Pokemon One-Shots and Headcanons

A Battle for Love

It was a peaceful day in the Kalos region. Ash was helping Serena and Bonnie make flower crowns, while Clemont was busy making lunch. Hawlucha, Noivern, and Talonflame were having an aerial race. Sylveon was chatting happily with Pikachu, a few feet away from Greninja and Braixen, who were doing the same. Bunnelby was relaxing against a tree with Luxray. Pancham and Chespin were, as usual, arguing.
A few minutes later, however, their peaceful afternoon was interrupted. A girl came running into the clearing, chasing after a Gardevoir. She lunged forward to try to catch the runaway Pokemon, but ended up falling flat on her face.
"Oh my goodness! Are you all right?" Serena asked worriedly.
The girl winced slightly as she got up. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry about that. My Gardevoir just started going crazy and ran off in this direction so I had to chase after her."
"It's no problem," Ash said. "My name's Ash, by the way."
"I'm Serena," the honey-blond performer introduced herself.
"I'm Bonnie, and that's my big brother Clemont," Bonnie said, pointing to herself and Clemont.
"My name's Ivy. It's nice to meet all of you," the girl said, pushing her long, red hair out of her eyes.
"So Ivy, any idea why Gardevoir ran away?" Ash asked.
Ivy shook her head. "Not at all," she replied, scratching her head. "We were just walking when all of a sudden she freaked out and ran off. But I don't remember anything happening before that."
"Did something scare her, maybe?" Serena suggested.
"I don't think so. The forest was pretty quiet," Ivy answered. "I really don't know what happened."
Figuring out what was wrong with Gardevoir would have to wait, however. At that moment, the dual psychic and fairy-type decided to try to use Psychic on Greninja. Since Greninja was part dark-type, however, it had no effect. The frog-ninja Pokemon looked on in confusion as Braixen glared at Gardevoir.
"Uh, hello?" Greninja said awkwardly. "What do you want?"
"Don't you remember me?" Gardevoir asked, looking at Greninja with puppy eyes.
"Um...should I?" Greninja asked, backing away slightly. Gardevoir moved closer to him, which caused the frog-ninja Pokemon to back away even more.
By now, everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch the two Pokemon. Noivern, Hawlucha, and Talonflame had landed next to Braixen and were staring at Greninja and Gardevoir. Even Pancham and Chespin had stopped fighting.
"Uh, hey Ivy?" Ash said, staring at his loyal water-type. "Any idea why your Gardevoir seems to think she knows Greninja?"
At the sound of Ivy's name, Greninja's head snapped towards his trainer. His eyes widened as he looked from the red-haired girl and back to Gardevoir, realization and horror dawning in his expression.
"It's you," he groaned.
"You remember now, do you?" Gardevoir giggled.
Greninja looked extremely put off. "Unfortunately."
"Gardevoir?" Ivy interrupted. The bipedal fairy-type turned to her. "Is that who I think it is?"
Gardevoir nodded and smiled.
"What do you mean, Ivy? How do you know Greninja?" Ash asked.
"I used to own a Froakie, back when Gardevoir was still a Ralts," Ivy explained. "I only had Froakie for a couple weeks, but Gardevoir liked him a lot while he was on the team. I'm willing to bet that your Greninja used to be my Froakie."
Clemont nodded. "Greninja went through a lot of trainers before Ash, so it's entirely possible," he agreed.
"Yeah, let's worry about that later," Bonnie said, looking pointedly towards Greninja and Gardevoir. Greninja looked ready to use Water Shuriken on her, but Gardevoir wouldn't stop her advances.
"Butt out of it!" he shouted at her.
"Aw, come on, Greninja. We haven't seen each other in forever," Gardevoir said, winking at him. Braixen growled softly seeing this. "Don't you want to catch up?"
"NO!"
"Should we help him?" Noivern whispered.
"Nah, let him handle it. He seems to be doing fine anyway," Hawlucha whispered back.
"Aw, isn't that sweet?" Ivy squealed. "Gardevoir still really likes Greninja!"
Ash didn't think 'sweet' was the right word. His frog-ninja Pokemon was looking more and more agitated by the second, while Gardevoir was becoming increasingly persistent. If something wasn't done soon, Greninja would probably attack. One look at Braixen was enough to tell him that she would probably join him in attacking Gardevoir.
"Hey Ash, I have an idea," Ivy spoke up suddenly. "Why don't we have a battle? Me and Gardevoir against you and Greninja. If we win, Greninja comes with us."
"WHAT?" Ash shouted.
"You're kidding!" Serena exclaimed.
"Why would you suggest such a thing?" Bonnie yelled.
"I'll do it!" Greninja said determinedly, looking at Ash.
"Greninja, are you sure about this?" Ash asked. Greninja nodded and Ash turned back to Ivy. "All right, we accept your challenge!"
"Good," Ivy said, smirking. It was obvious that she was confident she would win.
Serena, Bonnie, and the rest of the Pokemon stepped off to the side to watch the battle. Clemont stood in between Ash and Ivy, both of whom had determined looks on their faces.
"The one on one battle between Ash and Ivy will now begin!" he announced.
Ivy decided to make the first move. "Gardevoir, use Moonblast!"
"Dodge it, Greninja!" Ash shouted.
Greninja leaped gracefully out of the way of the blast of lunar energy. He landed back beside Ash, a smirk on his face. Gardevoir looked a little frustrated, but remembered to grin at him.
"Now, Greninja! Water Shuriken!" Ash ordered.
"Take this!" Greninja yelled, hurling a Water Shuriken towards Gardevoir and knocking her back several feet. Before she could get up, he threw another one, this time hitting her in the head. She wasn't knocked out yet, but it was clear that she wasn't feeling well either.
"Gardevoir, get up! Use Psyshock!" Ivy cried desperately.
Gardevoir managed to launch a successful Psyshock attack towards Greninja, but to Ivy's shock the frog Pokemon was utterly unfazed. He simply stood there as the attack hit him but did no damage at all. When the smoke cleared, everyone started laughing.
"Ivy, Greninja's part dark-type. Your psychic-type moves won't work," Ash called over to his opponent, still chuckling. Ivy's face went red with embarrassment.
"Now Greninja, I'd say it's time we finish this off. Use Aerial Ace!" the raven-haired boy commanded.
Greninja's feet glowed silver as he sped towards Gardevoir, striking at her a few times before kicking her up into the air. She soared higher and higher before crashing hard onto the forest floor, unconscious.
"Gardevoir, no!" Ivy cried.
"Gardevoir is unable to battle. Greninja's the winner," Clemont announced, a smile on his face. "So the victory goes to Ash!"
"Yes! Great job, Greninja!" Ash cheered, high-fiving his frog Pokemon. Greninja grinned at him, looking extremely pleased-not to mention relieved.
"Yay!" Braixen cheered excitedly, utter adoration in her eyes as she looked at Greninja. Greninja half-glanced her way and blushed a little. Nothing was said about the exchange, but the smirks on everyone's faces was enough.
Ivy looked from the love-struck fox Pokemon to Greninja and sighed. As much as she wanted Gardevoir to be happy, she could see that it would be pointless to take Greninja back. Braixen clearly loved him and she sensed that he felt the same way about her. Besides, if his evolution was anything to go by, he probably liked having Ash as a trainer better anyway. In the end, she silently recalled Gardevoir to her Pokeball and left without saying a word.