Pokemon World Disaster

Catching Up

AN: I've been receiving a few comments on here telling me I don't have Ash's Alola team exactly right. Yes, I know the team isn't the same as in the anime, but you have to remember that at the time I wrote this story, I had no good way of watching any Japanese episodes of Pokemon, so I had to wait until the dubbed version came out, which wasn't until two months after I finished this story.

However, I will not completely be changing Ash's team for this story. I've added Torracat and Lycanroc, but I'll be keeping Alolan Ninetales and Marowak simply because I like them. 

Of course, things didn't go quite as planned. As they were flying to the Village of Dragons, a storm suddenly broke out. Charizard wouldn't be able to keep his tail flame lit in the rain, so the group sought shelter in a nearby Pokemon Center. At the moment, Greninja was watching Ash stare blankly out the window as they waited for the storm to pass. Slowly, he reached over and tapped his trainer on the shoulder, causing him to jump slightly.
"Oh, Greninja. Is something the matter?" Ash asked concernedly.
"Not really. I just wanted to talk to you," Greninja answered with a shrug. Ash blinked in surprise.
"What for?" he asked.
Greninja shrugged again. "We haven't seen each other in three years. I still don't know much of what you've been doing lately," he replied.
Ash stretched his arms over his head. "Honestly, pretty much the same as usual," he told him. "Training, getting attacked by Team Rocket, putting myself in mortal danger. The normal routine stuff."
Greninja stared at Ash, trying to see if he was joking or not. Ash, meanwhile, took one look at his expression and burst out laughing.
"I'm just kidding. I actually had to go to school in the Alola region for a year before I actually left to travel there for two years," the raven-haired boy chuckled humorously.
"That wasn't funny," the frog-ninja Pokemon huffed, slugging Ash on the shoulder. "So what's it like in Alola?"
"It's nice enough," Ash said, shrugging. "The Pokemon there are pretty cool. My first Alola Pokemon was a Rowlet."
"Where's Rowlet now?" Greninja asked. He didn't remember seeing a Rowlet at the lab, not that he'd have recognized it if he had.
"Actually, Rowlet is a Decidueye now," Ash said, a note of pride in his voice. "And she's with the others in Kalos right now, so you can meet her when we get there."
"What other Pokemon have you caught in Alola?" Greninja asked. He didn't know much about the Pokemon from Alola and was eager to hear more about them.
"Let's see..." Ash said, pausing for a moment to think. "I also caught a Lycanroc, an Alolan Ninetales, a Torracat, and an Alolan Marowak."
"Wait, what do you mean by an Alola Ninetales and all the others?" Greninja asked in confusion. "What's the difference between them and a Ninetales from, say, Kanto?"
Ash grinned. "Well in Alola, Pokemon from other regions have different forms," he explained. "They also have different abilities and are even different types than their counterparts. For example, an Alolan Ninetales is a snow and fairy-type whereas a normal Ninetails is a fire-type. An Alola Ninetales has the ability Snow Cloak."
"Wow, that's pretty cool," Greninja remarked in a poor attempt at making a pun. "Do you think I'd have an Alola form?"
Ash frowned a bit and studied him for a moment. "I don't think any of the starter Pokemon from other regions have Alola forms, actually," he replied. Greninja shrugged, not that disappointed. "That would be something to see though."
"Yeah, my Alola form would probably be a ghost-type or something," Greninja agreed.
"As long as you're not a ground-type," Pikachu interjected. Greninja chuckled a bit at that. Pikachu despised ground-type Pokemon, which made sense since they were immune to his electric attacks. Of course, it wouldn't have surprised him if Ash had a strategy for defeating ground-types with Pikachu.
"How was the Alola league?" he asked. "Was there an Alola league?"
Ash nodded. "There is and I was supposed to compete, but then these attacks started and I figured it would be better to try to help fight than participate in another league tournament," he answered. "There was also some trouble with Team Skull, but we took care of them."
"Who's Team Skull?" Greninja asked. They sounded like they were the Team Flare of the Alola region.
"Eh, just a group of bad guys from Alola," Ash replied dismissively, confirming Greninja's theory. "They're all in prison now, though."
Outside, the rain still showed no signs of letting up. Ash glanced out the window and sighed before turning back to Greninja.
"So what about you?" he asked cheerfully. "You've told me what everyone else has been up to, but I still haven't heard much about what you've been doing."
"Well, as you know I was helping Squishy and Z-2 get rid of those demon trees," Greninja reminded his trainer. "That took a bit longer than expected though, that weapon Team Flare used did more widespread damage than anyone realized. But we got rid of them all after about two years and had about another year of peace before all these attacks started."
"So what were you doing in between the year you finished your work in Kalos and the time the attacks started?" Ash inquired curiously. "How's Delphox been doing?"
"Why do you ask?" Greninja asked warily, knowing this couldn't be good for him. It was clear that Ash wasn't nearly as dense as he used to be so he was nervous as to why he would be asking about Delphox.
"You like her, don't you?" Ash asked with a half-smirk. Greninja felt his face heat up and immediately averted his eyes.
"W-what makes you think that?" he stammered nervously.
Ash chuckled. "Well for one, back at the Pokemon Center in Pewter City your voice went all weird when you said her name," he replied. "And your reaction just now was also a giveaway."
Greninja sighed and covered his face. "I liked you better when you were still dense," he mumbled. Ash laughed and patted him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry about it. Just tell her you like her," he said casually.
"No way!" Greninja exclaimed at once. "I can't do that!"
Ash sighed in surrender. "All right, you don't have to do it," he said.
"All right g-" Greninja started to say, then stopped as Ash jumped to his feet.
"I'll just give Serena a call and tell her to tell Delphox herself," he added.
Greninja stared at his trainer in horror as he ran off to the video phone.
"ASH!" he shouted. "DON'T YOU DARE!"