Thank you all for the kind reviews. I'm sorry that there's not much advance shipping yet, since I'm trying to write the build-up towards the main story.
Chapter 2
May couldn't believe her own eyes. After their journey, her and Ash seemed to be worlds apart. Their paths diverged as one strived to become a Pokemon master, the other a top coordinator. But somehow, in the middle of a deserted Kalosian forest, she felt that their worlds had crossed paths once again. Right in front of her lay a part of her life that she had long left behind.
"Did you... know Ash?" May asked in a hushed tone, careful not to startle the frog. She was aware of that fact that Greninja was in an emotionally unstable state. The frog nodded half-heartedly, but his eyes remained fixated on the photograph gripped tightly between its fingers.
May was trying hard to contain her excitement. What started out as an ordinary pokéblock expedition had miraculously led towards them meeting a most fascinating pokémon, and a link to an old friend. It wasn't every day that May got to experience something this exciting. Her current life consisted of a endless cycle of training, eating and competing.
"Ash doesn't seem like the type of trainer who would simply abandon his pokémon." Solidad remarked. May agreed as well. It certainly did seem strange that Ash would do that. He was someone who treated his pokémon with the utmost respect.
May's mind drifted into the past, back to the first day that they had met. She was all riled up and ready to confront Ash for frying her bike, but as soon as May peeked through the door, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Slumped into a chair was the raven-haired boy, sound asleep from keeping his Pikachu company all night. He rested his head softly on the side of the bed, while his Pikachu smuggled cozily against his warm cheeks. A small ray of sunshine crept past the curtains and landed softly onto the pair, and they looked majestically peaceful under the golden sun.
Smiling, she carefully shut the door behind her and quietly tiptoed away. May could almost feel the unbreakable bond between Ash and his Pikachu, built upon trust and hardship with each other. Perhaps pokémon weren't that bad after all, she thought to herself.
"Correct."
May jumped, startled as her train of thought was interrupted. Wait a moment, it was that voice! It was the same voice that warned her to leave the forest, the same voice who coincidentally spoke to her moments before they were attacked.
May's initial reaction was caution. Was it a friend or foe? Was it possible that they followed her all the way here to finish the job? Although she was a coordinator, May had seen more than enough battles across her journey, and she wasn't going down without a fight.
Making as little noise as possible, May slowly reached for her fanny pack, her heart beating wildly against her chest. May's fingers softly clasped around the cool plastic ball that lay within. Muscle memory prompted her to press the button that would enlarge the pokéball, but her instincts told her not to. She remembered how the voice seemed to come from everywhere, how it resonated throughout the entire forest. "That's telepathy," Solidad's words echoed in her mind. And as far as she was concerned, telepathy was a gift reserved for the most extraordinary pokémon.
Silence swept across the entire cave. There was a sense of authority in the way it spoke which suggested that it was not something to be trifled with. Taking a deep breath, May slowly turned her head towards the source of the voice. Her eyes scanned the vicinity before settling onto the middle of the cave. There, perched top of the piece of stone was the speaker, who took the form of...
A green blob.
That's right. It was no bigger than the size of May's palm, and looked more like a squishy toy than a pokémon. It's entire body was lime green except for a crystal-like structure plastered to its belly, and the single, obnoxiously large eye which stared aggresively back into hers.
"Um... Solidad? Is that a pokémon?" May glanced at her friend, who clearly held different opinions on the creature than May did. She was still staring at it with her mouth hanging open.
Solidad gritted her teeth, evidently annoyed at May's ignorance. She turned, and looked May right in the eyes with a straight face. "That is the legendary pokémon Zygarde."
May's head was spinning. First she sees a weird Greninja in the middle of a deserted forest who claims to have known Ash, and now a legendary pokémon appears right before her eyes? She pinched herself on the cheek, just to make sure this wasn't all a dream. It hurt.
"Also correct." The blob replied. "But my friends call me Squishy."
"Squishy, huh? what an interesting name..." May mumbled, but the blob ignored her.
"A few months ago, there was an incident in Kalos. An organisation called Team Flare believed that the world was impure and required cleansing. They were all insane, but one man stood above the rest and called himself their leader, and his name was Lysandre. Lysandre harnessed the power of primal energy in the form of a Megalith, and planned to drive it towards Anistar City. The resulting collision would create an explosion deadly enough to wipe out the entire Kalos region."
"I do remember this." Solidad recalled. "The attack on Lumiose City." Wiping out the entire Kalos region? May nodded as if she too were an expert on the matter, although she had no idea what Solidad was talking about. May made a mental note to herself; she really needed to read the news more often.
"Lysandre was stopped by the efforts of a valiant group of humans, who defended the Kalos region with their lives. One of those humans also happens to know you." Zygarde added, looking directly at May.
May realised who Squishy was talking about. "Oh, Ash..." she thought in her head. Could Ash possibly be connected to all of this? She knew that the boy had a knack of getting himself into trouble, but deep inside, May was always concerned for his safety.
"Yes," Squishy continued. "After the Megalith had been defeated, we thought that would be the end. Alas, the remaining negative energy contained within the giant stone is now scattered around Kalos, and this place remains unsafe until the day they are destroyed completely."
"So that's what those roots were," Solidad realised. "The remnants of the Megalith."
"What you have seen today is merely a small proportion of the problem. There are many more areas in Kalos riddled with these roots, and pokémon continue to live in fear because of this. The vines are like a disease. You cut off one head, and two more pop up immediately. We have to find the source of this negative energy, and destroy it from within." Squishy sighed. Even a legendary pokémon has its limits sometimes.
The green blob stared into the sky. "The truth is, we sought the help of Ash's Greninja because he was born with a special gift - he could locate the negative energy when we could not. Greninja agreed, even if it meant parting ways with his trainer. I promised the boy that we would take great care of him until the day they met again."
May suddenly felt a pang of sympathy towards Greninja. He came to this deserted place on his own accord, cleaning up the mess that others had created just to protect Kalos. It was truly an act of selflessness, a deed that deserved respect.
"I know how you feel now," May smiled at the frog. "You must be longing to travel the world. To fight in battles. To be alongside Ash and his pokémon again, don't you?"
"Ninja." The frog pumped his fist in the air in confirmation, and for a fleeting moment May saw the determination in his eyes that belonged to his trainer. He was waiting patiently for that one day when his job would be done, the day when he would be free to roam the earth again.
"But that's not all." Squishy continued his speech. "The strange ability this Greninja possesses is tied to something even more mysterious. The deep bond between Greninja and Ash allows him to take on a temporary form in battle that surpasses his final stage."
"Mega-evolution..." May mused. She reached down her shirt and felt the locket that hung around her neck, pressing it tightly against her chest.
"No." Squishy corrected. "The bond between them was so powerful that the transformation required neither a mega stone nor a key stone. It was not mega-evolution. Rather, it was the true merging of the mind's of both trainer and pokémon. Their pain is shared by one another, as are their emotions. Ash became Greninja, and Greninja became Ash."
Solidad's face was difficult to read. She remained silent as she glanced at the frog once more, who stood indifferently in the corner. Surely this wasn't possible. The energy released by mega-evolution came from the mega stone itself, while the key stone was essential for connecting the hearts of trainer and pokémon. Then again, she did see Greninja in a different form with Ash nowhere to be found...
Squishy turned and faced Greninja, as if he had read Solidad's mind. Their eyes met, and the frog nodded.
"Nin... Jaaaaaaa!" The frog channeled energy through its voice as water erupted out of nowhere, engulfing the frog in a swirling vortex of liquid. His ears began to stretch and darken, while spiky structures protruded forcefully from the side of his head. His "fin" began to elongate and produce a delicate pattern of red intertwined with blue.
The vortex broke into ribbons of water which danced elegantly in mid-air as an orb of concentrated liquid began to materialise on his back. An audible "Ka-Ching" was heard as the ribbons of water were gradually sucked into the orb, finally condensing to produce a perfect X-shaped water shuriken.
"Incredible..." Solidad marvelled. In all her years of experience as a coordinator, she had never encountered anything like this before.
The veil of water had completely unravelled to reveal the final product, who stood before May with his arms crossed in a defiant pose. She couldn't help but smile, a transformation like that would certainly score top marks at any contest.
As May took a closer look at the pokémon who had saved her life, what Squishy meant finally dawned on her. The spiky structures on top of Greninja's head in a way resembled Ash's messy mane of hair. May chuckled silently as she remembered the cute little "z" marks that rested on Ash's cheeks, which were incorporated into Greninja as lightning shaped symbols next to his eyes. It was as if the two had truly merged into one.
May felt a warm feeling sweep over her body, as if something had rekindled her spirit once again.
Was this the true power of the bond between trainer and Pokémon? Ash's Greninja was proof that the potential of Pokémon were limitless. She thought about her own Pokémon: Blaiziken, Venusaur, Munchlax, Beautifly, Skitty, Glaceon and Wartortle. Just how far could she go with her own pokémon? There was a lot more in this world for her to learn, and a steep mountain for her to climb, but May was determined to become the best coordinator the world had ever seen.
Another thing: Should I write longer chapters but update less often?