The Bond

Chapter Two: A New Pokémon

Ash, Bonnie, and Clemont arrived at Professor Sycamore's Pokémon Research Labs with an injured water type Pokémon in Ash's arms. They rushed inside and started calling out, saying, "Professor Sycamore? Professor, please help us! We have an injured Pokémon!"

A tall man with dark, somewhat curly hair and a lab coat on entered the room, saying, "What appears to be the problem?"

Ash said, "A trainer was abusing his Pokémon, so I stepped in to stop him. The trainer had his Luxio try to use thunder fang on me. That's when this Pokémon leaped from a tree and took the hit instead! Please, Professor, would you be willing to heal it?"

"It would be my pleasure, as this is one of the Pokémon that lives here at the lab."

"What?" Ash looked confused, he didn't know why such a Pokémon would live here.

"Oh! Oh! That's a Froakie! That's one of the three starter Pokémon you can get here in Kalos, right?" Bonnie excitedly shared her knowledge, glad to know something that someone else didn't. Hanging around her genius brother, that doesn't happen very often.

"A starter Pokémon, huh? Wow, that's pretty cool! I would love to have a Pokémon like Froakie." Ash seemed to get pumped at the idea of having a Froakie.

Professor Sycamore took Froakie from Ash and brought him into a room for Froakie to recover. After setting up all the necessary equipment, the professor returned to Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie who were standing outside.

"Is Froakie going to be okay, Professor Sycamore?" Bonnie had a worried look on her face.

"He should be fine, Froakie just needs a little while to rest. Why don't we go and see the other Pokémon that live in the lab? I can even tell you a story about Froakie if you want to hear it."

Clemont and Bonnie instantly agreed while Ash continued to stare at Froakie, holding a fist in his classic confident position and wondering what he was feeling. It felt like he and Froakie were meant to be partners, that someone had torn him away from who he was supposed to be. When Ash heard Bonnie calling his name, he returned to himself, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "I'm sorry, what was that Bonnie?"

Pouting at Ash for ignoring her, Bonnie restated what she had just said. "We're going outside to see the other Pokémon, and Professor Sycamore is going to tell us about Froakie. Wanna come?"

Ash nodded his head and followed his friends out of the door with Professor Sycamore. The professor was watching Ash and saw how he had reacted to Froakie. Making a decision, the professor nodded his head and followed the kids out the door. As he walked out, Professor Sycamore could hear the gasps of amazement that came from Bonnie and Clemont, as Ash was too astonished to say anything. There was a beautiful garden in the other part of the lab, with a pond for the water Pokémon, a nice field for all the Pokémon to play in, and a heated area for the fire types. Marveling at the sight before him, Ash ran out to play with the Pokémon to receive a warm welcome. Among all the Pokémon were Froakies, Fennekins, Chespins, Bidoof, and several other species. What really caught Ash's eye was a Garchomp standing in the midst of all the others, keeping a watchful eye on them. Ash walked up to Garchomp and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you Garchomp, I'm Ash!" Professor Sycamore, who was watching Bonnie play with all the other Pokémon, looked and saw Ash holding his hand out to Garchomp. Worried, the professor tried to warn Ash that Garchomp wasn't friendly with new trainers, but watched in awe as Garchomp simply placed his claw in Ash's hand, imitating a handshake. He continued to watch Ash as he made acquaintances with all the other Pokémon and thought, 'That boy is special. There is a connection between him and Pokémon, and that proves that he is the right choice.' Then Ash turned around and walked back to Professor Sycamore, saying, "Professor, weren't you going to tell us a little bit about Froakie?"