The return of a legend

Finally finished

The Alola region was, like every region Ash had ever traveled before, completely new and unexpected in every sense of the word. He'd been a resident for one year, attending the Pokèmon school and traveling the islands. There was always new people to meet and new Pokèmon to battle, as well as old foes that never seemed to give up. He's learning more and more every day, and he loves it.

But he missed Greninja. He knows why they were separated, knows that Greninja has a job to do in Kalos and he's in Alola for school, but it doesn't make it suck less. Plus, both Professor Kukui and Professor Samson Oak had discouraged him from talking about the transformation for "safety reasons," which made it difficult for Ash to just talk endlessly like he normally did. He still didn't understand what the safety reasons were. Lysandre was dead. He'd been one of the people to find the man's body, buried and crushed under the rubble (It had taken a few sleepless nights after seeing that one, but at least he had proof). It had also been a few months since Greninja had last answered one of his calls, so they had stuck mostly to communicating through the Bond.

The sun is warm and bright as it lays on top of his eyes, prompting Ash to open them. It's a pleasant sky outside, the promise of a beautiful day that will make Ash just that more excited for the end of the school day. Pikachu is currently sprawled out in front of him, snoring the morning away. Rotomdex is in the same boat, passed out on Ash's desk with not a care in the world. Ash sits up and stretches, accidentally waking up Pikachu in the process. The mouse just looks at him grumpily before stretching itself, hopping onto Ash's shoulder. "Morning, bud. How'd you sleep?" Ash asks, climbing down the ladder as Pikachu gives a happy yawn. 

The kitchen is warm as well, a pot of coffee already brewing and filling the room with a delicious aroma. Litten and Lycanroc are laying out on opposite ends of the couch, existing within the same space and not trying to kill each other, which is all Ash can really ask of them. "What do we want for breakfast?" Ash opened the cabinets, grabbing a box of cereal for him and a few different containers of Pokèmon food for Pikachu to choose from. It was always fun to swap up what Pikachu was eating, and it usually meant the mouse was less likely to be picky when trying something new.

Kukui walked in from the porch, already decked out in his lab coat. "Morning." He yawned, popping his back on the way in.

"Morning. Want some breakfast?" Ash offered, holding out the box of cereal.

Kukui sighed as he poured the coffee into a metal cup. "Wish I could. Nurse Joy called me early this morning. There's new regulations for Pokèmon diets in the centers, which means the system needs updating. Again."

"That sounds fun."

"Sure. Hey, Ash, before you go, I had a question."

"Yeah?"

"Your lesson today at school, it's going to be on Pokèmon bonds with Oak. Are you going to be okay with attending that, or do you want to come help me? I can excuse you for the day if you need it."

"I'll be okay. Besides, I know a lot of stuff about bonds from experience. I need to learn some of the classroom applications for it as well. And who knows? Maybe I'll actually be interested in this stuff."

"Okay. Just have Rotomdex let me know if you need to leave, alright?"

"Will do. Have fun!" Ash called as Kukui walked out of the door. 

Ash sat down at the counter, leaning back in his seat and looking up at the ceiling as he thought. He wondered what Greninja was doing. The rebuilding of Kalos had been going exponentially well, and he'd heard from Clemont that Lumiose looked almost like nothing had ever happened. But Greninja would be traveling through cities, chasing after the ever-elusive vines and whatever remained of Team Flare. His days were sure to be busy, especially since he had promised to visit the others on Ash's Kalos team as much as he could. Of course, with Goodra in the wetlands, Talonflame near Lumiose, Hawlucha and Noivern in the forest near Shalour City, it had quite a distance to travel. Or maybe he was helping Professor Sycamore with his research now, with Mega Evolution where it could. Or, and Ash kind of hoped it was this one, maybe he was laying out on a beach somewhere resting after all of his hard work.

In reality, Greninja was doing what it always did: fighting!

Right now, he was locked in battle with a weakened Pyroar and Drapion, as well as one of the last members of Team Flare. It had started a while ago near Coumarine City and had dragged itself out into the Badlands. And really, it was laughably easy. Greninja was almost messing around at this point, dodging through whatever weak attacks it sent his way while getting closer to the trainer. Officer Jenny was somewhere behind him, but her scooter didn't travel well over the rocky terrain. Besides, Greninja was having much more fun by himself.

The Team Flare member, probably some sort of scientist if Greninja had to guess, growled. "Why can't you just stay still?! You're so fucking annoying. Pyroar, Fire Fang! Drapion, Poison Shot." She fixed her red shirt, dusting off some of the dirt and smoke that had taken up residence there. 

It was almost sad, just how easy it was for Greninja to dodge the two attacks. He sent his own in return, throwing a Water Shuriken at the Pyroar and jumping over it. The Drapion barely managed to send a Poison Shot his way, and it was actually quite enjoyable to send it flying with Aerial Ace. Team Flare was unfortunately predictable, almost like Team Rocket. Team Flare, Team Rocket. Team Flare, Team Rocket. Maybe all the evil organizations got together and competed to see who got absolutely demolished the most by kids. He's not sure who'd win that one, but he'd be interested to see the results.

The Team Flare scientist back away slowly, pulling out two Pokèballs and summoning the Pyroar and Drapion back. "Shit. We've got to get out of here." She tried to run off, but a net shot out and knocked her down to the ground. 

Officer Jenny stepped out, her Manectric walking over to the scientist. "Good job, Greninja. That seems to be the last of them."

"No! No, this isn't the end. Team Flare will rise again!" The scientist squirmed, trying to get out of the net.

"Unlikely."

Greninja turned towards the sunset, relieved as a weight was lifted off of his shoulders. He was finally finished. The vines, the criminals, it was all done. He'd been planning what he would do after it was finished for months, where he would go and what he would do. Kalos was a lovely region, it would always be his home, but it was time to go. He was going to Alola. He was going to go find Ash.