Pokemon World Disaster

Gathering Old Friends

The following morning, Greninja managed to sneak onto a plane headed for Kanto by pretending to belong to a young woman with brown hair. It wasn't difficult, as she had assumed he was lost and kindly offered to take him wherever he needed to go. He sat next to the window and looked out at the clouds, utterly fascinated by the view. The last time he'd been on a plane, he had been a little too preoccupied to admire the scenery.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" the woman, Mary, asked, seeing where he was looking.
"Yes, for sure," Greninja replied. Of course, she couldn't understand exactly what he was saying, but she smiled and nodded nonetheless.
"So why are you headed off to Kanto? And where's your trainer?" Mary asked, looking a bit concerned.
"I'm meeting some old friends in Kanto. And I don't know where my trainer is because I was released three years ago," the frog-ninja Pokemon answered. With any luck I'll run into him though, since he lives in Kanto, he added to himself.
"Well, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time," Mary said kindly.
Greninja sighed quietly, wishing that were true. He had always wanted to explore regions outside Kalos, but now that it was actually happening he wished more than anything that his life could go back to being as simple as it was when he was with Ash, before the trouble with Team Flare started, when their only worries had been mastering their special form and preparing for the Kalos league. Hell, even battling Team Flare again would be preferable to this, for at least they had been an opponent they could see and hear. With this new threat, they were always at a disadvantage. For all he knew, Mary could have been one of them and he never would have guessed it.
I wish Ash were here. He'd think of something, Greninja thought wistfully. He always did.
When the plane landed in Kanto, Greninja followed Mary into the boarding zone (or whatever it is they call the area where you sit and wait to board the plane). He hadn't brought any food with him and felt ready to collapse from hunger. As he was looking around for something to eat, he accidentally bumped into a gruff-looking man, causing him to spill his water all over himself.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" the man snapped.
"Sorry," Greninja muttered, rolling his eyes. In all honesty he knew it had been his fault, but the man's attitude kept him from feeling any sort of remorse.
Sighing, he decided to leave the airport and look for some berries in the wild. Maybe I'll have better luck that way, he thought hopefully. Waving goodbye to Mary, Greninja walked down a small path into a densely wooded area, where he found a small patch of berries.
These look good, the frog-ninja Pokemon thought. He took a small handful and started chewing. Hmm, not bad.
"Hey, are you new around here?" asked an unfamiliar feminine voice. "I don't think I've seen you around here before."
Startled, Greninja looked up and saw a Pidgeot flying above his head. "Yes, I'm new here. I'm from the Kalos region," he replied.
Pidgeot landed in front of him. "Kalos, huh?" she inquired. "Well, you look like a powerful opponent, and I like that. What do you say we have a battle? The stronger the opponent, the better the battle, don't you agree?"
"Oh-yes of course, but I'm afraid I'm on an important mission," Greninja said apologetically, a little startled at the same time too. Pidgeot's attitude about battling reminded him of Ash. "I have to find some of my old friends and bring them back to Kalos."
"Does this have anything to do with all the attacks that have been happening?" Pidgeot asked curiously, seeming to forget about her battle proposal.
Greninja was shocked. "You know about the attacks too?"
"Our Pokemon Centers have been filling up with injured Pokemon over the past three months," the large bird Pokemon explained. "Just yesterday three Squirtle were found by the river. They were all unconscious and one of them almost died."
"It's been like that for us too," Greninja confirmed.
"Which means that there must be other regions affected by it as well," Pidgeot concluded grimly, and Greninja had to agree with her. "All right, I'll come with you and help out if you'd like."
"Would you? That would be great," Greninja said, relieved. He hadn't been particularly fond of the thought of traveling all around Kanto by himself. "You know this region better than I do, so where should we go first?"
"Well, I was actually on my way to find my old trainer when I ran into you," Pidgeot answered. "I think he might be able to help us out."
"Your trainer?" Greninja asked curiously. "Who might that be?"
"His name is Ash-Ash Ketchum," Pidgeot told him.
"Wait, Ash?" Greninja exclaimed happily. Pidgeot looked at him in surprise.
"You know him too?" she asked. The ninja Pokemon nodded. "Awesome! So what are we waiting for, then? Let's go!"

Two hours later, Greninja and Pidgeot found themselves out of the forest again. They walked down the road towards a small town in the distance, an afternoon drizzle pouring down from the sky. Greninja could deal with the rain as he was a water-type, but Pidgeot was decidedly less pleased about the weather.
"I'll be glad when we can find some shelter," she grumbled. "I hate the rain."
"Let's get to that town. There should be a Pokemon Center there," Greninja consoled her. Pidgeot shrugged irritably but stopped complaining.
A few minutes later, Greninja stopped suddenly as his senses began tingling with excitement. There was a strange tugging feeling in his chest that hadn't been there for three years now-at least not actively. It had been lingering, just waiting around patiently, and now it was practically begging to be let out.
There was no doubt about it-Ash was nearby.
"Is something wrong, Greninja?" Pidgeot asked, looking back at the frog-ninja Pokemon.
"Ash is close by. I can feel him," Greninja said excitedly. Pidgeot looked confused.
"What do you mean, you can feel him?" she asked, perhaps a little jealous.
"No time to explain. Come on, let's go find him," Greninja replied shortly, bounding away quickly. Pidgeot took to the sky to catch up to him. Moving at full speed now, the two Pokemon arrived at the town in no time flat. Pausing to catch his breath, Greninja checked to see if the connection was still active. Yep, definitely.
"He has to be around here somewhere. Let's check around," the bipedal frog Pokemon suggested.
"Good idea. We should go to the Pokemon Center first," Pidgeot said. "Get out of the rain, dry off a little."
Greninja nodded in agreement and was about to go searching for a Pokemon Center when he heard a very, very familiar voice somewhere a few hundred yards east of where they were standing.
"So do you think lilies would look good in my hair?" a teenage girl's voice asked. This one Greninja didn't recognize, but he knew very well who the responder was.
"Lillie, frankly, plants hate you. And I should know. You drowned an entire garden because you told Primarina to use Hydro Pump on your mom's flowers," Ash replied. (note: I don't know much about Lillie, nor do I plan to watch Sun and Moon, so forgive me if I get her personality wrong). "Besides, aren't you allergic to lilies?"
"Yeah, that's true," Lillie sighed. "So are we almost at Professor Oak's lab?"
"Yep, we should be there in about five minutes," Ash told her. "Then we can get my Pokemon."
"Yeah, we'll get to see our friends again!" chirped another familiar voice-that of Ash's partner, Pikachu.
"And eventually figure out whatever's been going on," Lillie agreed.
Greninja immediately rushed off in the direction of the voices, Pidgeot flying close behind him. He found Ash standing with a blond-haired girl, his back turned towards him. Lillie, who was deeply engrossed in her conversation with Ash, hadn't noticed him either.
Heh heh...I've been waiting for this, Greninja thought happily. As stealthily as he could, he crept up behind his trainer before grabbing him with his tongue scarf and lifting him high into the air.
"Ash!" Lillie cried.
"What the-Greninja?" Ash exclaimed. Greninja managed to grin at him.
"Hello," he said in his native tongue.
"Hey," Ash called back, grinning as well. "Would you mind if I came down now?"
Greninja dropped his trainer gently down to the ground in front of him. Ash straightened up and dusted himself off, holding his hand out for a high five. The froglike Pokemon slapped his hand, resting his other arm on Ash's shoulders.
"It's good to see you again," Ash said happily.
"Hi, Greninja!" Pikachu said, waving.
"Wait, you know this Greninja?" Lillie asked, looking from Ash to Greninja in surprise.
"Yeah, he was one of my partners back in Kalos," Ash told her. Lillie's eyes lit up.
"Oh, now I remember! You told me he stayed behind to protect Kalos, right?" she asked. Ash and Greninja nodded.
"Ash, I'm here too," Pidgeot complained. At the sound of her voice, Ash's head snapped up.
"Pidgeot? You too?" he asked in shock. Pidgeot smiled at him and landed on Ash's other shoulder.
"And that's the Pidgeot that was protecting the Pidgey," Lillie guessed.
"Yep, but they're all big, strong Pidgeot now," Pidgeot told her. Greninja translated for Ash, who in turn told Lillie what she had said.
"Wow, I can't believe I'm meeting two of your strongest Pokemon!" Lillie said eagerly. Greninja was rather flattered that Ash considered him one of his strongest Pokemon, especially knowing that he was bound to have lots of powerful partners. "But...if Greninja was protecting Kalos and Pidgeot was protecting the Pidgey, what are they doing here now?"
"The attacks," Greninja said grimly. Ash's gaze darkened slightly.
"They're happening in Kalos too?" he asked.
"In Kalos and here in Kanto," Greninja answered. Ash nodded, looking unusually serious.
"Come on, let's go to Professor Oak's research lab," he said, turning and walking down the road. "Then we can talk about this some more."