[Adventure] [Suspense] [Friendship] [Hurt/Comfort] [Family] [GEN]

AN: Welcome!

I was pretty out of practice with writing when I started, so the beginning might be a bit stiffly written. It gets better, I promise!

BTW, the Ash-Greninja bond-phenomenon described during the fic is only my own interpretation of how it works.

I hope you enjoy!

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EDIT (20/January/2020): Minor formatting changes done and added chapter 21 where I'll be listing sequel works.

1. PROLOGUE

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There it was.

The place it had been looking for. The mysterious, secluded compound from where humans dressed in grey were occasionally coming out and disappearing into the surrounding forests. The place must have been operational for a while now – it looked new but certainly not unfinished. It was only one floor tall, but it was very likely there would be many more levels underground. The low ceiling and unassuming brownish gray color of the walls made the building very difficult to spot.

Uphill in its hiding spot, Greninja sat down and frowned. Finally, it had found the origin place of the grey people who – at least that's what Greninja suspected – had been causing trouble all over Kalos. But just seeing the compound hadn't answered any of its question, only created more. Greninja leaned against a tree, stretching its weary legs straight in front of it, settling in for a long wait.

After a few days of observing it had become obvious that everything about this place was organized to the maximum efficiency. Every night, a small group of humans would run into the forest and usually return the next morning, carrying large bags, metal boxes or other loads. Greninja didn't know for certain what they were collecting during the nights, but it had its suspicions and they weren't anything good. It just had to prove them right.

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By the evening of the fifth day Greninja was getting restless. It hadn't yet seen anything that would prove these people were criminals, but it didn't know what else it could do by itself against this big of an operation. It needed some advice. And there was only one person in the world it could ask right there and then.

Reluctantly, Greninja closed its eyes, focusing its mind, and reached out to Ash.

It had been a long time since they had connected on purpose, and it took a while until it started to feel the familiar hum of Ash's mind.

And then it wasn't a hum anymore, it was a crash. A flood.

The thoughts and feelings that poured out of Ash were strange and confused, somewhat disconnected. Greninja felt overwhelmed and struggled to focus. It felt like it was drowning, the incoherence from Ash unbearable. Greninja fell to the ground, shaking and panting, and forced the connection to break.

Minutes later, only after it had completely calmed down, it understood. Ash had been sleeping.

With this distance, the bond connection had always been quite unstable and weak, and even that was when both of them were focusing on sustaining it. Usually they could share a few thoughts and a visual of their surroundings, not much else. It was far from the absolute harmony it felt with Ash when they were battling together.

No, that was something else. This, however, had been a complete disaster.

Greninja wondered what time it was in Alola, and if it had unintentionally woken Ash up in the middle of the night. At least it had to have disturbed his sleep. Focusing on the connection took huge amounts of energy, especially when it didn't work quite right. Greninja could feel the exhaustion in its bones. It was frustrated by its failure – it was clear it would be on its own for now.

Defeated, Greninja watched the compound for a while longer, but there was nothing going on. Its eyes drooped, and it settled against the now very familiar tree. It wouldn't hurt to sleep for a few hours, right?

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Greninja woke up to a loud scream.

It rushed up, leaning to watch over the surrounding rocks down to the compound. It was early morning, the light just beginning to show over the low mountains, lighting the area in an almost eerie way, casting long shadows across the ground. And right in the middle of the grounds, Greninja could see what was causing the trouble.

Another greninja, weak and beaten, had broken out of one of the human's bags and was trying to run away.

A group of people gathered around it, taking battle stances and calling out their pokemon. The wild greninja attacked the group with water shuriken, but it didn't have its full strength and the attack was easily deflected. One of the humans called out a giant pangoro. It seemed obvious the fight was going to be over before it had even started.

But Greninja wasn't just going to watch its own get beaten and taken prisoner.

It leaped over the rocks, rushing down the mountain side at full speed. When it was near but not yet spotted by the humans, it called up double team, creating multiple copies of itself. That's when it got the attention and the group turned to watch it approach. As it got even closer, it could see the fear on the humans' faces, and the relief on the greninja's. The group scattered, and few of the humans even ran away shouting.

Greninja dropped the double team. It threw the shuriken from its back with full power, hitting the pangoro full on. The fighting pokemon fell back, and the captured greninja had a chance to jump back and out of the way. Greninja slid in front of it, ready for a battle.

That was when something flashed in the low morning light.

Something was flying towards it.

Greninja only had time to raise its hands for a move, but it was too late. The metal circle snapped around its waist and locked up tight, releasing an electric current so strong it forced Greninja to its knees. It struggled and tried to pull on the metallic band, but it wouldn't move. The greninja behind it, the one it had tried to protect, had also been locked up with similar band. It lay on the ground, unconscious.

A man approached.

Furious, Greninja turned to face him.

It was ready to get up and fight despite the electric band. It could, if it had to.

Then the shadow fell of from the man's face and revealed someone Greninja had thought – hoped, more than anything – it would never see again.

"Well well, if it isn't the infamous Greninja", drawled Lysandre, a pleased grin stretching his newly scarred face. "But where is our dear boy Ash?"