Faithful Friends Are Hard To Find

Izzyaro

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Game Freak, and Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori. I own nothing.

Jamie watched the three ex-members of Team Flare collapse in a heap and sighed.

"Do we have to battle everyone we come across?"

Bonnie frowned at him. "They were trying to steal people's Pokémon," she pointed out. "We couldn't let them get away with that." Her bag rustled, and she patted it soothingly. "Besides, Squishy doesn't like Team Flare."

Jamie sighed again. He had been introduced to Squishy when he and Bonnie started travelling together, nearly a month ago, but he'd never seen the frankly weird Pokémon do anything other than sit in Bonnie's bag or sunbathe. His friend had never used him in battle, preferring Dedenne and Tyrantrum, along with her newly captured Sableye, and so he had no idea why Bonnie insisted he was for emergencies only, let alone why Squishy was so compliant with the idea.

Or why he apparently hated Team Flare. Yeah, they had tried to destroy Kalos, but that much hatred seemed kind of extreme for a Pokémon which never even battled.

Maybe he picked it up from his trainer. There was no trace of Bonnie's usual good nature as she glared at the criminals.

"You called Officer Jenny, right?"

Jamie nodded. Quilladin and Fletchinder had helped out during the fight, but they hadn't really had much to do. With Tyrantrum occupying most of the attention, and Dedenne and Sableye finishing off any he missed, Jamie had decided it was better to just stay out of the way and make a start on clearing up the mess. "She should be here any minute."

"Thanks." She patted Tyrantrum and Sableye and returned them, and Dedenne scampered up to sit on top of her head again. "We'll be able to get going soon, then."

One of the Team Flare members glared at her. "Who the hell are you? And how did you do that?"

"Don't bother," Jamie advised him. "I've been travelling with her for weeks and she won't tell me."

Bonnie's cheeks tinged pink. "Only 'cause there's nothing much to tell," she protested. "I just learned a lot when I was travelling with my brother and our friends."

The Team Flare member scowled and subsided. Another seemed to content to ignore them, but the last one frowned at them. "I swear I've seen you before," she said slowly. "You were younger then, but…"

Jamie blinked, but whatever she was about to say was drowned out in the screech of sirens as Officer Jenny finally arrived. She looked from Bonnie to the thieves and shook her head. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Hi, Officer Jenny," said Bonnie cheerfully. "They tried to steal our Pokémon, so we stopped them."

Officer Jenny shook her head and handed them each a tablet. "You know the drill."

By the time they had recorded their statements and the thieves had been loaded into the van and taken away, Dedenne was fast asleep in Bonnie's bag, and Jamie was more than ready to get moving. Cyllage City was still a fair way off, and he really wanted to get his next badge. Bonnie, however, was peering into the trees.

"What do you think, Squishy?" she said softly.

The little green Pokémon tilted his head to one side and nodded. Bonnie smiled. "Ha! I knew it!"

"Knew what?" Jamie asked warily. With Bonnie it could be anything from a new Pokémon to a plot to bring down the government. Bonnie just smiled and took a couple of steps into the trees.

"I know you're there," she called. "You might as well come out and say hello."

Jamie blinked, and moved to stand next to her. "Who are you talking to?" he asked. The forest seemed deserted, and there was no sign of movement anywhere.

Then something tapped him on the shoulder and he spun round so fast he fell over. "What the hell?"

He scrambled back, and looked up in time to see Bonnie fold her arms. "That was mean," she said reproachfully.

Jamie twisted round and his jaw dropped.

Greninja dipped his head in acknowledgement, and held out a webbed hand. Tentatively Jamie took it and the Water-type hauled him upright before tilting his head to one side. Jamie swallowed. "Um, thanks."

Greninja nodded and looked at Bonnie, who beamed. "That's better." Then she laughed and threw herself into Greninja's arms. "I missed you, Greninja!"

Jamie knew he probably shouldn't have been surprised. Bonnie knew a Tyrantrum and what seemed like half the Gym leaders of Kalos, a Greninja really wasn't that much of a stretch. What was more surprising was just how happy the Greninja was to see Bonnie; it was hugging back hard enough that Bonnie was lifted right off her feet. Dedenne hopped onto the Water-type's head with a flurry of happy squeaking, and even Squishy poked his head out to say hello.

There was something about the Greninja that Jamie couldn't put his finger on though. He had never seen one in person before, but somehow it looked familiar.

Before he could figure it out though, Greninja set Bonnie gently down and the two of them turned to Jamie.

"Jamie, this is Greninja," said Bonnie happily. "Greninja, Jamie and I have been travelling together."

"It's nice to meet you," said Jamie tentatively.

Greninja tilted its head to one side, and Bonnie nodded. "Yeah, he's doing the Gym challenge too. Oh, and guess what? I beat Korrina!"

Jamie smiled at the memory. Korrina had been delighted to see Bonnie again, and the two of them had launched into a rapid fire conversation about people and Pokémon that Jamie had barely followed before getting down to the battle. As it had been Bonnie's first battle the Gym leader had used only her lowest level Pokémon, but Bonnie had still defeated her Machoke and Heracross with the same skill she had shown against Jamie. Jamie himself had had a much harder time against Mienfoo and Hawlucha, and Mega Lucario had been too much for his already tired Pokémon, but he had learned a lot and Korrina had promised him a rematch whenever he was ready.

Greninja looked as pleased as Bonnie did, and patted her approvingly on the head. Bonnie laughed.

"Yeah, Korrina remembered you too."

"So you were travelling together," said Jamie. He'd suspected, but it was nice to have it confirmed.

Greninja glanced at Bonnie, and she shook her head quickly before smiling at Jamie. "Yeah. He was one of my friend's Pokémon."

"'Ninja," said Greninja softly.

Bonnie's face softened, and she patted his arm. "We kept in touch with Ash," she said. "He's doing well. He always asks if we've seen you."

Greninja nodded, but Jamie's jaw dropped. All the clues he had picked up, from Bonnie's experience with danger to her history with Squishy and Team Flare, to why that Greninja looked so familiar, combined with the mention of one the heroes of Kalos all came together in one blinding moment.

"W-wait," he stuttered. "Ash? As in…Ash Ketchum?"

Bonnie froze. Dedenne face-palmed. Greninja looked amused. Jamie just stared. "That's where I knew you from! I mean, you were younger, and you were always a bit behind your brother and that other girl at the press stuff, but I remember you and the Dedenne, and I knew I'd seen that Greninja before, he was the one with the weird Bond thing at the Kalos Conference final and then I was watching on TV when you all helped stop that monolith and you were the one with Zygarde and holy shit is that what-"

"Um, you should probably breathe," said Bonnie cautiously.

She had a point, and Jamie sucked in a huge gulp of air. It also gave him the chance to catch up with what he was saying, and his stomach twisted uncomfortably. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Bonnie shuffled her feet. "I guess I just didn't want it to be a big deal," she mumbled. "I want to be a trainer on my own journey, not Clemont's little sister, or Ash and Serena's friend." Greninja nudged her slightly and Dedenne nuzzled into her cheek, and Jamie felt any anger drain away.

"I can understand that," he said slowly. "It explains a lot though, like how good you are at battling."

Bonnie looked up and gave a shy smile. "I learned a lot from my brother, and a lot from travelling with Ash too. He was amazing."

Jamie nodded. Everyone had heard of Ash Ketchum. If the young man didn't become a Champion within a year at most Jamie would eat his hat. Bonnie smiled. "He told me we would have a battle one day, so we've been working really hard. And I want to face Serena in a Showcase, so we've done a bit of that, but I'm better at battling."

"I've noticed," said Jamie dryly. He glanced at Greninja. "Korrina was really impressed."

"I can't wait to face Grant," said Bonnie happily. "I might need to catch more Pokémon first though. He's got an Onix and a Tyrunt and they're really strong."

Jamie nodded thoughtfully as he turned that piece of information over in his mind. He would have to do a lot of work, but he had faith in Quilladin and Scraggy. They would do it. "We can get stronger together."

Greninja nodded approvingly, then looked up and round into the forest. Bonnie's smile faded slightly. "You've got to go, haven't you?"

Greninja nodded. Bonnie swallowed and hugged him. "It was really great to see you again," she mumbled. She pulled back, and visibly pulled herself together. "And thank you for not interfering with Team Flare earlier."

Greninja inclined his head. Jamie blinked. "Wait, you were there the whole time?" Greninja nodded, and he looked at Bonnie who shrugged.

"He's been keeping an eye on them. He would have stepped in if I'd needed help."

Greninja nodded again. Jamie smiled. "I think we'll be seeing you again then. She seems to attract trouble."

"I do not," Bonnie protested. "I'm nowhere near as bad as Ash was at least."

From the stories Jamie had heard of Ash Ketchum he could well believe that. "I guess not." He held out a hand to Greninja. "It was an honour to meet you. Thank you for everything you did against Team Flare."

Greninja grinned. Dedenne squeaked a goodbye, and Bonnie got one final hug, then there was a blue blur and Greninja was gone.

For a long minute Bonnie stood staring into the forest, then she shook herself and turned back to Jamie. "We should go," she said briskly. "If we hurry we can get to Cyllage City before it gets dark."

Jamie nodded, and the two of them set off along the path. Bonnie was oddly subdued as they walked, and not even Dedenne's familiar presence on her head seemed to be helping. Jamie thought for a moment, then coughed.

"Thank you too," he said. Bonnie blinked, and he continued quickly. "You helped against Team Flare too. You saved a lot of people."

Bonnie shook her head. "I didn't do anything. I didn't even have Pokémon back then."

Jamie frowned. Dedenne shook his head, and just to confirm it Squishy poked his head out of Bonnie's bag to give her a look. Jamie remembered the rumours that had gone around about Zygarde, and how at the Kalos Conference Squishy had only ever been seen with Bonnie, and nodded to himself. "Well, it's more than than I did." He smiled. "Though that will probably change if I stick around you long enough."

Bonnie snorted. "Not unless Ash comes for a visit. He's the trouble magnet." Her expression turned thoughtful. "Although he did say he was planning to visit later this year. Maybe you'll get to meet him! And Serena's back from Johto for a while before she goes on to Kanto, so maybe we'll find her too!"

Jamie laughed. "Sounds good to me. And I'll meet your brother when you go to challenge him."

Bonnie grinned. "You'll be waiting a while. I'm going to challenge him last. I want him to give me everything he's got."

"Lumiose last," Jamie confirmed. "Got it. I've already done that one though, so I'll just have to cheer you on."

Bonnie's brilliant smile widened. "You will? Thanks."

"Of course. And then we'll face off in the finals of the Kalos League."

"Right before I'm crowned the Champion," said Bonnie with a nod.

Jamie folded his arms. "Not quite what I was thinking."

"Well, I don't have any plans to lose."

"You might have to start drawing some up then, because I don't either."

"Oh, we'll see about that."

Jamie just grinned. "Yeah, we will."

There. Much better.

I hope you enjoyed that. Any feedback would be very much appreciated.