Ash was busy training in the Rhyhorn field by Serena's house. The group had been staying there for a couple of days after the battle with Sawyer. Pancham had needed to stay at the Pokemon centre for a couple of days, but was expected to recover completely and none of the other Pokemon seemed to be hurt. Sawyer had left the next day, saying that he planned to visit Pomace Mountain and see Mable. He wanted to make sure that he and Sceptile could learn what Korrina had learned with her Lucario.
It had been a pretty good couple of days of training. Despite Greninja's moodiness, he was still working hard and Ash still planned to use him at the Snowbelle Gym, along with Talonflame and Noivern. Ash had even called Professor Oak one day and had him send Talonflame and his Glalie back for a day. His friends had been extremely excited meeting the new Pokemon and Glalie definitely enjoyed doing a bit of extra training with Ash. They had spent that whole day training by having Glalie create an ice field and shoot ice beam attacks at his Pokemon. Talonflame had been extremely effective at barrelling through them with flame charge. Noivern had struggled a bit due to his weakness to ice attacks, but he was working hard at focusing on his flying, so he could avoid them. Finally, Greninja had been the best of those training. When Ash had sent back Talonflame and had decided to use Houndoom a bit in the training sessions, Greninja had showed his frustration by using his new night slash to smash the ice field into pieces and then he'd used aerial ace to make quick work of Glalie.
Today, things had been a bit more relaxed and Ash had the group doing more conventional training. He had his Pokemon divided in pairs to spar with each other. Pikachu was with Hawlucha and the two were exchanging iron tail and karate chop attacks, Noivern and Pidgeot were having a fairly relaxed sky battle and Greninja and Houndoom were head to head in what was turning out to be a fierce battle.
Houndoom had just fired off a flamethrower and Greninja was trying to fight through it by using his sword from night slash. Greninja was holding up his sword of purple energy and the flames from Houndoom's attack were blasting against it and deflecting to the sides. Finally, Greninja was able to get through, but then Houndoom leaped forward and used crunch on the sword and shattered it. The horned dog then leaped into the air above Greninja and fired off a quick dark pulse. He had anticipated Greninja's movement and hit the frog-ninja Pokemon perfectly as he leaped up to dodge. Greninja was struck and slammed into the ground.
"Greninja, you ok?" Ash called out, running up to his Pokemon. Greninja struggled to his feet and then shoved Ash away when his trainer ran up to him, trying to help him up. "Hey, calm down." Ash said, a little angrily. "I'm just making sure you're alright."
"Greninja." Greninja spat, glaring at Ash. He then turned and charged at Houndoom. However, Greninja's latest rival was ready. He opened his jaws, jumped and then clamped down on Greninja's shoulder. He shook his head, shaking Greninja and then tossed him aside.
Ash ran up to Greninja again. "Come on Greninja, I think you're done for the day." He started to pull out Greninja's pokeball, but then Greninja suddenly swatted it away and stood up, glaring at Houndoom again. "Greninja, you're done!" Ash said firmly. He stood between Greninja and Houndoom. "No more." Greninja glared at Ash and then suddenly rushed forward and leaped over him and pulled out his blade of purple energy. He swung it down and slammed it down on Houndoom's horns. Houndoom hadn't expected the attack as he'd heard Ash call for the fighting to stop and had been watching the other pairs sparring. Ash turned and ran towards Greninja before he could strike again while Houndoom was down. "Stop!" Ash yelled, and he could hear the anger in his voice. Greninja was ignoring him though and prepared another strike. Ash leaped and slid in front of Houndoom and was struck hard by Greninja's upwards night slash. He felt searing pain along his stomach from where he'd been hit and he felt himself soaring through the air.
"Pidgaw!" Suddenly, Ash felt Pidgeot's feathers beneath him and looked down to see that his bird-Pokemon had caught him. With wide eyes, he realized he'd been launched pretty high by the attack.
"Thanks, Pidgeot." Ash said, as Pidgeot landed gracefully. All the other Pokemon seemed to have stopped sparring.
Pikachu leaped over to Ash and hopped on his shoulder. The electric mouse glared at Greninja, who still looked stubborn, but had a somewhat guilty expression. "Pi-pikachu!" He shouted.
Houndoom stepped in front of Ash and faced Greninja. He growled and bared his teeth. He was both mad at being attacked himself, and for Greninja hitting Ash. It wasn't long before Ash's other Pokemon seemed to be lining up against Greninja as well. Noivern and Pidgeot glared at him from the air, while Hawlucha hopped up on Houndoom's back and eyed Greninja with dark eyes.
"Don't worry about it guys." Ash said. He held up his hands and signalled for Pidgeot and Noivern to land. The two complied quickly. Hawlucha also leaped off of Houndoom's back and stood in front of Ash. Pikachu stayed on his shoulder and stopped his glare towards Greninja. Only Houndoom continued the stare down with Greninja.
"Ash, are you ok?" Ash turned and saw Serena, with Delphox and Sylveon, running up the hill towards him, concern in her eyes. "I saw Pidgeot catching you. What happened?" She stopped in front of the group of Pokemon and Ash could tell she could sense the tension.
"Nothing happened." Ash lied. He looked at Pidgeot. "I was...uh...testing Pidgeot's flying ability."
Serena rolled her eyes. "Don't lie." She watched Houndoom and Greninja as they continued to glare at each other. "Tell me what's going on here."
Ash sighed and decided to just tell her. He noticed Greninja look away from Houndoom and towards Delphox while he told the story. He felt bad seeing Delphox give Greninja her own glare. However, that seemed to be what was needed to ease the tension between his Pokemon so he supposed it was a good thing in the end. "It's not a big deal. I shouldn't have got between them anyways. They've got a pretty good rivalry." Ash finished.
Serena looked nervously at Greninja, who now had his head down. "I thought I noticed something was up after what happened with Sawyer and Sceptile."
Ash nodded. He had hoped he was the only one to notice, but he wasn't surprised Serena had seen. He knew there was no point in pretending anymore. He took a deep breath and walked over to Greninja and gently put a hand on his shoulder. "Greninja, I know you're frustrated, but you can't let your anger control you like this. I'm sorry I couldn't keep up the other day. I know you wanted to protect Delphox and the others."
Greninja looked Ash in the eyes and then turned and started walking away, down the hill towards the river. Ash heard Serena start walking towards him. "Ash?" She asked tentatively.
Ash held up his hand, signalling for her to stay back. "Don't worry." He turned and glanced at his Pokemon and then Serena. "Can you give these guys some food? I'm going to go and talk to Greninja." He nodded to Pikachu and the electric mouse jumped off his shoulder and joined the other Pokemon. Ash then turned back and started walking down the hill, following Greninja.
XXXXX
Serena didn't argue and walked back to the house with the Pokemon. She was worried about Ash and Greninja, but she knew Ash wanted to handle it on is own. Not to mention, she didn't think she could really help that much anyways. She didn't really know how to explain what was happening to Greninja.
When she got back to the house, she gave the Pokemon food and walked in. Her mom was in the living room, watching the news. She looked up when Serena entered. "Is Ash alright?" She asked.
Serena shrugged. "I don't know. He and Greninja are..."
Grace nodded. "From what you all told me, it sounds like Greninja and Ash weren't able to keep up that connection they had in that battle. Is Greninja frustrated by that?"
"I guess so." Serena said, sitting down. "I don't get it though. It doesn't make sense to me. Everyone gets tired out at some point."
"I think I have an idea of what happened." Serena and her mom turned to see Clemont walking into the room. He sat down and pulled out a device from his backpack. "I was measuring their energy levels during their battle the other day." He blushed and scratched his head nervously. "I...uh...I kind of attached a little chip to each of them after the incident at the showcase. I just wanted to be able to see what happens."
"That's kind of creepy, Clemont." Serena said, frowning.
Clemont looked down nervously. "Yeah...I know. Sorry." He shook his head and looked back up. "Anyways, that doesn't matter anymore. I think what I've found is pretty interesting. I went over the data and the results are incredible."
Serena leaned forward in interest. "What is it?"
Clemont looked pleased to have someone interested in his device. "Ash and Greninja are completely in sync, or at least they were during the latter part of the battle with Sawyer. Their pulse, their body temperature, everything. I think Ash's body just couldn't take the toll through the whole thing. Towards the end, the connection shattered. I don't think Ash broke it off on purpose, but his body had to do it."
Serena nodded. "Ok...that's all very interesting, but what does it have to do with Greninja being so angry?"
Clemont sighed. "Well...see when Ash and Greninja are connected, it's almost as if Greninja's energy doubles, because he is using Ash's energy as well. When Ash disconnected, Greninja immediately lost that boost of energy and so he was completely exhausted when Sceptile was about to attack."
Serena's eyes widened, realizing what this meant. "Oh I get it! When Froakie evolved into Frogadier, Ash said it was so he could protect Pikachu and Sanpei's Greninja. And when he evolved into Greninja, it was to protect Pikachu. This time, he wanted to protect Delphox, but he didn't have enough energy. It's just like Ash was saying."
Clemont nodded. "Exactly. Greninja so desperately wanted to protect Delphox and everyone else from Sceptile, but he lost his energy when his connection with Ash was broken. He blames Ash for not being able to protect everyone."
Grace shook her head. "How could he blame Ash? He can't expect Ash to be able to keep up with that, can he?"
Clemont shrugged. "I think he has come to expect that. When they first met, Ash leaped off of Prism Tower to save Pikachu. Not to mention all the other times Ash has saved people and Pokemon in front of Greninja. Greninja probably just thinks Ash didn't try hard enough."
Serena stood up, feeling angry. She wanted to set Greninja straight. "I'm gonna go find them. Greninja needs to understand." She turned and walked out of the room quickly, surprising Clemont and her mother.
When Serena got outside she quickly called to Delphox to follow her. Pikachu and Sylveon started to follow but Serena stopped them. "I think this is something Delphox and I need to do. Is that ok, you two?" Pikachu and Sylveon exchanged a look and then looked at Serena and nodded. "Thanks. We'll see you soon." Then, she and Delphox took off towards where Ash and Greninja had left.
XXXXX
As Ash followed Greninja, he felt a growing sense of dread. He knew where his Pokemon was leading him. They were clearly following the path towards the clearing where they had battled Sawyer. Something about going back there made Ash extremely uncomfortable.
The ground from where he and Sawyer had battled was quite roughed up. Dirt was everywhere and grass had been pulled up. The area around the river, from where Greninja had emerged after being thrown in, was quite muddy. Ash supposed that the big blast of water had totally soaked the dirt near the river. He remembered the battle and then what happened afterwards. He needed to talk to Greninja.
"Greninja..." Ash said. He didn't know how to continue. He wanted to talk to his Pokemon, but he had no idea what to say. Every time he thought of something to say, he couldn't find the words to explain it.
They stood in silence awhile longer. Greninja stared at Ash for a few moments, and then looked around the clearing. Ash could tell his Pokemon was remembering the battle with Sceptile, what happened after and also what had happened in today's training. He looked so angry, so sad, so regretful, for what he'd done and couldn't do. He looked at Ash, both anger and concern clear in his eyes. "Greninja?" He croaked.
Ash tried to smile encouragingly. "It's ok, Greninja." Finally, the words started to come to him. "It's my fault. I should have been able to understand how frustrated you were getting. I should have known what was happening. I should have tried harder."
Greninja shook his head. He didn't speak, but Ash felt his emotions and knew that Greninja didn't want his trainer to blame himself. Not anymore. Suddenly, Greninja turned away from and walked towards the river and stood in front of it. Ash followed and sat down behind his Pokemon, resting his arms on his knees.
"Greninja..."Greninja said slowly. He sounded so down, that Ash felt tears come to his eyes. Greninja clearly felt awful about what had happened. Then, Ash felt a wave of emotions and thoughts come from frog-ninja Pokemon.
He saw flashes of when Greninja as a Froakie. There was Ash, carrying him to Sycamore's lab. And again, on top of Prism Tower, leaping down to save Pikachu. Now, Froakie was evolving, desperately wanting to save Ash, Pikachu, Sanpei and Sanpei's Greninja. Then it was Frogadier, motivated by Ash to power through when he was fighting against Olympia's Meowstics. Finally, it was Frogadier, desperately trying to save Pikachu and evolving into Greninja, then once again changing form to even further increase his power. Becoming...Ash-Greninja.
Ash had no idea tears were falling down his face, but he looked up and locked eyes with Greninja, who looked down at his trainer. Suddenly, Ash knew. He knew how desperate Greninja had been to find someone he could bond with. Someone he could love. It was a love, not quite like Serena's, and only similar in the way that it meant he would do anything for Ash. He wanted Ash to be happy...and safe. It was a love that only Pikachu's and Serena's love for Ash could match. Ash and Greninja were truly bonded.
And this bond made Ash and Greninja a fierce duo. It was a bond that went far beyond mega evolution. It was totally different from what Sycamore had said. But how could Sycamore know? He'd been studying mega evolution, so of course he'd think it was connected. In a way it was. Ash and Greninja had managed to use mega evolution stones to bond before, but it was as Sycamore said at the time. It was a spark for what was a much more powerful bond. One that made them a single being.
Ash stared into Greninja's eyes. He could see fear in the frog-ninja Pokemon. He could feel it. The two of them knew their bond was strong, but they still didn't understand it. They thought they had begun to, but they couldn't control it. Whatever had happened to Greninja before, when his frustration had overcome him, he had snapped become overwhelmed.
Then it came to Ash. He realized exactly what it was. "You wanted to prove yourself to me. You thought I was starting to give up on you." Greninja looked sad and closed his eyes, unable to keep eye contact with his trainer. Ash rubbed his eyes. "Greninja, I won't give up on you. You know you're one of my best Pokemon. One of my best friends."
And then Greninja let Ash know what his deepest fears were. The reason for what he was about to do. Ash felt the wave of love and loyalty from Greninja. The desire for Ash to be happy. For his friends to be happy. For Delphox to be happy. His desire for those he loved to be safe. Safe from him.
Greninja turned, facing the river. Ash's eyes widened, knowing what his Pokemon was about to do. He scrambled to his feet and ran forward. He reached out his arm quickly, trying to grab Greninja, but it was too late. All he grabbed was water, as Greninja dropped into the river and didn't come up again. He was gone.
XXXXX
Serena and Delphox were quickly able to figure out where Ash and Greninja had gone. They had followed the river and since they didn't see them along the way, they realized that the two of them must have gone to the clearing where they'd battled with Sawyer.
It was a few minutes until they reached the clearing but they were eventually able to get there. However, when they emerged from the trees, the image they saw caused both Serena and Delphox to immediately stop in their tracks. Only Ash was there and Greninja was nowhere to be seen. Not only that, but Ash was crouched by the river and it looked like he was slumped over.
"Ash!" Serena yelled out. She was worried that Greninja had attacked him. She ran up to him, but then noticed he wasn't down like he'd been attacked. He was staring into the river, a blank expression in his face. He looked like he'd been crying. She knelt down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't respond so she gently shook him. "Ash, are you ok?" She asked.
He shook his head. "No..." His voice was weak. It was like he'd been tortured.
Serena turned and glanced at Delphox, who was nervously looking around. She then looked back at Ash, who still had his eyes on the river. "What happened?" She asked, although the absence of Greninja made her think she knew.
Ash sighed. "Greninja...left. He...didn't...want to hurt me...us. He thought he was a danger to us. He thought the way to protect us was by leaving."
Serena looked at the river and then back at Ash. "Clemont said he was mad that you couldn't keep up with the battle." She said, not wanting to make Ash feel worse, but still confused as to how Greninja's feelings had seemed to change.
Ash shrugged. "That was part of it. He wanted to protect everyone from Sceptile when he lost control, but somehow I couldn't keep up and our connection broke. He blamed me for that, but I think he still wanted to show that he could be stronger. That's why he's been so frustrated with Houndoom. He thought I got Houndoom just because he lost at the showcase and to Alain's Charizard. He's been mad because he feels like he can't protect his friends."
Serena didn't know how to answer that. It was depressing to hear. The frustration that Greninja must have been feeling. He must have blamed himself for Ash being hurt. He must have thought he let everyone down when he lost to Alain's Charizard. She realized that Greninja must have thought that Ash would begin relying on Houndoom, Pikachu and even Charizard and Infernape for protection instead. And since he kept losing to Houndoom in training sessions, he was becoming even more frustrated and it had resulted in him attacking Ash.
Ash continued when Serena's silence dragged on. "I always thought I could understand my Pokemon. I always thought that was what I was best at as a trainer. I screwed up with Greninja. I really screwed up. I made him think he wasn't good enough."
"Don't talk like that." Serena put her arm around Ash and pulled him closer to her. "You're the best trainer I've ever met. Look at all the strong Pokemon you have."
Ash shook his head. "No I'm not. Maybe I can train strong Pokemon, but that doesn't mean anything. Malva had strong Pokemon and look at what she is. If I make even one of my Pokemon feel the way Greninja did, I've failed."
Serena felt her eyes fill with tears. "Stop it, Ash. You know you don't mean any of that. You know you're Pokemon are happy. They love you."
"That doesn't matter. Apparently that's what caused Greninja pain. He did his best for me and I made him think that wasn't enough. I couldn't do my best for him." The bitterness in Ash's voice made Serena wince. She'd never heard him talk like this.
"Come on, Ash." She said. She tried to pull him up so he would stand, but he didn't move. "Ash, you're being stupid. Stop talking like you're a failure."
"Why should I stop talking like that?" He finally looked at her and his expression made her take a step back and let go of him. He looked angry, scared, tired and sad. "I've gotten nowhere with my dream. Maybe I've even taken steps back. Maybe I should give up."
"Give up?" Serena couldn't believe it. Ash...the one who had always told her to never do so, was saying he should give up. "Don't you remember what you told me all those years ago at the summer camp?"
Ash shook his head. "That doesn't matter."
Serena grabbed him by the shoulders, surprising both Ash and herself with the speed and strength of her movements. She stared him in the eyes. "Don't give up till it's over. Remember that? I know I do. Those words have been with me ever since then. Greninja's not gone forever. He will come back. I know it. I believe it. You have to believe it to."
"How is that going to help?" Ash said. "Believing in it isn't going to change anything."
"Of course it is!" Serena was surprised to hear herself yell.
Ash was almost glaring back at her. "How do you know that?"
"Because I never gave up on you. I believed I would see you again after being separated from you after that summer camp. I believed I'd find you again after I saw you saving Garchomp and Pikachu. I believe in you when you fight your gym battles. I believed you would wake up after the showcase. I believed I would get you back from Team Flare. I believed I'd finally be able to tell you I love you and that you'd feel the same way. Remember what Olympia said. You can't lose sight of what you want." Serena took a deep breath after saying all that. She could hardly believe that she'd just said all of that. Apparently, neither could Ash.
They were both silent after that for a few minutes. They continued to look each other in the eyes. Then, Ash smiled. It was a weak smile, but Serena could tell it was real. He nodded and then stood up, pulling her up with him. He reached out and held her face in his hands and pulled her towards him and kissed her. When he pulled back he smiled at her again. "Alright...I won't give up. I'll keep believing in Greninja. In all my Pokemon...and myself."
Serena nodded and smiled back. "Good."
Ash turned towards the river again and held Serena's hand. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Serena." He said.
Serena squeezed his hand comfortingly. "Don't think about that. No matter what happens, we'll always be together."