Pokemon World Disaster

The Battle Begins

Just as planned, Greninja and the others were awake and ready to go by five-thirty the following morning. After eating a quick breakfast consisting of a piece of toast and some jam, the group of people that would be breaking into the Shadow Beasts' base (most of the Pokemon that would be going as well were in their Pokeballs, with a few obvious exceptions) climbed onto Noivern and Charizard's backs.
"Are you ready, Ash?" Greninja asked, looking over at his trainer from his perch on Charizard.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Ash replied with a grin that seemed a bit forced.
"We're really doing this..." Clemont murmured.
"Seems a bit crazy if you ask me," Burgundy remarked.
"Get used to it. Crazy is the norm when you're with Ash," Iris replied. Greninja laughed as Ash scowled.
"All right, is everyone ready to go?" the raven-haired boy asked. There was a general murmur of assent from their companions. "Good, then Noivern, Charizard, let's get going."
Greninja tightened his grip on Charizard as the great orange dragonlike Pokemon took to the skies. Noivern flew beside Charizard, managing to keep pace with him despite having less flying experience. Iris, Greninja noticed, seemed especially interested in Noivern and was asking Ash about a million questions, none of which he answered.
"So Ash, how did you get Noivern anyway?" Iris asked for what felt like the hundredth time in a row.
"Hatched from an egg," Ash replied briefly, scanning the forest below for anything that seemed suspicious. "Now please, Iris. I need to concentrate."
"Oh-sorry," Iris said apologetically. Ash waved her off and continued to peer into the trees.
Greninja, who was also scanning the trees, looked over at Ash. "Do you see anything?" he asked.
Ash shook his head. "No, not yet. I guess we'd better try to-"
Suddenly, he broke off and went pale. Greninja tensed his muscles, ready to leap into action if Ash passed out. He didn't see anything that could have caused his trainer to react in such a way and was worried that he was having some sort of delayed reaction from being attacked by the Shadow Beasts.
"Ash, what's wrong? Are you all right?" Pikachu asked, apparently having noticed something was wrong as well.
"Ash, please. What's wrong?" Greninja asked worriedly. Ash just pointed ahead to a spot beyond Greninja's shoulder.
"They're here," was all he said.
Slightly fearful now, Greninja turned his head to see what Ash had been looking at. That's when he saw them. Two large, dark, shapeless masses were coming towards them, flying at shockingly high speeds. But as he watched in horror, the shadows (or whatever they were) seemed to change form. Soon, they resembled a Charizard and Noivern much like Ash's own, though they were still just shadows. As if that wasn't enough, they were joined almost immediately by at least five others, all of whom transformed to resemble a Pidgeot, Salamence, Dragonair, Unfezant, and a Butterfree.
There was no doubt about it. They had found the Shadow Beasts.
"....Great," Greninja said, grimacing. Well, now the battle was really about to begin.
"All right, here's the plan. We're going to fly in as close as we can get and then I want everyone to bring out their Pokemon," Ash ordered calmly.
"What about the ones coming towards us from the air?" Iris screamed.
"Noivern, use Supersonic," Ash said in response. Noivern opened his mouth and let out his most powerful Supersonic, forcing everyone to cover their ears. The Shadow Beasts stopped and roared in agony, giving them just enough time to make a quick descent. Once they were safely on the ground, Ash, Clemont, Burgundy, and Iris released the rest of their Pokemon.
"Are we finally here?" Sceptile asked.
"Don't sound so excited. This is serious," Infernape scolded the gecko Pokemon, much to Greninja's amusement.
"Hey! I'll have you know that I'm taking this seriously," Sceptile huffed.
"All right, Greninja, Pikachu, and Infernape, come with me," Ash said, interrupting his Pokemons' squabble. Greninja moved to stand by Ash, along with Infernape. "Sceptile, you work with Clemont. The rest of you....just do as your trainers say."
"Where are you going, Ash?" Clemont asked.
"We're going to try to get into the heart of the base. But we'll need you guys to keep a watch on the perimeter," Ash answered quickly.
"But-" Iris started to protest, but Ash cut her off.
"No time, Iris. We need to get going now before they have a chance to trap us," he said briefly. "Everyone know what the plan is? Good. Then let's do this."
Together, they charged into the forests into the direction they knew the Shadow Beasts were coming from. Almost immediately, they were met by a Shadow Beast that had taken on the appearance of a Mawile.
"Greninja, quick! Water Shuriken!" Ash yelled.
"Got it," Greninja said back, firing a shuriken towards the Shadow Mawile and knocking it over.
"Good job," Ash praised him quickly. "Now come on, let's see if we can find the base."
They kept running, picking up the pace a little as they did so. As they ran, Greninja and Infernape continued to fight off any oncoming Shadow Beasts with Water Shuriken and Flamethrower, with Pikachu throwing in the occasional Thunderbolt. Greninja could hear the other Pokemon behind them fighting as well. Finally, after about fifteen minutes they came to a strange-looking fortress in the middle of the forest.
"Looks like this is the place," Pikachu whispered nervously.
"It would appear so," Greninja agreed. Since it looks ugly enough to be the right place anyway, he added silently.
"Come on, let's get inside. I see the door," Ash whispered.
Greninja followed Ash, Pikachu, and Infernape towards a single brass door twenty yards away from them. Apparently Ash had improved his stealth over the three years they'd been apart, for they managed to get inside without any trouble-or perhaps that was because the other Shadow Beasts were too distracted by Clemont, Burgundy, and Iris to pay them much attention. Either way, they made it inside and were soon standing in a pitch-dark room.
"Great, so now what?" Greninja asked. He couldn't even see his own hands. How were they supposed to find their way around the base?
"Infernape, Flamethrower," Ash whispered softly.
Infernape nodded-or at least Greninja assumed he must have because he didn't say anything-and let out a jet of flames, illuminating the previously darkened room.
"Thanks, Infer-oh, shit," Ash swore. This time, Greninja didn't have to ask what was wrong.
Standing in front of them was the most terrifying Pokemon Greninja had ever seen. He had large wings with three spikes on each extending along the bottom edges. There were five claws on each wing, three of which curved inwards. His underside was bright red, while the rest of him was black with a few grayish patterns. Black horns extended from above his blue eyes and his small, birdlike legs contained powerful talons. He was looking straight at Greninja and his friends and there was a cold, cruel smirk playing on his lips.