Pokemon World Disaster

Final Preparations

Soon, the day of the heist had arrived. Paul, Dawn, Cilan, Georgia, May, Max, and Misty had all gone back to their respective home regions to deal with the damage there a week earlier. Based on the reports, everything was going smoothly, at least judging by the fact that no one had died.
Meanwhile in Kalos, Greninja and Ash were trying to decide which Pokemon should come with them. Greninja knew that he and Pikachu were a given, but he wasn't sure who else Ash would bring.
"How about Charizard and Hawlucha?" Greninja suggested. Charizard would be a powerful asset to their team and the frog-ninja Pokemon knew Hawlucha would be itching for a fight.
Ash frowned in consideration. "I like the sound of bringing Charizard, but I'm not sure about Hawlucha," he admitted. "Since it's so dangerous to be touched by a Shadow Beast, we'll want to bring Pokemon that have long-ranged attacks, but not only does Hawlucha prefer hand-to-hand combat, he doesn't know any long-range moves."
"I suppose that's true," Greninja agreed. "So do you have any other ideas?"
"Well, I was also thinking about bringing Sceptile and Infernape," the raven-haired boy answered thoughtfully. "Perhaps Buizel too; he and Infernape can use their Counter-Shield move. Snorlax can come as well, he's one of my most powerful Pokemon."
"How about Noivern?" Greninja asked. He knew the bat-dragon Pokemon wasn't particularly experienced in battling, but his Supersonic might be able to confuse the Shadow Beasts and give them a slight advantage. He decided to voice that thought. "His Supersonic would probably be a lot of help."
"I see your point," Ash agreed, nodding slowly. "All right, in that case we'll be taking you, Pikachu, Charizard, Sceptile, Infernape, Buizel, Snorlax, and Noivern-as well as whichever Pokemon Clemont, Iris, and Burgundy decide to bring."
Greninja couldn't think of any objections to that, so he and Ash went to tell the others the plan. Just as he'd expected, Hawlucha was less than pleased about being left out but accepted it when Ash told him the reason he wasn't coming. Of course, Ash made sure to word his sentences carefully when explaining everything to Hawlucha; telling the proud forest champion they were keeping him back for his safety wouldn't have gone over well.
"Don't worry, we'll be needing you to protect the Pokemon here at the Pokemon Center," Ash assured Hawlucha, who cheered up considerably after hearing that.
"All right, you can count on me," the hawklike Pokemon said, striking his signature pose. Greninja couldn't help but chuckle quietly at his friend.
"So who are you all planning to bring?" Ash asked the others.
"I'll be bringing Chestnaught, Diggersby, and Luxray," Clemont replied.
"I'm taking Dragonite, Haxorus, and Emolga," Iris added. Greninja wondered who Emolga was until he saw a little mouselike Pokemon floating in the air beside the dragon-type loving girl. Then he wondered why Iris only seemed to have two dragon-types if she wanted to become a dragon master.
"And I'll be bringing Dewott, Ursaring, and Sawsbuck," Burgundy finished.
Good choices, Greninja thought to himself. He had a sneaking suspicion the Shadow Beasts were part ghost-type if not entirely ghost-type, so normal-type Pokemon like Ursaring and Sawsbuck would be at a huge advantage given their immunity to ghost-type moves.
Bonnie was looking rather disgruntled. "I still think I should get to go with you," she grumbled. "Squishy and I could work together, you know."
Greninja had to admit that was a fair point, but he knew Ash and the others wouldn't change their mind. And even if Ash did say Bonnie could come, Clemont was still her brother, which gave him the final say anyway. There was no way he would allow her to come on such a dangerous mission.
"Bonnie, you and Squishy will be the first line of defense for the Pokemon Center. Hawlucha and the others will be needing all the help they can get," Ash reminded the young girl. Bonnie nodded in acceptance, albeit a little reluctantly.
"Come on Bonnie, don't forget that Lillie and I will be here too," Serena added. "We'll protect the Pokemon Center together."
"Okay, sounds good!" Bonnie said cheerfully, her disappointment vanishing on the spot. Then she turned to Clemont, worry clouding her eyes. "You'll come back, right?"
Clemont smiled reassuringly at his sister. "Of course I will, Bonnie. You can count on me," he promised.
"Just as long as we're not counting on one of his inventions," Ash whispered to Greninja, who snorted with silent laughter. Out loud, he said, "We'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning, so be ready. I suggest we all go to bed now so none of us oversleep."
"Much like you," Greninja said teasingly. He knew all about Ash breaking his alarm clock and oversleeping as a result the day he was supposed to choose his starter and getting stuck with a disobedient Pikachu. Though the two of them were the best of friends now, so all's well that ends well.
Ash just rolled his eyes at him. "All right, everyone go to bed now," he said with a trace of amusement in his voice. "Be up and ready to go by five-thirty tomorrow."
Slowly, everyone filtered out of the room until only Greninja and Delphox were left. Greninja hadn't been alone with Delphox in years-or at least not like this. For a moment, nothing was said between the two. Then Delphox spoke in a voice so soft Greninja had to strain to hear her, even with his ninja senses.
"Promise you'll come home safe too," she said quietly. She gazed at him with an odd look in her eyes. "I don't want something to happen to you."
"Nothing's going to happen to me, I promise," Greninja said solemnly.
The fire fox Pokemon nodded before speaking again, a slight tremor to her voice this time. "W-well, just in case anything does happen, I just wanted to say that I-I-"
"That you what?" Greninja asked curiously, his heart pounding in his chest. Was she going to say it? No, there was no way. Right?
Instead of finishing her sentence, however, Delphox startled Greninja by embracing him tightly. The frog-ninja Pokemon froze in shock for a moment before he hugged her back. Neither of them said a word as they tried to give each other a mutual sense of comfort, trying to alleviate the fear of what was to come in the morning.
"It'll be okay," Greninja promised quietly when they finally let go of each other.
Delphox nodded and left the room, casting one last look at Greninja before she left. Greninja, meanwhile, turned and walked over to the room he was sharing with Ash. When he entered, he found his trainer sitting on his bed gazing out the window, his eyes blank and his face completely devoid of expression. Not wanting to disturb him, he sat down on his own bed and watched Ash silently. Greninja knew that Ash was aware of his presence just as he was always aware of his, but neither of them said anything to the other. The moonlight was filtering into the room, casting a shadow on the dresser by Ash's bed. Ash's hair seemed to glow silver in the light, a stark contrast to its normal jet black. Greninja wondered what was going on through his trainer's mind. Was he worried about the mission as well? Was he frightened? What would he do if something went wrong?
Greninja knew the answer to the last question. If something went wrong, Ash wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice himself if necessary. That was just the way he was. It was the way he had always been.
And he whispered, inaudibly, "Look out for yourself tomorrow."