A Journey's Link

Chapter 67 - Transformation

It's okay, Ash.

Ash quickly pulled away from the hug and looked around him. He had just heard a deep voice speak to him, but didn't know who it was. "Who said that?" Ash asked Goh and Sanpei, who both shrugged their shoulders and had no clue what Ash was talking about.

"Ash! Ash!" This voice was real to Ash, unlike the one he had heard moments before; and it was a voice that he so desperately wanted to hear. "Ash!" Serena exclaimed, running over to Ash and Greninja. She was about to give him another rib-crushing hug when Greninja suddenly leaped off the bed and landed in between the two of them.

"Woah, buddy!" Ash exclaimed, getting startled by Greninja suddenly landing in front of him. "Gren," Greninja said quietly, staring at Serena momentarily. He raised his hand and pointed at Serena, nodding slowly.

She's the one.

The voice echoed in Ash's head, confusing him even more. "Who is that?" He whispered to himself. He walked next to Greninja and asked, "What's up, Greninja? Why'd you do that?" Greninja didn't respond, instead continuing to stare right at Serena. Ash turned to Sanpei, who shook his head, as he didn't know what was going on either.

"Maybe he's confused after waking up?" Goh suggested, not knowing what was going on either. "Maybe..." Ash responded, his voice trailing as he looked at Greninja. Serena looked at Ash and said, "I came over to tell you that A left to go find Aaron." Ash whipped his head to her and exclaimed, "He what?" in disbelief.

Serena nodded and added, "I told him that we could all fight Giovanni together, but he insisted that he go find Aaron." She saw the conflicted look on Ash's face and asked, "What's wrong?" Ash shrugged his shoulders and answered, "I mean... he wasn't close to me, but I felt close to him because-"

"He is you," Serena finished, understanding exactly what he was referring to. "It's also weird to know that there's a clone of me out there right now, trying to explore the world," she said, trying to make Ash feel better by sympathizing with him. Luckily, it worked, as he smiled at Serena and said, "Thanks. I guess it's pretty crazy all around, huh?"

"Oh also," she added, remembering another thing. "Sycamore and the others want to test out their machine. Somehow it survived the Earthquake caused by Giovanni," she explained. "Now?" Ash asked. "Aren't we kind of in the middle of something here?" Serena just shrugged and said, "They said it's important."

Ash sighed and looked at Sanpei. "I appreciate your help with my arm," Ash said, shaking Sanpei's hand. "Of course. I couldn't just deny you. You've got the entire world's fate in your hands," Sanpei said, throwing Ash off as Serena dragged him away from Sanpei into the crowd, Goh following close by, shocked by what he had just heard.

"What exactly is this machine?" Ash asked Serena curiously. She shook her head. "I have no clue. The Professor and Clemont are the two who created it," she explained while trying to weave through the crowd of people attempting to get medical help from the medic, who was free after Greninja tagged along with Ash and the others.

"And the Professor said it's safe?" Ash asked cautiously. Serena nodded and responded, "He told me to tell you that it won't go like last time, whatever that means." Ash chuckled at her cluelessness. Serena turned to him. "What's the story behind that?" She asked, laughing at Ash's chuckling.

"It's a long story," he replied, telling himself that he'd need to tell her after this was all over. "I'll explain it when we stop this once and for all," he said. "Promise." Serena smiled and said, "I'm looking forward to it!"

Goh, who was behind the two and had been listening, could tell that there was some understanding of their feelings for each other, but no way to tell each other directly. He had told Serena before that this type of stuff wasn't exactly his cup of tea but seeing the two unable to express their feelings had frustrated him to the point where he was about to interfere himself.

"Professor!" Ash suddenly exclaimed, sprinting over to a group of people. Sycamore, still in his giant lab coat despite the weather, turned around and waved. "Ash!" He exclaimed back. "I'm glad you and Greninja are okay!" Clemont and Bonnie both looked over and saw Ash, so they smiled and waved as well.

"I'm glad you could be here," Sycamore said as Ash walked up to him alongside Serena and Goh. "I'm sure Serena already filled you in on everything?" Ash smiled at Serena and replied, "She did." Sycamore smiled and looked over at Clemont and Bonnie, who were setting up the device. "We've made some modifications since you last saw this thing," Sycamore explained.

"Modifications?" Ash asked, perplexed. Sycamore nodded and pointed at an antenna sticking out of the top of the machine. "You see that?" Sycamore asked. "That's going to be able to track Giovanni's location using Greninja." Ash's eyes grew wide in surprise as he heard this. "Track Giovanni?" He repeated in awe. "Like, as in being able to locate him?"

Sycamore nodded and his eyes gleamed with excitement as he continued explaining. "Precisely. That powerful Pokemon had a device, and apparently when Greninja was attacked by whatever move it used on him, the frequencies from the device transferred with it, meaning Clemont was able to find the frequencies that it operated at and locate where they were being emitted." Clemont looked over and nodded.

"Right," Clemont said, picking up the machine. "I've never seen something vibrating at that particular frequency, so it must have been made by some type of technology that the public doesn't have access to yet!" He explained, getting excited as he spoke about the possibilities of the device.

"Wow! Science is so amazing!" Ash exclaimed, not understanding a single word that Clemont said, but finding it fascinating nonetheless. Serena laughed at Ash's instinctual phrase as Goh shook his head. "It's not that crazy, Ash..." he muttered.

"So, do you want to give it a whirl?" Sycamore asked as Clemont set the machine aside. Ash stared at Sycamore dead in the eye and asked, "It won't hurt Greninja, right?" Sycamore stared right back at Ash and said with full confidence, "I promise."

Ash sighed and turned to Greninja, who understood exactly what was happening and walked over to the machine. Clemont connected some wires to Greninja and began entering some numbers onto a small screen. "Alright Clemontic Gear, don't fail me now!" He exclaimed, pressing a button on the screen and causing some lights to come on.

Sycamore stepped back and put a hand on Ash's shoulder. "With this device, you and Greninja should be able to easily take out Giovanni and save that Zygarde core," Sycamore said. Ash sighed and nodded, knowing what Sycamore was saying was true, but still dreading what was supposed to happen to him.

The machine began whirring and small energy pulses began flashing from Greninja. "It looks like Mega Evolution," Ash commented, staring at the blue and red flashes. "Right," Sycamore responded. "We were able to activate Greninja's dormant Mega Energy so that it would always be active when battling," he explained.

He saw Ash's face light up and quickly added, "And no. It doesn't make him always in Mega Form," dulling Ash's face. Ash looked at Greninja, making sure he was okay. "You good, Greninja?" Ash asked, with Greninja responding with a small nod of affirmation.

"And now to activate the frequency finder," Sycamore muttered to himself, pressing another button on the screen. The antenna began whirring as it scanned Greninja, searching for any trace of the frequency emitted by the device. They stood there for minutes, waiting anxiously for the device to give any indication of success.

"Is it not working...?" Sycamore whispered to himself. Ash looked at the device in worry, as failure meant they would have to find Giovanni through a method that would simply take far too long. Suddenly, the device beeped and the antenna stood facing one direction, which was facing away from Ash and towards a seemingly random location.

"Is that it?" Ash asked, staring at the device. "Does it know where Giovanni's at?" Clemont smiled and nodded, pulling up the data from the machine. Sycamore walked over and released Greninja from the machine. "Do you feel any different?" Ash asked Greninja, who stared at his hands and softly said, "Gren..."

"Eerk!" Clemont exclaimed, causing everyone to look over at the inventor. "What happened?" Sycamore asked, intrigued by his small noise of worry. Clemont ignored Sycamore and looked at Ash with a worried look. "Ash, you said you're from Pallet Town, right?" Clemont asked hesitantly.

Ash felt a sense of dread wash over him as Clemont asked the question. "Yeah?" He responded slowly. Clemont gulped and showed Ash the data. "Well, Giovanni's there right now. And judging by these readings, Aaron's with him as well!" Clemont exclaimed, causing Ash to realize what that meant. "Giovanni's going to make my mother see my father!"