The beedrill attacked Greninja non stop as he tried to defend all of them, to his fortune Ash regained some of his consciousness and ordered his greninja to attack. 'Gr-Greninja use w-water Shuriken' Ash stuttered as he had trouble to focus on the battle. Greninja's attack was spot on and sent the beedrills flying away. Greninja with quick thinking grabbed Ash and disappeared into the trees.

Once he was certain they were further away from any harm, Greninja set Ash on the floor. Ash just stared into the sky as he felt his body weaken. 'T-that was close' Ash sighed. 'Take rest for now' Greninja said. Greninja then fell to the ground as well and lay next to Ash unconscious while Ash stared into the sky. 'I need to find a way out of here quick' Ash thought in his mind.

He snapped out of his thoughts as he heard Greninja's body shuffle next to him. A metallic arm had grabbed onto him and dragged him towards the balloon from where the arm came from. 'Team Rocket!' Ash shouted weakly. 'Well it will always be us!' James said.

Ash got to his feet in anger and did not feel the pain due to the adrenaline. 'Give back my Greninja!' Ash shouted. 'No! Since Pikachu isn't here we'll just take your Greninja!' Jessie replied. 'Adios!' Meowth shouted and directed the balloon to fly into a different direction. Ash quickly ran towards the balloon before it could take off but was stopped.

'Inkay, psybeam!' James shouted. Inkay turned to Ash and released the psybeam towards his direction. Ash covered his body in protection and was blown backwards by the impact. Ash just growled and ran back once again. 'Inkay again!' James shouted. Ash stopped and covered his face expecting the impact but didn't receive any. He looked up and saw a thunder bolt fighting the psybeam in the air before exploding.

'Pika pi!' Ash turned around and saw Pikachu and Serena running towards him. 'Pikachu! Serena!' Ash waved. Serena and Pikachu were beaming happily as they saw Ash. 'Ash your okay!' Serena shouted and tackled him into a hug. 'I need to get Greninja down' Ash pulled out and turned back towards the balloon.

'Braxien come on out!' Serena released her PokéBall. The fire type from the Kalos region appeared in front of Serena in battle stance. 'Ash you get Greninja and I'll hold them off' Serena said. Ash nodded and started speeding off to the side.

'How cute.. Gourgeist use shadow ball' Jessie shouted. Her Pokémon flew out of the balloon and sent the shadow ball at Ash. 'Braxien use flamethrower!' Serena replied. Her fire type let out the chunk of flame and and destroyed the shadow ball allowing Ash to run on.

'This is it come on' Ash said to himself. He bent down low but his knees buckled from the pain. He fell onto one knee and next thing he knew he was hit with a shadow ball. 'Braxien will o wisp!' Serena shouted desperately. By now the others had caught up and were watching the scene. Braxien smashed the Gourgeist straight into Jessie giving Ash more time.

'I can't lose to them!' Ash shouted out. He felt a tug in his gut and his posture became straight. He felt all the pain in his body evaporate as he became engulfed in water. He floated to the balloon and landed inside. The water then disappeared. 'Give back my Greninja!' Ash said. 'James do something!' Jessie shouted. 'Meowth all yours!' James replied. Meowth jumped at Ash but a flamethrower knocked him and the others flying out of the balloon.

'We're blasting off again!' The trio shouted and vanished into the blue sky. Ash jumped down to the metallic arm and tried to break it. 'Hold on I'll get you ou...' an explosion from the balloon caused Ash to lose grip and fall straight towards the ground. 'Master!' Greninja shouted. The ninja Pokémon felt adrenaline rush through his body as the water engulfed his body. The Shuriken appeared on his back cutting through the metallic arms.

Greninja adjusted it's body shape and glided towards Ash's body. It grabbed onto Ash and done a mid air flip to make them straight. Greninja landed with elegance on the floor and set Ash down. 'Master are you okay?' Greninja asked. 'Ash!' Serena shouted and ran towards them. 'Guys, I-I'm fine..' Ash said but collapsed to the ground. Greninja returned to it's normal self and fell onto his knees.

'Get him back to the main place, quick!' Gary said looking at Serena.

••••••

'Beep beep beep' Ash opened his eyes and found himself in a dark room. He looked around and saw himself in a hospital room. He then spotted Pikachu sleeping on the table with a pair of hands wrapped around him. Ash looked at the body and noticed it was Serena. He got out of his bed and grabbed his blanket.

He slowly approached her and heard soft snores escaping her mouth. 'So cute' Ash admired her while she slept. Ash placed the blanket over her and gave her a peck on the cheek. He walked over to the door and put on slippers before slowly walking out.

He looked through windows in search of Greninja but couldn't find him anywhere. 'Where is Greninja?' Ash thought. A vision flashed across his mind; it was Greninja sitting by the shore. Ash snapped out of the vision and headed out of the building and towards the shore. He spotted Greninja sitting alone hunched up against a wall staring into the ocean.

'Hey Greninja' Ash said slowly approaching his Pokémon. Greninja turned and looked at Ash, it gave a nod in response. 'Well that sure was close huh?' Ash said sitting beside him. Greninja looked at Ash, 'yeah that was..' The water in front of them started to waver a little causing the duo to be on guard. The water suddenly opened up and figure came out. It landed just in front of Ash and Greninja.

'I sense a strong presence' The man said looking at the duo. 'Well we aren't that strong..' Ash said blushing a little. 'I know a strong presence when I see one, and certainly you are strong with powers people dream of' The man replied. Ash just stared at the man and noticed z marks under his eyes.

'So what do you want from us?' Ash asked. 'Nothing.. just checking nothing mischievous was happening, normally strong presences tend to harm my waters' The man said eying Ash even more. 'Don't think I would harm any waters or anything.. I'm not like that' Ash said defending himself. 'I can tell..' The man replied.

They stared at each other in silence. A strange feeling went around Ash. The presence of the man was giving out a dominant aura as well as a familiar one, however Ash could not make out where he had felt this aura. 'What is your name?' The man asked making eye contact with Ash. 'Ash.. Ash Ketchum' Ash replied. The man's eyes widened in shock. 'What about yours?' Ash asked. The man didn't reply, but stared at Ash in complete shock. 'Um hello?' Ash waved his hands trying to grab the man's attention. 'Sorry.. I gotta go, bye!' The man said, a large wave crashed on top of him and his figure disappeared into the ocean. 'But... your name' Ash whispered into the ocean.

Ash sighed and sat back down next to Greninja, 'strange man..' Ash said. 'Ash.. you here?' Ash turned around and saw Serena standing behind him and Greninja. 'Oh hey Serena, come join us' Ash said patting the space next to him. Serena made her way to the spot and sat down. 'You must have been through a lot...' Serena said looking at the horizon. 'Yeah...' Ash started to explain the experiences him and Greninja faced during the time they were separated.

'Thank god your safe now' Serena said and hugged Ash tightly. 'Remember my motto, never give up until the end' Ash said and embraced her tightly as well. 'You go to the hotel, I probably have to stay in the hospital for now..' Ash said and got up. 'No it's fine, I'll stay with you' Serena grabbed Ash's hand. 'Are you sure?' Ash asked. Serena yawned and nodded. 'Okay then.. lets go' Ash said and started walking with Serena rested up against him and Greninja by his side.

They reached the room where Ash was staying overnight. 'Greninja you might as well rest in your poké ball' Ash yawned. He then pulled out his PokéBall which sucked Greninja inside. 'Well are you ready to sleep?' Ash asked looking at Serena. He saw her already asleep on his shoulder with her tight grip on his arm. Ash walked over to his bed and lay Serena down first. He then snuggled next to her and pulled a blanket over the pair of them. He pecked her on the cheek.

'I'm so lucky to have her..' Ash said before falling into his deep sleep.

••••••

Ash opened his eyes and saw that Serena wasn't next to him. He then saw a note on the bed side table; it was from Serena.

Dear Ash,

Pikachu and I are both down at the main building, professor sycamore has called us for a meeting to discuss today's activities, meet you there ❤️

Love Serena😘

Ash got out of his bed and put on his normal clothes with a hoodie to disguise him from the locals. 'Greninja come out!' Ash released his water type from his PokéBall. 'Kou!' Greninja seemed more rested and energised. 'Might as well give me some company as we head down to the main building' Ash said.

The duo made their way down to the main building with many people staring at them with weird facial expressions. 'What's going on?' Ash asked confused. Greninja just shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk. It took them ten minutes to reach the main building. It seemed empty assuming people were already gathered in the main hall for the meeting.

They opened the main hall doors and saw the place filled with contestants from different regions; more people had arrived by this time as the tournament grew ever closer. Everyone turned their heads to Ash as he and Greninja entered the room. The duo felt a tug in their guts, almost as if warning them of any danger.

Ash and Greninja spotted several guards on the next floor with guns put out for defence. They sensed another presence somewhere. Their heads turned to the stage; behind it was dark figure which quickly disappeared into thin air. 'Ah so Aaron made it out fine!' Professor Sycamore announced. The crowd gave out few cheers for Ash as he stared at the guards.

Charles Goodshow made his way over to Ash and whispered something in his ear; 'I want to chat with you after, so wait at the entrance' He said and walked back to the sides to the other representatives of the tournament. Ash seemed taken aback but shrugged it off. He looked over at Serena who was with Shauna and couple other girls. Serena waved at Ash who waved back.

'So today's activities...' Sycamore started speaking and announcing today's activities. Ash just stared into space and occasionally glanced towards the place he had seen the figure and then glanced up at the gun men who constantly scanned the area for clues.

Professor Sycamore ended about ten minutes later; so basically today was a free day and citizen's could do what ever they wish they want to. Ash instantly made his way to the entrance and saw Mr. Goodshow standing there waiting for him. 'This way Ketchum..' he pointed to a large oak door. Ash tensed up a bit and looked at Greninja. 'Don't worry..' Charles smiled and motioned Ash to walk in.

Ash walked in and saw a couple of the representatives which were present at the assembly. 'Ah yes Ketchum..' A brown haired man turned around from the leather chair. Ash's mouth dropped as he saw the appearance. 'Your Giovanni!' Ash said in shock. 'No! Calm down.. I am his brother, Matt' Matt said looking at Ash.

'What!?' Ash was confused. 'He is one of us, he has hatred to all the bad sides in this world, and one against his brother as you may know now' One of the other representatives spoke. Ash looked at him and saw a name label; his name was Richie. 'So what is it you need to talk about?' Ash asked.

'Yes.. as you may know, I am the boss of the battle royal company' Matt said in a stern voice. Ash just shook his head. 'Well then I am the boss and Richie here is my assistant, there are many more colleagues scattered around this island' Matt said. 'Okay so get to the point.. why am I here?' Ash asked. 'This tournament is under threat..' Matt said. Ash tilted his head a little.

'Yeah so..' Ash said.

'We think you have caused it, as you are currently being chased by Lysandre and his team?' Matt said eying Ash. A solitary bead of sweat trickled down his face. 'Don't worry... we will keep you under our protection but under one circumstances..' Matt said. Ash wiped his sweat away and looked at Matt with intent. 'You have to protect the games' Matt finished off.

'How am I meant to do that?' Ash asked. 'You know.. you've done it before, just trust each other and you will reach another potential..' He said looking at Ash and Greninja. Ash was confused as hell. He didn't know what was going on. 'Now go enjoy your day out and stay alert' Matt said and dismissed Ash.

Ash walked out the room and took one glance at Matt, who was staring at him with no expressions. The door closed and broke their eye contact. Ash looked away and started to think about what Matt was trying to say. 'There is more potential?' Ash thought and looked at Greninja who seemed as confused as him.

'Ash!'

Ash turned around and saw Serena running towards him. 'Oh hi Serena!' Ash said trying to sound cheerful. 'Come on let's search for some malls with the other girls!' She said happily and dragged Ash away. 'Please slow down...' Ash whimpered.

'I know he's the right one..'

___________________________

Well sorry for this long awaited chapter. It took me lots of planning and effort to put this chapter together and also I decided to take a break as my life has had terrible weeks recently and which have really troubled me, so that's the reason I haven't uploaded with my schedule on my main account: amour_7 go check it out. It's basically Friday and Saturday uploads. I'm uploading today as I don't have school tomorrow so I found time so yeah..

I hoped you enjoyed this chapter as I have done writing it for you guys. Make sure to hit the like button and show the awesome support! Also PLEASE PLEASE, check out my 2nd book on my account and let me know what you think, I really need feedback over there!!! Also leave any feedback on this chapter and let me know if you liked it or not, or if you need any improvements, it always helps so please on here and on my main account!

Thanks!