Pokemon One-Shots and Headcanons

Connection

This is another "Froakie is Ash's starter" story.

Froakie didn't know what he was doing inside a schoolhouse in the Kanto region. One minute he'd been released by his fourth trainer, a girl named Louise, and the next he was being transported to Professor Oak's lab. He heard something about a boy named Ash Ketchum who had apparently developed some behavioral issues ever since his father died. None of the teachers had been able to reach him, so Froakie was being sent over to help since he also had a history of being disobedient. Despite not knowing Ash, Froakie couldn't help feeling sorry for the poor kid. He probably felt like he was being experimented on for therapeutic ideals.
Still, maybe it was by a rare stroke of insight that Ash's teachers had asked Professor Sycamore, the Kalos research professor, to send Froakie over to Kanto. The little blue frog Pokemon sensed something strange about Ash as soon as he and his mother, a woman named Delia, walked into the classroom. Froakie didn't know much about parents since he'd never known his, but he knew enough about humans to know that Ash and Delia weren't nearly as close as they should be.
"Hello, Ash," the only other adult in the room, Linda, said cheerfully. She was one of Ash's teachers, a brown-haired woman with bright green eyes.
"Hello," Ash said flatly.
"I'll come back to pick you up in two hours, Ash. Don't get in any trouble," Delia said without any emotion in her voice. Froakie got the feeling that she didn't really care about her son or whether or not he got himself in trouble. Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked out of the room.
Froakie watched as Ash stared down at his hands, his eyes expressionless as he waited for Linda to start speaking. There was something odd about the way he held himself. Whereas most boys his age would be fidgeting around restlessly, Ash sat with perfect stillness. It was almost as though he were afraid of what would happen if he moved.
"So Ash, do you know why you're here?" Linda asked finally, evidently growing tired of the silence that hung heavy in the air.
"You called me in here. Why don't you tell me?" Ash snapped, glaring at Linda.
Seemingly unfazed by the rude tone in Ash's response, Linda replied, "Very well. The reason I brought you in here is because Professor Oak and I thought it would benefit you to develop your social interaction skills with someone other than a traditional therapist."
"I figured," Ash sighed, rolling his eyes. "All right, who is it this time? Some psychiatrist from the Alola region? A caretaker from a mental hospital? Just get it over with already."
"Actually, no," Linda answered with a smile. "It's Froakie," she said, gesturing towards the bubble frog Pokemon.
"Hi," Froakie said, waving at Ash. Ash half-glanced at him curiously, then looked away again.
"Fine," he muttered. "What do you want me to do?"
"I'm going to step outside, and I just want you to try to connect with Froakie," Linda replied. "That sound good, Ash?"
Ash just shrugged, showing that he didn't care one way or another. Linda obviously took that as a yes because she beamed and walked out of the classroom, shutting the door behind her. Froakie was left alone with Ash, who didn't seem too eager to start any sort of bonding exercise with him. Not that he could blame him, of course. He wouldn't want to be forced to make friends with anyone if it were him.
"So you're a Froakie, huh?" Ash said finally, startling Froakie slightly. He hadn't been expecting the boy to say anything. "I don't think I've ever seen you around here. Where are you from?"
"I'm a Pokemon for new trainers in the Kalos region," Froakie answered.
"Kalos, really?" Ash asked, sounding faintly interested.
"Yeah, that's right," the bubble frog Pokemon said before he realized something. "Wait! How did you understand me?"
Ash shrugged a little. "I don't know. I've always been able to talk to Pokemon," he told him.
"Huh, that's pretty awesome," Froakie said sincerely.
"I guess," Ash agreed, a faint smile crossing his face. Then his expression turned confused. "But Froakie, if you're supposed to be a starter Pokemon, shouldn't you have a trainer by now? The deadline for new trainers to pick their first Pokemon was over two weeks ago. And why exactly did they send you over here in the first place?"
"I think they thought we'd get along since I also cause a lot of trouble for my trainers," the blue frog Pokemon replied. "I've been released by four so far."
"Four?" Ash repeated, looking surprised. "What went wrong?"
"Well, my first trainer wanted me to help him battle an injured Caterpie. I refused, so he took me back to the lab. My second trainer didn't know the first thing about caring for Pokemon and forgot me after a training session. My third trainer was probably the worst. He wanted me to help him spy on a girl he liked. As if I'd ever listen to a stupid command like that! And as for my fourth trainer, well, she didn't like the fact that I have no interest in becoming a performing Pokemon," Froakie said, recounting his tale of horrors with his previous trainers.
Ash laughed a bit. "Sounds like you've had an eventful life."
They continued to talk for the next hour. Froakie found himself liking Ash more and more. He didn't know why his teachers thought he was such a problem child. He wasn't like that at all! If he could find a way to get Professor Sycamore to allow him to stay with Ash, he was going to do it.
Soon, their two hours had ended and Delia had come to pick her son up. Froakie was also supposed to go back to Kalos, but neither he nor Ash were having any of it.
"NO!" Froakie yelled, dodging the jet of red light as Linda tried to put him back inside his Pokeball.
"Please, can't he stay?" Ash begged. "I like him. He's awesome."
"Ash, Froakie has to go back to Kalos so a new trainer can pick him," Linda said gently.
"So? There's more than one of each type for new trainers," Ash argued back. "I'll bet you anything that Professor Sycamore has other Froakie at the lab that he could just as easily give to a new trainer."
Throughout the entire conversation, Delia did little except purse her lips and glance at her watch. Froakie watched her, not liking the expression that flashed in her eyes whenever they landed on Ash. He was beginning to realize that she was part of the reason why Ash had so many problems.
"Very well," Linda sighed finally. "I'll explain the situation to Professor Sycamore. You may keep Froakie with you."
"Thank you, ma'am," Ash said politely, smiling happily. He turned to the blue water-type Pokemon. "Hear that, Froakie? You get to stay with me!"
"Awesome!" Froakie cheered happily.
"Come on, Ash," Delia said emotionlessly. "We have to go home now."
At that, Ash's expression dropped, something Froakie didn't fail to notice. He chose not to press the matter, though. It was obvious enough to him that something was seriously wrong with Ash's home life. And he would find out what was happening if it was the last thing he did, in order to make sure his new friend was okay.

Although Ash and Froakie were able to connect with each other over the next month, the raven-haired boy still got into trouble all the time at school. Froakie didn't understand why this was happening, for he could tell that Ash was a kind person and had a good heart. He also still didn't have much of an idea of what happened at home between Ash and his mother, mostly because Ash had instructed him to stay in his room for who knows what reason. But he had seemed genuinely desperate when he asked, so Froakie was more than happy to comply.
"Ash, why do you keep doing this?" Froakie asked one day after Ash had been given detention for yelling at his math teacher.
"What do you mean?" Ash asked.
"You know what I mean. Ash, why do you keep acting up in class?" Froakie asked sternly. "I know you're not really like that, so why do you do it?"
Ash sighed and looked down at his feet. "I suppose I can't keep the truth from you forever," he muttered. "I-I get into trouble on purpose. So I can get sent to detention, and I won't have to go back home right away."
"Tell me more," Froakie said, hopping onto the boy's shoulder. They sat down on a bench together about a mile from Ash's house.
"She's not...all that fond of me," Ash mumbled reluctantly. "To say the least. I guess she's been mad at me ever since Dad died. Blames me, or whatever."
"What does she do to you?" Froakie asked worriedly.
In response, Ash tugged down his collar to reveal bruise marks that had definitely been created by someone's hands around his neck. There was also a jagged scar running across his shoulder blades, as though someone had carved into him with a knife. Froakie was horrified.
"What-she-you-" he stammered, staring at Ash's wounds in horror. How could anyone do such a thing? Even his former trainers hadn't been cruel enough to hurt him.
"Well, now you know," Ash said with a sigh. "Now we'd better get back home, or else Mom will be really mad."

As it turned out, going home was a big mistake. As soon as they opened the door, a strong smell caused Froakie to flinch. They walked into the kitchen slowly, where Delia was sitting at the dining table with a bottle of some strange-looking liquid next to her.
Oh no. She's drunk, Froakie realized.
"Where have you been?" Delia sneered at Ash, her tone making it sound more like a threat than a question of concern.
"Detention," Ash replied, semi-honestly.
"Just what I'd expect out of you, you good for nothing piece of scum," Delia slurred, taking another swig from the bottle.
"Hey! Take that back!" Froakie yelled angrily.
Ash said nothing, obviously thinking that anything he said would only get him into trouble. Delia, however, seemed to take his silence as disrespect and snapped.
"I'll teach you some manners, boy!" she yelled, leaping over the table with startling agility and landing on her feet right in front of Ash. Before the raven-haired boy had a chance to get away, she grabbed him by the collar and yanked him towards the stove.
"Don't you dare!" Froakie shouted, realizing immediately what Delia was planning. He fired a Water Pulse at the cruel woman's face, temporarily blinding her and giving Ash just enough time to escape. Ash nodded his thanks to Froakie and picked him up, sprinting towards his room where he shut the door.
"Come on Froakie, we're getting out of here," he said frantically, stuffing Froakie's Pokeball as well as five others into a backpack and zipping it up.
"I agree. Let's go, Ash," Froakie said, hopping onto Ash's shoulder.
In the hallway, they could hear Delia's feet approaching the bedroom door. Ash glanced around in panic, knowing he had to find some way out of his room without going through the door. He tried to open the window, but was only able to lift it a few inches.
"Quick, Froakie! Use your frubbles to stop my mom from coming in here," Ash hissed.
"Got it," Froakie replied, hurling some sticky white bubbles at the door, causing it to get stuck.
"Ash, open this door this instant!" Delia shouted from outside the room, banging hard on the door in an attempt to force it open. "I'm warning you, young man!"
"Help me!" Ash whispered, still yanking on the window.
Together, Froakie helped Ash pull the window open. It was heavier than it looked, so it took the two of them a good fifteen minutes to pry it open enough to be able to fit through. Once the gap was big enough, however, Ash wasted no time in jumping out and landing safely on the grass. Froakie followed suit, landing on his best friend's shoulder.
"Let's go, Ash. Run and don't look back," he instructed. Ash didn't need telling twice.

Five months later, a now ten-year-old Ash was traveling through the Kalos region with Serena Yvonne. He had gotten his trainer's license from Professor Sycamore after he'd officially moved to Kalos. That was where he'd run into his childhood friend, Serena, who's mother also happened to be a friend of Delia's. When she found out what had been happening, Grace had promptly called the authorities and had Delia arrested.
Greninja, who had evolved from Ash's Froakie, watched as his trainer laughed and played with Hawlucha, Fletchinder, and Braixen, the last of whom belonged to Serena. He was happy to see how much better Ash was doing these days. Occasionally they would hear word of Delia, but never paid it any mind. After all, Ash was too busy getting on with his life.