A Journey's Link

Chapter 43 - Secret

Ash yawned as he sat up in the bed he was sleeping in, stretching out his arms. He was woken up to the beautiful sight of the rising sun above the quiet, but lively atmosphere of Lumiose City, which was full of people heading to their respective professions. Ash realized that he had never seen this view despite the multiple times he had been on top of Prism Tower, even when he fought against Lysandre.

Ash looked over to his right and saw Greninja in a rigid sleeping position, seeming content. That previous night, They had left Sycamore's laboratory with his Pokeball that Professor Oak had sent over, which Ash found very comfortable in his hand. Clemont showed them around the top of Prism Tower, which he and Bonnie had flipped into a living area for close friends and Clembot, who had found human living conditions to be "most admirable", according to Clemont.

Once they had gotten prepared to go to sleep, Ash and Greninja sat in silence for a while, almost as if they were communicating through telepathic waves, while Pikachu was already snoring in the miniature bed next to them. They had both watched the sunset, until eventually, it disappeared, leaving the bright city lights to illuminate their vision. "So you do know where Squishy is?" Ash had asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Gren," Greninja responded stoutly, nodding as he did so. He had stood up and walked over to the window, staring at the city below him. "Ninja," he said softly, pointing with his webbed hand towards the forest beyond Lumiose City. "Is he out there?" Ash asked. "In the forest?" Greninja nodded again and sat down by the window, looking defeated.

"Well, what's the matter? Why can't we go get him?" Ash had exclaimed, seeming confused by Greninja's lack of initiative. "We need to make sure that Squishy is safe so that the third Zygarde cell doesn't try to harm it!" He had added, trying to persuade Greninja. In response, Greninja had lied down in his bed and began snoring, falling asleep instantly.

Ash, in disbelief of Greninja's attitude, had scoffed and also lied down, giving up any hope in trying to get Greninja out of bed and searching for Squishy. He experienced annoyance, tiredness, and most prominently, fear. He feared the future of the world, his friends, and Serena. With all of these emotions, he had grabbed a pen and paper and began frantically writing his thoughts about everything going through his mind; it was unlike him to write when he was anxious, but the late night and sights of Lumiose City had changed his mindset temporarily.

Once he had finished the letter, he stuffed the paper in his pocket and sighed. That letter contained secrets that he would only give to Serena if necessary, but he hoped that it would never get to that point, as it would imply terrible things had occurred. He went to bed on these thoughts, sleeping soundly.

Now, it was the morning, and Ash had had time to think about what he should do next. He continued staring at the view below and looked back at Greninja, who was still sleeping soundly. Sighing, Ash got up and walked over to him, standing right next to the base of the mattress.

Ash shoved Greninja a little bit in an attempt to wake him up and was met with a small grunt of protest. Ash shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm going to talk to everyone about what's going on. About Squishy and other things." He was referring to Giovanni and Mewtwo, which was an extra threat that just confused him.

"The world is in danger, Greninja," Ash said solemnly. "I'm gonna need your help to stop whatever threat comes our way." He grabbed his bag and woke up Pikachu, who wasn't too keen on the sudden awakening, but eventually hopped onto Ash's shoulder. "I'm gonna help save the world. Whether you come with me is your choice, but I want you to come," Ash added.

Ash waited for a response but only got silence in return. "Well, that's that, then," Ash said with finality. "Hopefully you change your mind." He brought out Greninja's Pokeball and returned him to it, as he had to give him back to the Professor so he could analyze the data.