Pokemon World Disaster

Cerulean City

Greninja had never flown on the back of a Charizard before. It was actually kind of fun, except with Charizard's wings beating against his legs every second it felt as though he would slip off at any moment. Ash and Pidgeot flew side by side with them, Lillie clinging on to Ash for dear life. The frog-ninja Pokemon wondered if there was something going on between Ash and Lillie, then decided against it. After all, they hadn't mentioned anything about being together.
"Hey Charizard, Pidgeot, start the descent," Ash said, thirty minutes into their flight. "We're almost at Cerulean City."
"All right, Ash," Charizard replied. Greninja tightened his grip slightly as the massive orange lizard Pokemon angled himself towards the ground and sped downwards.
"Hey! Not so fast!" he yelled.
To Greninja's relief, they landed safely on the ground a few seconds later. Ash, Lillie, and Pidgeot landed beside them, the raven-haired boy laughing a bit at the look on Greninja's face.
"Next time you can fly on Charizard," Greninja huffed.
"Sure, that's fine," Ash said, still grinning as he recalled Charizard and Pidgeot to their Pokeballs. "Come on, we have to get to the Cerulean gym."
"Why do we have to go there?" Lillie asked. Greninja was wondering the same thing.
"Misty, the Cerulean gym leader, is an old friend of mine. I think she'll be able to help out with whatever's going on," Ash explained. Well, that made sense. Gym leaders would certainly be helpful for the war...or whatever it was that was happening.
"Oh, okay. That makes sense," Lillie agreed.
"So what's this Misty girl like anyway, Ash?" Greninja asked, curious to know more about his trainer's former traveling companions.
"Well, like I said, she's a gym leader," Ash answered. "She specializes in water-type Pokemon and really, really hates bug-types. Thinks they're gross or whatever."
"Water-types, huh?" Greninja replied. This Misty girl sounds like a pretty cool person, he thought.
"She also carries around a giant hammer that she uses to hit anyone who annoys her," Pikachu added.
I take back what I just said.
"She has a bit of a temper, and followed me around for two years because I accidentally broke her bike," Ash continued. Greninja couldn't help laughing a bit at that, as did Ash and Lillie. "Bikes and I don't really get along."
"He's destroyed Misty's bike, May's bike, and Dawn's bike," Pikachu told him.
"Who are May and Dawn?" Greninja asked. Just how many girls had Ash traveled with?
"Oh, May Maple and Dawn Berlitz, we'll meet them later when we check the other regions," Ash explained. "They call May the Princess of Hoenn and Dawn's an aspiring top coordinator."
"Coordinating is like performing, but in an actual battle," Pikachu said. Greninja already knew that but didn't want to seem rude by saying so.
"Hawlucha would love coordinating, then," he remarked. The flashy forest champion always did like to show off.
Ash chuckled a bit. "Nah, Hawlucha's battling style is a little too rugged for coordinator battles," he said.
"I guess that's the same reason you're not a coordinator too, then," Greninja said jokingly.
About an hour later, they arrived at what appeared to be a circus tent. Greninja was surprised when Ash went inside and wondered if his trainer had temporarily lost it. Why were they going to a circus performance? They had to find Misty, or had Ash forgotten about that?
"What are we doing here?" Lillie asked in confusion.
That's the million-Pokedollar question, isn't it? the frog-ninja Pokemon thought as he followed Ash into the tent. Ash, however, ignored Lillie as he looked around for something.
"Misty!" he called. "Are you here?"
There was a muffled response from a back room, and a moment later a girl with short orange hair appeared. Her eyes lit up in surprise when she saw Ash and her face broke into a smile.
"Ash! Pikachu! It's so good to see you!" the girl exclaimed. "How's your training going?"
"Good, Misty," Ash replied. "Everyone, this is Misty Waterflower, the Cerulean gym leader. Misty, this is my friend Lillie from the Alola region. And that's Greninja-he was one of my partners in Kalos."
"Nice to meet you," Greninja said, waving. He silently prepared a Water Shuriken in case Misty decided to bring out her mallet.
"A Greninja? Never seen one of those before," Misty said, looking at him curiously. "He looks powerful."
"He's one of my best," Ash agreed.
"But you didn't come here to show me your new Pokemon," Misty continued. "So what brings you to Cerulean City, Ash?"
"Well, it's about the attacks that have been happening these past few months," Ash told her. "I'm assuming you've heard of them?"
"Of course, how could I not?" Misty replied. "The Pokemon Centers have never had more patients, and yet no one has ever seen who could be doing this."
Ash nodded. "Right. And it's not just happening here in Kanto," he said. "There have been mysterious attacks in Alola and Kalos too. The attacks in Alola started a little before the ones here, but I'm not sure how long the ones in Kalos have been going on."
"Four months," Greninja answered helpfully.
"All right, so they've been happening in Kalos for four months," Ash corrected himself. Misty looked surprised about something.
"Wait, did you just understand what Greninja said?" she asked in amazement.
"Yes, but there's no time to explain," Ash interrupted, which Greninja had to agree with. "The reason we came here is because we wanted to ask for your help to fight off whoever's been making these attacks."
Misty looked a little hesitant. "But if we can't see them, how can we fight back against them?"
"Well, we need to come up with a plan first," Ash admitted. "But we're working on it. So if you want to help out, go to Kalos and ask for the Lumiose gym leader, Clemont. He has a younger sister named Bonnie that's friends with Zygarde. He'll be able to help you find where my Pokemon are staying."
"Uh...okay," Misty agreed. "Who's Zygarde?"
"I'm sorry, Misty, there's really no time to explain," Ash apologized. "We have to go to the other regions to call my other friends."
Misty nodded, looking determined. "Okay! I'll be waiting in Kalos, Ash," she said firmly.
"Thanks, Misty," Ash said, smiling. "See you then."
Misty nodded again and walked out of the gym. Greninja was slightly relieved to see her off without having to face her mallet. She actually was a pretty nice girl, though. He could see why Ash had been friends with her.
"So where are we off to next, Ash?" Lillie asked.
"Well, first we need to stop at Pewter City to meet my friend Brock," Ash replied. "He's training to become a Pokemon doctor, although I haven't seen him for a while so he might be a real Pokemon doctor by now."
"Good idea. A Pokemon doctor could help us fix the injured Pokemon," Greninja agreed.
"He's also the former Pewter City gym leader, so he's a strong battler too," Ash continued. Well, that was a nice bonus.
Lillie smiled. "Well then, what are we standing around here for? Let's go!"