention to the door to their room at the sound of rapid knocking. Tory jumped off the bed and made his way towards the door with Plusle and Minun following close behind.
"Room service really is fast here huh?" He said opening the door to reveal the center's Joy.
"Lund?" She inquired.
"Yep. I had the Center Special and a couple soups for my friends." He responded excitedly.
"I'm not room service. I'm here to tell you there's a call for you. They said to tell you it's important news from Ash Ketchum." She explained.
"No way! Where's the phone?!"
"You can actually just answer the phone in here. Dial extension two, Mr. Lund." She said pointing to his personal landline.
Tory jumped over his bed and landed in front of the nightstand holding his phone. He eagerly picked it up and pressed the button marked '2'.
"Ash, is that you?!" He asked practically jumping up and down. Normally he wouldn't get so worked up but he didn't have many friends. His fear of pokemon pretty much alienated him completely and even after befriending Plusle and Minun and choosing them as his partners, kids in LaRousse still didn't want anything to do with him and often made fun of him, causing him to develop quite a bad case of social anxiety. He still kept in touch with Rafe, Sid, and the others, but they were always too busy to talk. Sure, he had his pokemon but he still needed other humans to interact with. And now he was finally going to talk with Ash again.
"Sorry. My name is Anabel." A voice said from the other side. "I'm a friend of Ash's and I wanted to ask for your help. Some evil guy who calls himself 'The Boss' is targeting Ash. No one's heard from him in nearly 24 hours."
Tory thought for a second, before shaking his head. Not that Anabel could see it. Everyone in LaRousse knew he how much he wanted to see Ash again, to the point they'd prank him all the time. "Sorry, I don't think so. How do I know you're not some kid from LaRousse playing a prank on me again? Tell Ash to take the phone." Tory responded.
"He's not here." Anabel said carefully. "I've got Pikachu with me." She quickly added hoping to sway the boy.
"Pika!" Pikachu voice came through the phone.
"Sounds like Pikachu..." Tory replied. "Tell me something only Pikachu or a friend of Ash would know."
"Uhh..." Anabel stuttered before she noticed Pikachu was trying to tell him something. "I think Pikachu's trying to say something. Hold on. He's typing something out on the computer." She took a moment to respond again and Tory assumed she was interpreting what Pikachu was saying. "Okay. When you were trying to wake Deoxys you were short on power so Pikachu and your pokemon had to add their electricity to awaken it. Does that sound right?" Anabel asked.
'Nobody was there except for us and Yuko.' Tory thought. "Yep, that checks out. Sorry, I get a lot of prank calls." He said rubbing the back of his head
"It's fine, but right now I..." She continued. "WE," She corrected. "need your help."
"What do you want from me?" Tory asked skeptically.
"We're putting together a team of people to help Ash take this maniac on. We're gonna need as much help as we can get, You in?" She asked.
"I'm not really a powerhouse, in fact I've only got three pokemon, but anything for Ash, I guess." He answered. "Hold on." He put his hand over the speaker and turned to his partners. "What do you guys think? Willing to put this whole traveling bit on hold for a bit? This is the guy who brought us together, you know."
"Plusle!" The first said.
"Minun!" The second echoed as the two began jumping up and down.
He nodded before turning his attention back to the phone. "I think that means we're in. Will Brock be there? May? Max?"
"Uhh...Max is here in Kalos somewhere. Don't really care where May is, but that's a story for a different time, and Brock's in Kanto with the other gym leaders and frontier brains investigating the kidnappings. I tried to get ahold of him, but he must be under radio silence or something."
"Oh. Well, at least we might get to see Max." He said sadly.
"I'll pick you up immediately."
~Victory Road – Kanto~
Team Rocket was seeking out more powerful pokemon for their next mission. Team Rocket was currently being outshined by whoever was behind these kidnappings across the main regions, and Giovanni wouldn't stand for it. The trio had just captured a very powerful Rhydon when they got a call from a familiar face with a long and drawn out explanation that, frankly, Jessie didn't care for. She was currently conversing with the scientist on her poketch.
"And what makes you think we'll help you, twerp?" Jessie said annoyed.
"We can still remember the pain the broken bones caused us from when you blasted us into the sky!" Meowth added.
"Give us one good reason!" James finished crossing his arms and looking away from the small screen.
"I'll do better." Clemont said. "I'll give you three! One, as of right now Team Rocket is in the shadow of this guy. As long as he's around, no one cares about what you guys are up to."
"So we'll let him eliminate you guys, and then go after him. That way you won't be around to meddle anymore." Meowth said tapping his foot in annoyance.
"Two, you won't be able to beat him, not without our help." Clemont added.
"Typical twerp." James sneered. "Unaware of how strong we are. We're much better than when you last saw us."
"Three," Clemont said ignoring him. "you're not heartless. It's not a coincidence that you haven't come after Pikachu and Ash in the last year or so. It's because, even you, Team Rocket, wouldn't stoop that low."
"Wrong again. Pikachu's just no longer of any use to us. With those prosthetics he'll never battle again." Jessie said, nose in the air. "Besides do you know how many hospital bills we have yet to pay off? All because you keep sending us flying without so much as a parachute."
Clemont thought maybe it was a good idea to play to their egos "I don't think so. You know how hurt Ash was after that day. And whether you'll admit it or not you felt bad for him. You've fought by us before. Remember Team Flare? Deep down, whether you like it or not, you've got good inside your hearts. You're just misguided in your adventures." Clemont finished.
The criminal trio changed attitudes almost immediately. With comical tears in their eyes they smiled goofily. "You think we're good people?" Meowth asked.
"No one ever thinks we're good!" James added as he started to cry anime style.
"Say it again!" Jessie begged.
'Oh jeez, maybe I layed it on too thick.' Clemont thought. "Just..." Clemont started slightly uncomfortable. "are you gonna help or not?"
"Of course!" Jessie exclaimed. "We're heroes after all!" She said pointing a finger to the sky triumphantly.
"That's not what I said, but whatever." Clemont said signing off. He just hoped he hadn't created a monster.
~Lumiose City~
Alain and Mairin sat inside a quaint café right inside the Magenta Plaza sipping their respective cappuccinos.
"You know, maybe you should tone down the battling just a tad." Mairin looking up from her drink and at Alain. "Everyone's so excited to battle the Kalos Champion and then you go and end the battle in one shot. You could at least give them a chance."
"Why bother?" He said looking back at her. "I'm not gonna waste their time if they can't win. No one's been able to come even close to beating me in over a year." He said clearly annoyed.
"You mean since Ash." Mairin added.
"No one has the same kind of flare as that kid. Then he went and got all depressing on me and lost that zing he had from the Kalos League. How am I supposed to get any better if no one even gives me a challenge?"
"Maybe you're too good." Mairin shot back with a smile. Chespie, atop her hat nodding.
"Maybe. What I wouldn't give for a good rumble." He said leaning on the table with his cheek rested in one hand. He began to feel vibrations come from his pocket. As soon as he realized it was his phone he pulled it out and answered it. "Hello." He said bored. Sure, hunting for mega stones was cool and having Mairin with him was always a delight, but the trainers around him were so inexperienced that there was never even a reason to use the stones. "Clemont?!" He asked shooting up. "Of course I'm not busy! What's up? Is Ash any better?" He asked with hope dripping in his voice. "What do you mean, missing?"
Mairin and Chespie just waited in anticipation knowing they wouldn't get any information until he hung up.
"He can do what now?" He asked out loud. "You're pullin my leg, Clemont. You're a man of logic, you know that's impossible. If you want to see me that bad you could just invite me over." He laughed. "You're not joking?" He said straightening out his face before sighing. "We'll be right there. No, we don't need a ride, we're in Lumiose. See ya in a few." He said hanging up.
"What's up, Alain?" Mairin finally got to ask. "Is Clemont alright?"
"He's fine. Ash is missing. Serena went after him and never came back. New bad guy. Something about immortality. Needs my help." He rattled off.
"Did you just say immortality?" Mairin asked. "How's that possible?"
"Don't know. But I guess I'll find out when we find this guy. I'd tell you not to come with, but you'd just follow me anyway." He said coolly, walking out the building. As soon as he got out Mairin realized something.
"Hey, Alain! You didn't pay!" She called
"Oh yeah." He called back turning around. "Don't have any cash on me! Spot me, will ya?" He said as he continued to walk away. Mairin let out a heavy sigh.
"If he's gonna make me pay for his food, he could at least call it a date." She mumbled.
~The other side of Lumiose City~
"So, will you help?" Abel asked. He, Max, and Jirachi were all sitting at a picnic table located all across Kalos, with kids playing all around them.
"I don't know, Abel." Max replied. "I got out of the whole 'saving the world' business years ago. The simple life suits me. Besides, you saw what happened when I'm around them. I'm just not welcome anymore." He said sadly.
"So what really happened between you two? Why didn't you side with Ash?" Abel inquired. "Serena said you had bad character, but I don't believe that for one second." He said with one of his rare tones of seriousness.
"I had just gotten my first pokemon, Treecko, the day before. They said they were going to try to get Ash to stay in Kanto. At first, I thought they had valid points. He seemed to just kind of forget about us after our travels together. Misty, May, and Dawn had to seek him out, not the other way around. They also pointed out he was a danger to himself, I mean he jumped off a building! Yeah it was for Pikachu, and I'm glad they both came out safe, but you can't deny that he could've killed himself not to mention how every major villain in the world seems to have it out for him and anyone he travels with by extension. But then I thought of all he had accomplished across his journeys, and figured the world needed a trainer like him."
"But this was back when he was happy-go-lucky, right?" Abel inquired.
"Yeah. As soon as I voiced my concerns with the plan to the professor, Oak said something about an employer and how he needed as many people against Ash as possible. He had already had May take Ambipom from Dawn for what he claimed was 'insurance'. He threatened to take Treecko away from me." Max said sadly. "I couldn't let that happen. He was my partner. So, I said I'd go along with it as long as I could keep Treecko."
'They tried to take your pokemon?' Jirachi asked floating midair. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to be out in the open with a supposed 'mythical' pokemon, but he wanted to hear Max's story for himself. Max nodded. 'I understand. So why wait so long to tell him. You got away from Oak with your Treecko, right?' The pokemon asked.
"What was I supposed to say? I dug that grave and I figured it was time to lay in it. And who knows? If I was manipulated maybe the others were as well. It was just so out of character for May to act like that. But as soon as Pikachu was shot, I knew it was over for us." Max replied. "But deep down I wanted to try."
"Why wait a year, though?" Abel asked. "If you came forward sooner..." He trailed off.
"I tried contacting Brock. I thought if I tried talking to Ash head on it wouldn't work. So I thought to start with Brock. I thought if I could just get him to listen to my side, we could talk to Ash together. Maybe not the best idea, but it was all I had. When I tried to get to him, though, he always ignored me. Phone calls, video calls, letters, nothing worked. I knew if I couldn't even get to Brock I had no chance with Ash. So I thought maybe give him some time. I promised myself after my trip around Hoenn, that I would at least try. But now it's too late."
"Maybe. But is that any reason not to try again?" Abel asked. "If you give up, then you let Oak win. He hoped to drive a wedge between you two and if you stop trying then he did it. Is that what you want?" He reasoned.
"But it takes two to mend a broken friendship! I may be willing to try, but Ash just isn't having it. I think it's best if I just let you guys take this one. If I were there, Ash would probably just kick me right back out thinking I'm in league with this guy."
'That's not true.' Jirachi objected. 'I'm sure Ash would be glad you came to help.' He said floating closer to Max. 'Even if he won't admit it.'
"I can't force you to help. But I can tell you, if you want him to forgive you, helping him in his fight to save Kalos just might be the way to go. He wouldn't listen to me either, but I'm still trying to befriend him because if he's everything you and his friends claim him to be then he's worth it. Don't you think?" Abel finished standing up. "So, you coming?" He said offering his hand.