1. Ash's Story (Part 7: Kalos)

Chapter 80: Sync Test

Route 19, Grande Vallée Way, should have felt familiar after the wetland rescue, but the road looked different when I was trying to force answers out of myself. Serena had finished the Master Class, Route 19 had given Noivern and Dragalge their evolution moments, and Snowbelle City waited ahead with my eighth Gym Badge. Still, every step I took felt pulled back toward Greninja's unfinished transformation.

I trained with Greninja near the river before dawn, telling myself we only needed a little more control. Pikachu watched from a rock, Sylveon stayed close to Serena, and Noivern circled overhead, but my focus stayed on Greninja. The more we pushed, the more I felt the edge of that water-covered form waiting somewhere inside the bond.

Greninja landed in front of me after another exchange, breathing hard. His sharp focus reached me clearly. "We are close, but close does not mean ready."

"I know," I said, though I did not really listen. "One more time."

Serena stepped closer, worry plain on her face. "Ash, you have been saying one more time for almost an hour."

"I just need to understand why I could not move against Alain," I said.

That was the truth I kept hiding behind training. I did not only want to master the form because it was strong. I wanted to know why my own body had failed while Greninja was still trying to fight. That helplessness had followed me since the last battle with Alain, and every time I remembered Greninja walking away in that nightmare, I felt the need to prove it would not happen again.

Squishy watched from Bonnie's pouch with its usual unimpressed eye. Its meaning reached me bluntly. "A human who ignores exhaustion is not training. He is damaging the tool he needs."

I heard it, but I kept going anyway.

The training had started with good intentions. I asked Greninja to repeat simple dodges while Pikachu varied the timing of his attacks, and Serena helped by watching whether my body moved before or after Greninja's reaction. At first, it felt useful. When Greninja leaned left, my shoulder twitched. When I expected him to jump, his legs answered the thought before I spoke. Those small links made the mystery feel like something we could map.

Then I pushed past the useful part.

I started asking Greninja to repeat the moments that had happened against Sawyer and Alain, even though neither of us knew how to call them safely. Water gathered once around his feet, then vanished. My heartbeat jumped with it, and instead of stopping, I took that as proof we were getting close. Serena's eyes narrowed because she knew the difference between determination and recklessness better than I wanted her to.

"Ash, this is not the same as practicing a move," Serena said. "You are trying to force a bond that already hurt you."

"That is why I need to understand it before the next real battle," I answered.

Greninja did not argue, but the look he gave me was not agreement. It was loyalty, and loyalty could become dangerous when I asked too much of it.

By the time we reached the Pokémon Center that night, my arms felt heavy and my head burned. Serena tried to make me eat more, and Clemont said something about overtraining symptoms, but I laughed it off because tomorrow was supposed to be another road day. I thought rest would solve it.

The next morning, I woke up weaker than before.

At first, I thought I was only tired. Then I stood, and the room tilted. I heard Bonnie calling for breakfast outside the room, Clemont talking about route timing, and Serena's voice asking Nurse Joy about supplies. I tried to walk toward her because hearing her made me feel safer, but my legs would not hold me.