Pokemon World Disaster

Training

Everyone was training hard for the inevitable battle against the Shadow Beasts. Greninja couldn't ever remember spending more time training before, even when he and Ash had been preparing for the Kalos league. It seemed that every waking minute was spent on the battlefield in the back of the Pokemon Center, since that was as far outside as anyone felt safe going.
"Hey, Greninja. How's it going?" Ash asked, walking up to him.
"As well as can be expected, Ash. Just trying to be prepared for anything," Greninja replied.
Ash nodded. "Listen, I was thinking about who to bring into the Shadow Beasts' base. I know I'm going to take you and Pikachu for sure-if that's okay with you, that is," he said quickly.
"Of course, Ash. I'll go with you," the frog-ninja Pokemon said, surprised Ash even had to ask. There was no way he was going to be left out, especially if his trainer was going.
"All right," Ash said, smiling slightly at him before he continued, "But I haven't decided who else to bring yet. I thought about bringing Paul, but I think he'd be better protecting the Sinnoh region since he and Dawn know it better than any of us. Same goes for Misty in Kanto and Max and May in Hoenn. Iris, Georgia, Burgundy, and Cilan could all protect Unova, but I don't think we'll need all four of them there. I've decided that Cilan should cover Unova since he's a gym leader, and Georgia should probably go with him because Burgundy will just argue with everything he says and Iris and Georgia fight all the time. So that leaves Iris, Burgundy, Clemont, Bonnie, Lillie, and Serena here in Kalos. Should I just take all of them, or...."
"I'd suggest taking Clemont, Iris, and Burgundy," Greninja answered, purposely leaving Serena out. He knew that if Serena went, Delphox would go as well. The last thing he wanted was for Delphox to go anywhere near the Shadow Beasts. "Bonnie's too young to go, but she won't take kindly to being left out. Serena and Lillie can keep her company and protect our base. And don't forget, you could always call on Alain, Mairin, Tierno, Trevor, Shauna, or Sawyer."
Ash sighed a bit. "I was going to, but the problem is I have no idea where any of them are," he admitted. "Besides, I think we've got enough to form at least a decent resistance against the Shadow Beasts."
"That's true," Greninja admitted. "So have you decided on who you're taking yet-besides me and Pikachu, obviously?"
The raven-haired boy nodded. "It'll be Iris, Burgundy, and Clemont like you suggested," he replied, much to Greninja's relief. Now he wouldn't have to worry as much about Delphox. He wondered if Ash had decided to leave Serena out for the same reasons.
Greninja and Ash turned to watch their friends training. Cilan was ordering his Pansage to use Solar Beam on Iris' Excadrill. A few yards away, Delphox and Chestnaught were sparring. Pikachu and Hawlucha were training together, as were Talonflame and Noivern. Ash's Snivy and Oshawott were having a training battle of their own, though Oshawott seemed more interested in flirting with Snivy than anything.
"You know Greninja, I was wondering something," Ash spoke up again, startling Greninja slightly. "Do you remember a few days ago at our first meeting, when I said that our reason for fighting was to protect the Pokemon?"
"Of course. That was one of the only good speeches you've ever come up with," Greninja replied, only half-joking.
Ash chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I was just wondering...what's your reason for fighting?" he asked.
Greninja was surprised. "To protect the Pokemon, just like you said," he replied, but Ash shook his head.
"No. What's your reason?" the raven-haired trainer repeated, emphasizing the word "your". "We all want to protect the Pokemon. I want to know what your reason, and your reason alone is."
Greninja sighed and gave himself away by glancing over to where Delphox was now taking a drink of water. Ash followed his gaze and smiled in understanding.
"I thought so," he remarked. Greninja looked at him in shock. "Hey, don't look so surprised. I saw the way you looked at her."
The frog-ninja Pokemon laughed. "You're really not the same dense kid anymore, are you?" he asked.
Ash looked a tad embarrassed. "Yeah...to tell you the truth, I might have been faking the whole oblivious thing," he admitted.
Now that was a shock. Greninja stared at his trainer for several moments, trying to form a coherent response. Finally, he managed to croak out, "What? Why?"
"Oh, well see..." Ash trailed off, looking even more embarrassed now. "I just wasn't into a lot of the girls, but I didn't want to hurt their feelings...so I figured it would be better to pretend to be dense than tell them I didn't like them the same way."
"Aren't there any girls you like, though?" Greninja asked.
Ash fidgeted around for a minute. "Uh-well, I guess," he replied. "I mean-yeah. Yeah there is."
"Serena?" Greninja asked knowingly. Ash nodded and sighed. "I thought so. But why did you keep up the dense act around her too, then?"
"Well, I was planning on asking her out after the Kalos league, but it didn't really work out," Ash answered ruefully. "She was going to Hoenn, and I was going to Alola. I had no idea if we would even see each other again or if we would, how long it would be until we did."
Greninja had to admit that made sense. "But now that you'll be spending more time with her, what are you going to do?"
Ash sighed. "There's too much going on for us to be together right now. But maybe, when this is all over..."
They remained silent for a few minutes. Greninja could feel the waves of emotion rolling off his trainer. He could tell Ash loved Serena as much as he loved Delphox, but didn't know how to express it. But he would have to make his move; or else Serena might be taken by some other guy.
"Tell you what," Greninja suggested. "After this whole deal with the Shadow Beasts is over and done with, you tell Serena how you feel and I'll tell Delphox."
Ash looked a little apprehensive, but nodded. "All right, it's a deal," he agreed. "Now come on, let's get back to training. We've still got a lot of work to do."
Greninja chuckled and followed his trainer onto the battlefield. Someday soon they would both find their ways to the ones they loved. But until then, there was a certain evil organization that had to be taken down first.