Ash Ketchum gazed out of the window in Professor Kuki's house; it was one of those few moments when he was in deep thought. Very, very deep thought. His mind raced with them. Solgaleo, his beloved Nebby, had departed. Disappeared into Ultra Space, or wherever other Ultra Beasts roamed. He missed Solgaleo, very much, for the Legendary Pokemon and him and formed an extremely strong bond, forged ever since Ash found him as Nebby. Truth be told, Ash partially, deep down in his heart, wanted Solgaleo to stay with him. He had never caught any Legendary Pokemon before; Nebby would've be his first!
The League. That's right, that was why Ash was so agitated mentally right now. Professor Kukui had been so passionate about bringing the League culture here to Alola. The very thought of it excited Ash incredibly; it always did bring him joy & excitement, the thrill of heated battles and the glory of victories. However, it didn't last long. Ash then remembered all the Leagues he had participated in. How he had put in his best for each and everyone of them. And how he had lost every single one of them. It wasn't that he was completely engrossed in victory. The finals of the Kalos League were as explosive as the quarterfinals of the Sinnoh League, his Greninja vs Alain's Charizard, his Infernape against Paul's Electivire. Those were battles that made him go all out, that mde his blood boil with excitement & passion. Those were battles that he would not trade for anything else in the world. But…it hurt. Especially in the Kalos League, where he had come so close to winning, only to lose at the very end. Like in all other Leagues, he had accepted his defeats with grace, congratulating his opponents and praising his Pokemon that had worked hard for him. But he didn't like the idea of losing another League. Not at all.
Ash turned his head to see his Pokemon. Pikachu watched as Lycanroc and Litten trained on the beach, sparring against each other. Rowlet, as usual was fast asleep next to Pikachu. Ash smiled with pride, pleased that Lycanroc and Litten were as motivated as ever. He watched as Lycanroc hit Litten with a swift Accelerock, and the fire type struggling to recover from the move, successfully. He watched as Litten nimbly dodged every Rock Throw that Lycanroc fired at him, before landing a solid Fire Fang that made Lycanroc cry out in pain, despite its resistance to fire. Ash could see great potential in those two. He could have two aces this time if they were trained properly. But Ash also knew that it wouldn't be long before the League came round, and if Lycanroc wasn't strong enough or Litten hadn't evolved further enough…
A lightbulb suddenly went off in Ash's head. Alain's Mega Charizard X had left a very deep impression on him, as the one Pokemon he could never seem to defeat. It made him think about his own Charizard; his extremely powerful and experienced Charizard. Ash knew for sure that his Charizard would have easily walloped Alain's Charizard in his base form; with many years of training and battling with his own kind under his belt. But against his mega-evolved form… Ash wasn't sure his Charizard could win against such a powerful beast. Regardless, he couldn't deny that he would have won many more battles if he had used Charizard in League tournaments.
He grinned to himself as he made his decision. Lycanroc and Litten were going to have to up their game, for they would undergo training with their very accomplished battler of a senior.
The forests of Kalos
"Looks like the last one." Squishy said to its companion, atop a tree branch. Next to him, the Zygarde core looked directly at the tall blue figure that had gotten rid of that accursed vine. "Is it the last one?"
Greninja turned, and gave a swift but firm nod. His senses could not detect any more vines in the area for many miles around. "Excellent." Z2 replied, pleased. Squishy nodded.
"Well, Greninja, it looks like you've done your job. I do believe that you may go reunite with Ash now." Z2 said. "How would you find Ash? He's already gone back to Kanto." Squishy answered.
"Kouga." I'll find him for sure.
In these months, whilst Greninja had been getting rid of the vines, he had also been training with the two Zygarde cores. He had learnt several new moves thanks to them, and had had plenty of practice using Night Slash & Sacred Sword to hew and cut down the vines. His Water Shurikens were now sharper, faster and much more precise, as well as his reflexes much more fine-tuned, as a result of avoiding vines in the nick of time whenever they tried to spring up underground. As calm and composed as he usually was, Greninja was dying with excitement to show Ash how much stronger he had become.
Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of white light above. Greninja and the Zygarde cores looked up in shock, to see a massive Pokemon that resembled a lion, with an immense mane and fur that shone so white it could've lit up the sky. It roared, before it came down and set its paws down before Greninja and his companions.
"Solgaleo." Z2 said, surprised. "What brings you here?"
Solgaleo turned his head to Greninja, who looked at him with a bewildered expression. So you're Ash's friend?
Greninja's eyes widened. You know him?!
Of course I do. He raised me when I was only a baby.
Ash is in Alola now?! The Zygarde cores exclaimed.
Get on my back. I'll take you to him. Nodding, Greninja climbed onto Solgaleo's back. With a mighty leap the Sunne Pokemon took off into the air towards the Alola region, leaving behind two very bemused Zygarde cores.
Ash looked before his assembled team of Pokemon. Lycanroc and Litten stood sharply at attention, while an annoyed Pikachu had finally managed to jolt Rowlet into focusing. "Ok guys, listen up. The Alolan League is coming up, I know that Professor Kukui will succeed in bringing the League culture to Alola. Now I want you all to train extra hard for this League; Lycanroc and Litten the both of you are very motivated so I have no qualms about you. Rowlet, on the other hand," Ash fixed Rowlet with a stern expression, which made the little grass type gulp nervously. "You have an incredibly annoying habit of going to sleep at the wrong time, AND you need a lot more training in order to catch up with your teammates." Ash turned his attention back to the group at whole. "Now, this training which I am going to put you through is tough; a lot tougher than what we usually go through. Don't say I never warned you. However, work hard and give it your all, and I promise you guys, you guys will have a lot of rewards. Understand?" The Pokemon all cried out in affirmation.
Ash unclipped a Pokeball from his belt. "Before we begin, I want you all to know also, that I've brought one of your seniors to help me train and supervise you all. He's one of my oldest friends and one of my strongest as well." He threw it up.
"Come on out, Charizard!"
In a flash of light, Ash's Charizard appeared with a thunderous roar, a roar so loud and powerful that it sent shockwaves all around that churned the sand and blew a hapless Rowlet all the way into Rotom. Lycanroc and Litten desperately shielded their heads from the blast, while Ash and Pikachu stood there calmly, having gotten used to this.
Charizard stopped roaring and turned to face Ash. He was truly a sight to behold, standing at 2.25 meters tall, much larger than most of his kind which stood at 1.7meters tall. The flame on its tail burned brightly, expressing its vibrant and fiery battling spirit. "Wow, you've gotten even bigger since I last saw you." Ash chuckled, patting his fire-type's underbelly. "Pika pika!" Pikachu agreed.
A bout of flames to the face was Ash's reply, as Charizard sprayed his trainer's face with his usual affectionate Flamethrower, much to his other Pokemon's shock. Ash shook it off and laughed. "It's ok guys, this is how Charizard likes to greet me."
"Wow, Ash, I didn't know you had such a powerful Charizard!" Rotom exclaimed, rapidly snapping pictures of the draconian fire type.
"Rotom, please scan Charizard's moves for me." Ash requested, and Rotom complied, displaying a list of all of Charizard's known moves on his screen. Ash was pleasantly surprised that Charizard had learnt 3 new moves: Dragon Claw, Earthquake and Solar Beam.
"Alright then, let's do this!" Ash yelled. Charizard let loose a huge Flamethrower into the air, while all the other Pokemon looked on in awe.