The Unbreakable Bond: A Pokemon XYZ continuation (Amourshipping)

The Guardian's Staff (Part 1)

A few days after Winning the final tournament. Over at Ash. Professor Oak's Lab, Pallet Town.

"How's things looking?" Ash asked, looking at Gary. Gary was looking at some x-rays of Greninja's ribcage on a tablet.

"Greninja's recovering faster than expected." Gary responded. "We'll have him start some mild training in a few days."

"That's a relief." Ash said, looking at Greninja, who was sleeping on a bed.

Gary swiped the screen on his tablet, and pulled up images of Infernape from the final tiebreaker match. "You gotta admit, that's a pretty OP power Infernape has."

"Yeah." Ash replied.

"Clemont had deployed some instruments to take power level readings during the battle." Gary said. "He said there was a complete boost in stats all around. The boost would put Mega Evolution to shame, apparently."

"I realized there was something more to Infernape." Ash said. "That crystallization has an ability that creates this huge boost in power. It draws all of the power from within. No wonder there's such a harsh limit to how long that form can be maintained." He added. "I've named the ability: Power Within."

"An ability that draws a Pokémons power from within, and you named it 'Power Within'." Gary said, raising an eyebrow. "I'd complain, but knowing how you have names for your special forms where you literally just slap your name next to the Pokémons name--- This is a step in the right direction."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash asked. "Ash-Greninja is a perfectly fine name for Greninja's bonded form."

"Yeah, yeah--- Ash-Charizard, Ash-Hawlucha--- very original. Whatever you say, Ashy-boy." Gary said.

Ash stretched his muscles. "I'll come by later and train some." He said.

"Dude---" Gary spoke. "You just won the title of 'Greatest Pokemon Master in the world' just days ago." He added. "Don't you think that you need to take it easy with the training and stuff?"

"Nah. If I get cocky now, I won't be able to defend my title the next time." Ash said. "I'm pretty sure this was an easy win compared to what I'll have to face next time. The next time around, I'll have a real challenge. There'll be trainers that'll study all of my recorded battles under a microscope to find weaknesses, and figure out ways to exploit them. I need to keep on training, and come up with more and more strategies." He added. "If I'm able to surprise my opponent, that itself creates a huge advantage for me. Just like in the tiebreaker where I didn't even let Cynthia land a proper attack. She was too surprised to create a proper strategy on the spot to counter Infernape, which gave me the edge in battle I needed to secure a win."

Gary sighed. "Alright, Ash. You win this argument." He said, sweat-dropping. "I don't like telling others what to do--- I was just speaking for Dawn." He added.

"Speaking for Dawn?" Ash asked.

"She wanted me to make sure you don't end up ignoring Serena." Gary said.

"Oh, that's nice of her." Ash said. Suddenly, a lightbulb formed on his head. "By the way---" He said, looking at Gary with suspicion in his eyes. "You're awfully considerate, doing what Dawn asks you. What's the deal between you two guys?"

"Huh?!" Gary exclaimed, taking a step back. His cheeks turned red instantly. "There's nothing serious going on! It's just-- casual!"

Ash placed his hand on Gary's shoulder. "Wow, you sure suck at lying." He said. "Hmm, if you don't waste time now, it might be possible for our kids to get their starter Pokemon at the same time! Can you imagine that? They'd be rivals just like us back in the day!"