Plumeria coughed, her eyes falling upon the Greninja that had spontaneously manifested in the middle of the canyon. "What's going on here?!" she shouted impatiently.
"Ash!" Sophocles exclaimed when he noticed the surprised look on Ash's face. "What's with you and that Greninja?"
Ash snapped out of it and quickly said, "I'll explain later." He then turned back to Greninja and noticed its stare becoming more and more intense.
"Do you think we should go for it, Greninja?" Ash asked his former companion, his lips pulling into a confident grin as he glared at the Team Skull grunts and Plumeria.
"Gren!" Greninja shouted, briskly turning to face its myriad of opponents.
"Alright. I know we can pull this off!" Ash exclaimed, throwing his hand outward. "Our bond will never fade!"
"What are you talking about?" Kiawe demanded.
"Pull what off?!" Mallow yelled in confusion.
"Greninja!" Ash shouted as both Ash and Greninja's eyes started glowing bright red. Ash and Greninja could feel the power beginning to build up inside of them as their heartbeats synchronized.
"What's this?!" RotomDex exclaimed. "Greninja's power is-"
"Let's do it, Greninja! LET'S DO THIS TOGETHER!"Ash shouted.
"NINJAAAAA!!" Greninja screamed. It was suddenly surrounded by a churning torrent of swirling water.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Plumeria screeched, her eyes widening in fear and confusion.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Lillie cried.
"Greninja's power is off the charts!" RotomDex shrieked. "It's more than 150% more powerful than it was before!"
As his friends shouted in surprise, Ash allowed himself to stand still for a moment, smiling as the memories rushed back. He'd missed this feeling. The feeling of the power, the adrenaline, and the rush of battle flowing through his veins. The feeling of being right on the battlefield alongside Greninja, working as one.
Ash's grin spread impossibly wider. Time to kick some ass.
"Greninja, use Cut!" Ash exclaimed. Greninja dashed forward at a near-impossible speed and slashed five Yungoos with a glowing white blade. As the injured Pokémon shrieked in pain, Greninja deftly darted back to where it was before.
Immediately after, the water torrent split cleanly down the middle, revealing a fully transformed Ash-Greninja. But instead of the markings on its belly resembling the lined pattern on the jacket that Ash wore in Kalos, the markings resembled the striped design on the T-shirt that Ash was currently wearing.
Then, just like when they'd transformed before in Kalos, the water from the torrent was sucked into a spot onto Greninja's back, where it solidified into a giant Water Shuriken.
Ash's friends were stunned. Pikachu was ecstatic. And the Team Skull grunts were staring at Greninja with eyes as wide as saucers, shaking in fear.
"Water Shuriken!" Ash commanded. He and Greninja mimicked each other's movements as Greninja tugged the Shuriken off of its back and hurled it at Team Skull. There was a huge explosion as the projectile smashed into Team Skull's Pokémon.
When the smoke cleared, all of Team Skull's Pokémon were lying on the ground, well and fully knocked out.
"Phooey," Plumeria growled as she returned her Pokémon. "You got lucky this time." She pointed a finger at Ash and his friends. "Next time, freaky Greninja or no, you're really going to get it!"
After Team Skull hopped onto their motorcycles and rode off, Greninja flashed blue and reverted back to its original form.
Ash took a deep breath and walked up to face Greninja. They were silent for a moment, then Greninja lunged forward and enveloped its former Trainer in a hug. Ash smiled and hugged it back, remembering how they'd done the same the day they had first parted.
"Good to see you again, Greninja," Ash said, smiling. He released Greninja from the hug and stepped backward. "I'm glad you're back, but..." his brows furrowed slightly. "What about the negative energy left by the Kalos Crisis?"
"The Kalos Crisis?!" Lillie exclaimed. "You mean that big disaster that Team Flare caused last year?! The one that came a hair's breadth away from ending the world?!"
"Gren. Ninja," Greninja said.
"Oh, so you got rid of it all? No more vines?" Ash said, surprised. Greninja nodded.
"You can understand each other?" Sophocles yelled in shock.
Ash chuckled lightly at his friends' confusion. "I'll explain everything at the Pokémon Center. Just gimme a sec," Ash pulled out a Poké Ball. He held it out to Greninja. "Since you're done destroying the negative energy," He said, smiling, "will you join me again?"
Greninja smiled. "Grenin," it said, before bumping the Poké Ball with its fist. The Poké Ball clicked open and Greninja was sucked inside it. It didn't even shiver before emitting a small ping sound.
Ash smiled and held the Ball in his hands, ignoring the wide-eyed stares of his friends. "So that's the whole reason you were in Alola," He murmured. "To find me. Welcome back, Greninja."
Heyy! ChicChic here.
Woo hoo! It's official! Greninja's back! In here, anyways.
See you in the next chapter!
Edit (2022): Wow, this chapter was actually written pretty well at first. I only had to edit a little bit.
Fun fact: A large part of my original motivation for writing this fic was wanting Greninja to come back in Sun and Moon. So my twelve-year-old self went "fine, I'll do it myself."
Hence the fanfiction.
Another fun fact: A large part of my motivation for continuing this fic after three literal years was Journeys announcing that they were bringing Greninja back. I am editing this on the day that that episode aired and I am endlessly salty that they didn't even mention the Ash-Greninja transformation. It wasn't even included in the flashback scenes. It was a HUGE part of why I loved XYZ so much and I would hate to see it fade into obscurity.
Hence the fanfiction.
YOU ARE READING
Ultra Aether
Fanfiction(This is my first fanfic, so please don't brutally murder me if I did something wrong.) Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon! Ash has completed his final Grand Trial, and is now headed to the newly built Alola League. On the way there, he is reunited...
