The return of a legend

The plan unfolds

The sound of dripping water is what first brings Ash back around, heavy eyes slowly pulling open. He's met with a solid stone floor which was rough against his knees, as well as a smoother rock against his back. It's damp, has soaked through his shirt and is cold against his back. His shoulders, now that he's focusing, are aching. They're pulled around the smooth rock, held back by some sort of cuffs that are latched into the rock itself. He's trying to remember the name of it, but his brain is coming to him slowly. Maybe...a stalactite? No, not that one. The other one. A stalagmite. He seemed to be alone as well, but he could distantly hear voices bickering somewhere else in the cave.

Ash is having trouble remembering what exactly happened. He remembers being told to stay at home, but he ignored that. Whatever was drawing him to the Center had been stronger that day than before, and he'd made his way there. But, he didn't go in. Akae. Akae had pulled him to the side, said there was a problem. A problem that Nurse Joy couldn't fix apparently, because she was with someone, but something that Ash was supposed to help with. Because his Thievul was down with something. It had all been a trick, though, because Thievul had been fine, and Ash had been attacked with Sleep Powder. And now he was alone.

Normally, sleep powder wouldn't be a problem. Ash had developed strategies for all of his Pokèmon to avoid or counter sleep powder. But that was the issue right there: Ash didn't have any of his Pokèmon. They were all with Kukui, either still at the school or home now to discover that he wasn't there. He needed to try to get out, before he was gone much longer.

Ash tried to pull on the bindings, tried to see if they would give way to any struggling, but with no luck. Whatever they were, they were strong, and the connection to the stalagmite is strong. Greninja is still silent, and Ash can only feel a faint presence at the end of their bond. He'll either have to wait for someone, or he'll have to find another way out.

Footsteps make their way over to where Ash is held, a set of feet and a set of paws. Ash doesn't have to look up to know exactly who it was. "You know, I know you're awake. Sleep powder only works so long." Akae called, and Ash can hear the smugness in his voice.

"Well, with a face like yours, I want to go back to sleep. I've seen Garbodor with looks better than you." Ash scoffed.

"Oh, feisty. We always were told you had a big mouth. Guess you're just living up to your reputation."

"Yeah, yeah. You know everything about me, and I don't know you. What do you want from me? I've been through this song and dance enough times to know you want something."

"Well, you are close. I do want something, and you're going to help me get it. I want your Greninja. I want the Bond."

"Well, Lysandre 2.0, you're barking up the wrong tree. I don't have Greninja with me, and I'm not going to help you find it. Besides, for the Bond to work you need both of us cooperation. I'm not going to help you."

Akae chuckled, leaning against the wall. "See, you've got it all wrong. I don't think you're going to help me, I know you will. You are correct, I need both you and Greninja to make the Bond work. But Greninja lives and breaths to protect you. They're very territorial when it comes to their trainers you know, willing to lay their lives down within a second if they think it'll save them. After all, yours swam across the ocean to find you. It's been trying to leave, to come to you, and that's been its downfall."

"Did your research? I'm afraid I'm all out of diplomas to give, unfortunately. You'll have to the see the Principal at the school of douchebags for that."

"You're right, I did do my research. See, I happen to know a lot about you, Ash. You've had Pallet Town in Kanto as your permanent residence for your whole life, and your mother has been there as well. But she didn't always live there, did she? Azalea Town can be very judgmental to young mothers, and Pallet Town is so small that nobody thinks to look there. Your dad left when you were only five, chasing a fool's dream to become a champion before you were old enough to begin your adventure. But he failed, and we was too damn embarrassed to try to come back. You still blame yourself for losing the Kalos League, because you had something that nobody else had and you had an advantage, but you still lost to a cheater's Charizard. You can't stop going to the Pokèmon Center because that's your Greninja there, not strong enough to reach out through the bond with words but strong enough to disrupt your daily life. And now you're here. I imagine they've discovered your disappearance by now. It has been a couple of hours."

"This isn't going to work."

"We'll see. You may be thinking that you can protect Greninja by warning it. Letting it know our plan. But you won't be able to. Like you said, we've done our research. Besides the cuffs, we were generous enough to give you a new piece of jewelry. There's a bracelet on your arm that's blocking you off from Greninja. Not fully, as I'm sure you're aware. But enough. Now that you're awake, Greninja will be able to find your signature, your aura. You won't be able to form that wonderfully powerful Pokèmon I want. We still need to draw it in. You're familiar with electricity, right? After all, I've seen you get zapped enough by Pikachu just in the few months we've been trailing you." 

"But why? Why us, why now? What can we offer you that you can't get from something else?"

Akae knelt down in front of Ash. "Well, that's simple. Power. Power unlike anything else the world has ever seen. Lysandre was right about you two being a powerful weapon, but his method of obtaining you was crude at best. The Battle Bonds requires emotion, fighting spirits working together. The hypnosis wouldn't allow for that. You're going to work with me because you don't have a choice. I know too much about you, and what you love. You'll come to learn that I have no limits, Ash. I do what I want to and when I need something done, I get it done." 

"Are you just going to keep hitting me with sleep powder?"

"Not quite. Watching someone involves watching those around them as well. Lana's sisters are quite adorable, huh? Able to win over heart with nothing more than an identical smile. And Sophocles, his parents want him to succeed so much. They've invested so much in him already. Kiawe works on the farm, desperate to get enough chores done so he can get to school on time and be able to hang out with his friends afterwards. If you want to keep them safe, you will do what I say."

Ash scoffed. "The only reason you have me here at all is because my Pokèmon weren't with me. My friends can all take care of themselves, and my team won't let you hurt them."

"And what about dear Lillie? Poor thing, she's been so sheltered she has little experience in battling. How is she supposed to stand up against some like me, who's been battling for a very long time?"

"None of them will be alone. That's the thing about crimes like kidnapping: it puts everyone on alert. None of the others will go anywhere by themselves, especially since they were close to me. I won't do anything you say, no matter what you threaten me with. They wouldn't give up on me, so there's no way I'm giving up on them."

Akae sighed, standing up and walking back towards Thievul. "Well, I should say I'm disappointed, but I'm really not. Well, it's late enough. Time to give Greninja some motivation." He pulled a remote out of his pocket, pressing a button. 

In an instant, every nerve in Ash's body lit on fire. His ability to breath disappeared, as well as his awareness of his surroundings. It was worse than anything Ash had felt before, worse that anything Pikachu had ever shocked him with.  He can distinctly feel his body thrashing, his muscles contracting and seizing in an attempt to escape. 

The sensation finally died off, a soft beeping coming from the bracelet. Akae sighed. "Only five seconds. We'll have to work on its capacity for stored electricity. Well, all we can do now is wait. If it takes too long, I'll have to do it again. Better rest up." He and Thievul walked away, leaving Ash alone by himself. 

Ash couldn't let this happen. Surely there was something he could do. Akae had been watching him for a while, had studied him and what he would do, but Ash also had a reputation for being unpredictable. And stubborn, he's been told. As long as there was breath in his lungs, he was going to do whatever it took to make sure this plan didn't work.

Greninja had been following the trail deep through the forest when he felt it: a prick in the back of his neck and a shiver down his body that told him something was happening to Ash. He'd been following the Thievul tracks for the better part of an hour. His heart started racing, his mind jumping to all the possibilities of what could be happening. Ash was hurting. They were hurting him, and Greninja wasn't there to stop them. He stood still, reaching out as far into the Bond as he could. He could ever so faintly feel Ash, but it was muddled. Blocked. Something was blocking them off, trying to hide Ash from Greninja. But it wasn't enough to keep them apart, just enough to make it hard. Down south, he could sense a tiny hint of Ash. Greninja was going to find Ash, and nothing was going to keep them apart ever again.