Pokemon One-Shots and Headcanons

The Right Trainer 2.0

A Froakie and his trainer, a boy named Mark, were in the middle of an intense training session-which really just meant that Mark was yelling at Froakie while the bubble frog Pokemon completely ignored him. Froakie had no love for his trainer, who treated him as though he were a tool.
"Come on Froakie, just use Water Pulse!" Mark yelled angrily.
"Why should I? Even if I do as you say, you'll just find something wrong with me anyway," Froakie shot back. "I think I'll just go back to Professor Sycamore's lab after this."
"You're pathetic!" Mark shouted, yanking out three more Pokeballs. "Electivire, Charmeleon, Snivy, go!"
The remaining three Pokemon on Mark's team appeared in front of their trainer, all glaring at Froakie. Froakie stared them down, crouching in preparation for battle.
"Electivire, use Thunder! Charmeleon, Flamethrower! Snivy, use Vine Whip!" Mark commanded.
Froakie was able to dodge the Flamethrower, but didn't have the same luck with Vine Whip. The attack crashed down on his head and he lay on the ground, winded, as Electivire prepared a powerful-looking Thunder attack. He attempted to fire off a Water Pulse, but it barely even seemed to tickle the electric type. Froakie closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to hit, until-
"Hey! Leave him alone!"
Froakie's eyes snapped open in shock and everyone's heads turned towards the direction of the voice. A teenage boy with black hair and a red cap were coming towards them. The boy's Pikachu was glaring at Mark, his cheeks crackling threateningly.
"What's wrong with you?" the boy demanded. "Why are you attacking that Froakie three against one?"
"It's none of your business," Mark sneered.
"Well, I just made it my business," the other boy snapped back. Froakie couldn't help but smirk at his response. "You don't just attack other Pokemon three against one, and especially not one of your own!"
"I did it because he was being disrespectful," Mark spat. "I'm his trainer, I deserve his respect!"
"Yeah, right," Froakie scoffed.
"Respect is earned, not given," the raven-haired boy replied. "And you clearly haven't earned it."
He's still sticking up for me, Froakie thought in wonder. He had never met a trainer who would stand up for someone else's Pokemon if they didn't know the Pokemon well. This kid was really something else.
"The day anyone respects you is the day Magikarp fly," Pikachu added, still glaring at Mark. Froakie laughed a little at that.
"Enough of this!" Mark yelled. "Electivire, full power Thunder on Froakie!"
"NO!" the new boy and Pikachu shouted at the same time. Froakie watched, astonished, as the kid threw himself in between him and Electivire, taking a powerful Thunder attack for him. The others looked stunned as well.
"Ash! Are you okay?" Pikachu cried, running up to check on his trainer.
"Of course, buddy. A little electricity can't hurt me," the boy, who now had a name, replied confidently as he petted Pikachu's head. The little electric mouse rubbed his head happily against Ash's hand.
Standing up, Ash dusted himself off and turned to face Froakie. "Come on, I'll take you to the Pokemon Center," he said, picking up the injured blue frog Pokemon and taking off, leaving a shocked Mark behind them.

They arrived at the Pokemon Center about fifteen minutes later. Ash, still carrying Froakie, burst through the doors and ran up to Nurse Joy's desk, panting heavily from running for so long.
"Please...help...Froakie....trainer....attacked....him...." he gasped out, doubled over slightly as he tried to catch his breath. Nurse Joy looked up and gasped.
"Oh my! Here, let me take Froakie," she said kindly. Ash handed her the bubble frog Pokemon and managed a thank you before walking over to a couch and collapsing on top of it. Froakie watched him with a bit of concern as he was being carried away to the back of the Pokemon Center for treatment.
"Pika pika?" Pikachu asked in concern.
"I'm all right, buddy," Ash said, smiling reassuringly at his loyal partner. "I just hope Froakie is too."
Ash kicked his feet anxiously, wondering how long it would take to treat Froakie. He couldn't believe that anyone could treat their Pokemon so cruelly. The only trainers he'd ever seen bully a Pokemon of their own had been Paul and Damien-though Paul had changed for the better later. Damien, he wasn't so sure about since he hadn't seen him since he had taken his Charmander. He hoped that he had changed too, though.
A few minutes later, Nurse Joy finally came out of the hospital room. Froakie wasn't with her, so Ash assumed that he was still recovering. He jumped to his feet and ran up to her.
"How's Froakie?" he asked. "Is he all right?"
Nurse Joy smiled at him. "Froakie's going to be just fine, though I'm going to let him rest here for a bit," she replied. Ash let out a sigh of relief. "As a matter of fact, Professor Sycamore is on his way to check on Froakie now."
"Professor Sycamore?" the raven-haired boy repeated, puzzled.
As if on cue, a tall, dark-haired man and two children, a blond-haired boy about Ash's age and a younger girl who Ash assumed was the boy's sister, walked through the door. The man immediately walked up to Nurse Joy and asked in a concerned tone, "How's Froakie doing?"
"Just fine," Nurse Joy repeated patiently. "He's in back if you'd like to see him, Professor."
"Of course," Professor Sycamore agreed. "Lead the way, Nurse Joy."
"Would it be all right if I saw him too?" Ash asked hopefully.
"I think that would be more than fair," Professor Sycamore answered. "You did help save him after all, from what I've heard."
Ash grinned and followed the two adults into Froakie's hospital room, along with the boy and girl who had accompanied the professor. He turned to the boy and asked, "Hey, so what's your name?"
"I'm Clemont, and this is my little sister, Bonnie," the boy answered, gesturing to the young girl.
"Hi," Bonnie said cheerfully, waving at him.
"It's nice to meet you two. My name's Ash," Ash replied warmly. Just then, they arrived in Froakie's room. The little blue frog Pokemon looked up at Ash and seemed to smile when he saw him. "Hey, Froakie. Feeling better?"
"Fro!" Froakie said, giving him a thumbs up.
"Well, that's good to know," Ash said happily, relieved to see Froakie all right.
"So what happened, Ash?" Clemont asked curiously. "What was Professor Sycamore talking about when he said you saved Froakie?"
Ash rubbed the back of his neck. "It was really nothing..." he said modestly. Everyone looked at him incredulously and he sighed. "Well, Pikachu and I were on our way here to register for the Kalos league. On our way, we ran into Froakie as his trainer was attacking him with three of his other Pokemon."
"Fighting three against one's not fair!" Bonnie exclaimed indignantly.
"That's what I said too," Ash agreed. "He said that he was doing it because Froakie was being disrespectful, so after I told him that respect had to be earned, I took Froakie here, and...well, here we are."
Clemont and Bonnie looked amazed. Ash wondered for a moment why they were so in awe of the fact that he had helped a Pokemon in need. It wasn't that unusual, was it?
"Thank you, Ash," Professor Sycamore sighed. "Once Froakie has recovered, I'll take him back to my lab again."
"Again? What do you mean, again?" Ash asked in confusion.
"This isn't the first time Froakie's refused to listen to a trainer. I've had eight other trainers return Froakie simply because he kept running away or wouldn't listen to commands in battle," the professor explained. "I'm sure he acts that way for a reason, but I haven't figured out what that is."
Ash was a little surprised that Froakie had such a long history of disobeying his trainers, but felt sorry for the little blue frog Pokemon. He hoped that he found a trainer someday who would make him happy. If his other eight trainers were anything like Mark, it wasn't surprising that Froakie had refused to listen to them.
"Well, I'm sure he'll find a trainer he likes someday," he said confidently, smiling at the now-sleeping Froakie.
"I agree," Clemont spoke up. "After all, there's bound to be someone that Froakie wants to dedicate his life to."
"I'm sure you're right," Professor Sycamore agreed. "For now though, why don't we let Froakie here get some rest?"
They turned and walked out of the room, none of them noticing as Froakie opened his eyes and gazed after Ash.
"Froakie," he whispered.

An hour later, Froakie hopped out of the hospital room. Ash was sitting in the lobby with Clemont, Bonnie, and Professor Sycamore. Froakie immediately hopped over to Ash and jumped onto the shoulder that wasn't occupied by Pikachu.
"Hey, Froakie," Ash greeted him, laughing.
"Hi, Ash!" Froakie said happily. Professor Sycamore smiled at them.
"You know what? I think Froakie wants to go with you," he remarked. Ash looked startled.
"Really?" he asked in surprise.
"Yeah! And if you don't catch me now, I'll follow you around until you do," Froakie said seriously.
"You really want to come with us?" Pikachu asked.
"You bet!" the bubble frog Pokemon answered.
Ash looked from Froakie to Professor Sycamore and back to Froakie again before he smiled and pulled out a Pokeball. "Well, if you're sure, then in that case, go-"
Froakie jumped up and tapped the Pokeball before Ash could finish his sentence and allowed himself to be captured.
"I guess there's my answer, then," Ash chuckled.