Ash and the others followed Sanpei, who knocked on a small, makeshift door that was constructed of columns of bamboo. "My brother's right in here," Sanpei explained as they waited for the door to be answered. "I'm not surprised that you came to find him," he added, crossing his arms as his impatience for waiting grew.
Sycamore took a few steps forward and said, "I thought about the last time that Ash had visited this place, and when I saw his connections, I knew this was the place to come to." Sanpei nodded, not looking back at Sycamore as he spoke.
"Since my brother is chief, I'm sure he'll be willing to help you out in any way you can," Sanpei said. Ash nodded and looked at Greninja and Lucario, who both stood next to each other patiently. I wonder how the chief could help me? Ash thought to himself, his voice echoing in his head unusually.
He shook his head and told himself that he was just making things up, so he turned his attention back to Sanpei, who was now opening the door on his own. "I guess we'll have to barge in since he won't open the door," Sanpei said with an edge to his voice. Ash looked at the other travelers and nodded, knowing that they were about to have an interesting conversation.
Sanpei pushed the door open and walked through, causing the thatched floor to squeak. "Brother, I know you are in here!" Sanpei shouted, causing the large, empty room to echo his voice. "Guess he's not in the main area," Sanpei said to himself. "He must be meditating in his personal room."
"Meditating?" Clemont asked out loud. "What is he meditating for?" Bonnie asked, causing Clemont to roll his eyes at his sister. "He only meditates when something is on his mind," Sanpei admitted, frowning. "I wonder what must be distracting him," he added, walking towards the back of the open lobby area, which consisted of a few chairs and a lantern in the center.
Ash and the others began following Sanpei, who stopped and turned around. He shook his head and said, "Only a select few people are allowed in this room, so I'll have to ask that you four wait out here while I explain the situation to my brother." Bonnie frowned and said, "I wanted to see a ninja meditating," causing Sanpei to smile apologetically and say, "I'm sorry, but that's just our way of honoring tradition."
Bonne crossed her arms and pouted while Clemont tried cheering her up by promising to show her some ninjas that he saw training just outside of the building, which Bonnie happily agreed to and demanded that they leave then to go find them. Sanpei entered the room in which his brother, the chief, was meditating, leaving just Ash and Sycamore in the room together with Greninja and Lucario.
"I've been meaning to ask, Ash," Sycamore said, breaking the silence. "Is Greninja doing well?" He guiltily looked at the Ninja Pokemon as he asked this, remembering back to his desperate attempt to empower Greninja after Garchomp was taken. Ash looked over at Greninja, who nodded back in forgiveness. "Greninja forgives you, don't worry," Ash answered, filling Sycamore with relief.
"I'm glad to hear that," Sycamore responded, a smile on his face. It dissipated when he saw Sanpei walk through the door with a concerned expression. "What's wrong, Sanpei?" Sycamore asked, seeing the clear turmoil in Sanpei's face. "I-I just talked to my brother," Sanpei responded, tripping over his words.
"He says he wants to see Ash," he said, earning looks of confusion on both Ash and Sycamore's face. "What's so bad about that?" Ash asked, not understanding why Sanpei was concerned. Looking at Ash intensely, Sanpei responded with something unheard of in the Ninja Village. "He wants you to meet with him in the room. That's what's bad," Sanpei answered.
Sycamore's eyebrows shot up, understanding what that meant. Ash, on the other hand, shrugged his shoulders and asked, "Again, no big deal, right?", looking around at two faces of concern. "No Ash, it is a big deal," Sanpei corrected. "I have a feeling that he wants to discuss the threat with you, which means that it's pretty important," he explained to Ash.
"But we already knew that!" Ash exclaimed. "That's exactly why I want to get stronger so that I can defend the people that I care about!" He was growing tired of everyone talking about the threat and describing the potential damage that it could cause, and wanted to do something to stop it. "If I can talk to your brother and train under him, then he can teach me how to stop this thing instead of just being scared of it!" Ash was practically yelling at this point, scaring both Sanpei and Sycamore.
It was silent in the room for a moment, as Ash had said what needed to be said. "Got it," Sanpei said blankly. "I'll talk to my brother," he said as he entered back into the room. Ash took a deep breath and sat down in one of the makeshift chairs. Putting his hands on his face, he contemplated what had just happened. Why did I just explode like that? He thought to himself, not understanding his actions.
Ash heard some footsteps and a small creak indicating that Sycamore had sat in a chair near him. "Wanna talk about it?" Sycamore asked plainly, not wanting to disturb Ash in any way. "I don't know," Ash said honestly. "One second I feel great, the next, not so great." He kept his hands in his face as he spoke, not wanting to face Sycamore after that explosion.
"I get it, Ash," Sycamore said. "Suddenly getting thrown into this position where you're nearly expected to save the world is pretty jarring." Ash removed his hands from his face and looked at Sycamore, attentively listening. "Yeah, I guess," Ash whispered to himself. I've been in situations like these before, so why does this one feel so harrowing? He thought to himself.
"But it's not just that, is it?" Sycamore added, sensing that something else was weighing Ash down. Ash stared at Sycamore and nodded, slightly taken aback that the Professor had noticed it. "Is it about someone?" Sycamore guessed. Ash paused for a moment and nodded, keeping his mouth shut.
Sycamore softly smiled, but decided to not speak, as he had a feeling that whatever Ash was dealing with was extremely personal. "Look, all I'm saying is that you aren't obligated to do this," Sycamore explained. "There are hundreds of trainers out there who would be more than willing to defend the planet if it's too much for you. There's probably enough people-"
"No. I'm doing it," Ash interrupted, shocking Sycamore. "I made a promise to a few people, and I can't go back on that promise," Ash elaborated, knowing that his interruption was odd. He felt a slight burst of happiness that felt like someone else's emotions, which confused him immensely. Just like back on Dragonite and entering the village, he thought to himself, wondering what these certain moments meant.
"I understand," Sycamore responded to Ash's insistence to protect against the Zygarde Core. "Just know that there are many people who are willing to help out and have your back." Ash nodded and smiled. "Got it. Thanks," he said, leaning back in the chair. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked behind him, only to see that Lucario had placed his hand. Lucario sent out a message via Aura, to which Ash simply responded with, "I know. Olympia told me about it."
"Olympia told you about what?" Sycamore questioned Ash, who looked over and said, "Just something that Lucario wanted to know," earning Sycamore's curiosity. The door leading to the chief's meditating room opened, revealing Sanpei with a reluctant look on his face. "I have no clue why," Sanpei said, referring to his brother's request to see Ash in the room. "But the chief would like to see you now."
Ash nodded and stood up, telling his Pokemon, "Stay here while I go in." As Ash walked towards the door, Sanpei put out his hand and shook his head. "He also wants those two," he said while nodding towards Greninja and Lucario, who looked at each other before walking towards Ash, who thanked Sanpei and entered the room that held Ippei, Sanpei's brother and the current chief of the Ninja Village.
Upon entering the room, Ash felt a dramatic shift in atmosphere and mood. Something about the room felt incredibly dreadful, but somehow a hint of hope was swirling around somewhere in the conglomerate of feelings. Ash took a whiff of the air, noticing many spices and herbs being burned, most likely as a way to achieve max concentration for meditating. He looked at the center of the dimly lit room and saw a figure sitting there, completely motionless.
Ash took a step forward and was startled by the figure suddenly saying, "Welcome, Ash. It certainly has been a while." The figure stood up and turned around, revealing himself to be Ippei. "Last time you visited this place, we were under attack," he explained. Ash nodded and walked forward a little bit, trying to get closer to Ippei.
"Are they here?" Ippei asked Ash, who raised his eyebrow in confusion. "They?" Ash repeated. "Who's they?" He asked Ippei, who looked behind him where Greninja and Lucario stood. "The peacekeepers," Ippei stated, referring to both Pokemon. "I'm glad to see you brought them with you."
Peacekeepers? Ash thought to himself. What is Ippei talking about? Ash was about to ask Ippei those questions when Ippei seemed to beat him to it. "I know you must be confused about what I'm saying," Ippei said, seeing the visible confusion on Ash's face. "So I'll explain right now," he added, sitting back down in the center of the room.
"All of you, come sit," Ippei stated, gesturing towards not only Ash but Lucario and Greninja as well. Ash's Pokemon both looked at him for permission, to which Ash smiled back at them and said, "We can trust him. Let's go." He walked over with both Lucario and Greninja and formed a small circle, surrounding a small candle that sat in the middle of the room.
"Grab hands," Ippei spoke, grabbing the hands of Lucario and Greninja, who sat on either side of him. Ash complied and also grabbed Lucario and Greninja's hands, feeling an essence of energy flowing through his body. "Woah," Ash said, feeling strange. "This is the life force of everyone in this circle," Ippei explained, seeing Ash experience the forces. "It will allow us to reveal their true nature," he added, closing his eyes as he said this.
"What am I supposed to-" Ash started saying, but being silenced as he was thrown into darkness unexplainably. "Don't worry, Ash. This is the vision of your two partners," A voice said, which Ash recognized was Ippei's. "My partners? Like Greninja and Lucario?" Ash tried thinking to himself as he said this, but found that his voice was projected into whatever darkness they were in. "Correct," Ippei simply answered, anticipating the accidental out loud thinking.
A silhouette of a dark light began forming against the darkness, one that Ash found familiar. "Is that Lucario?" Ash projected his voice, with Ippei responding with, "Yes." The closer Ash looked at Lucario, the more he noticed something odd about him. "How come he's mostly red?" Ash said, seeing that the color of Lucario's belt had spread throughout its entire body.
"That I am not sure of," Ippei answered honestly. "However, that engraving on its fur is a sign. To me at least." Ash looked at Lucario and saw what Ippei was talking about. To Ash, it looked like a Pyroar with a helmet on it. He was about to ask what it meant when a white silhouette began forming right next to Lucario's.
Ash looked at it and instantly recognized it. "It's Greninja," he said, slowly understanding why both of them needed to be in the room with him. "But he's in Ash-Greninja form?" Ash said, noticing the familiar streaks of red all over Greninja's body. "And there's extra red," Ippei noticed. "Which, again, I have no idea why," he added, much to Ash's disappointment.
"Look at the symbol on Greninja's skin," Ash said, noticing a Pyroar symbol on Greninja's tongue, this time in the female variant. "What do those symbols mean?" Ash asked. "I will explain after we do this," Ippei cryptically said. "Do wh-" Ash began, getting interrupted yet again as all four beings were brought out of the darkness and into the real world again, sitting on the floor in the meditating room.
Ash felt incredibly dizzy, almost to the point of throwing up. Ippei paid no attention, however, and continued explaining the meaning of that vision. "Those symbols were of our culture," Ippei explained. "The male Pyroar on Lucario represents honor and valiance, while the female one represents defense and care," he said, pointing to a pair of banners that sat to Ash's left on the wall containing both symbols.
Ash nodded but was still confused. "What does that have to do with Greninja and Lucario, though?" He asked. Ippei paused for a moment, almost contemplating whether or not to tell Ash the next part. "If anyone, person or Pokemon, wears those symbols, then that means they must sacrifice themselves for the greater good," Ippei reluctantly explained.
"In your case, the fight against Zygarde," Ippei added, avoiding Ash's glance. "Sacrifice?" Ash whispered. "As in...?" He began, earning a slight nod from Ippei. Ash looked over at Greninja and Lucario in disbelief. They'll have to sacrifice themselves? He thought to himself worriedly. "I can't let them do that!" Ash exclaimed.
Ippei shook his head, while Ash stood up out of anger. "No way! We'll just have to train extra hard!" He yelled, frightening Greninja and Lucario slightly, who were just absorbing what they were told. Ippei opened his mouth to speak, when the door to the room suddenly opened, revealing Sanpei, breathing heavily.
"We need help, now!" He exclaimed in between breaths. Ippei sat up and ran over to his brother in worry. "What's the matter?" He asked Sanpei, who looked his brother straight in the eye. "We're being attacked!" He exclaimed, before looking at Ash. "And the attacker looks just like you!"