Author's Note:

All right, another chapter is here! This one is a bit...I don't know...odd in some places. When it comes to some of the Ash-Greninja stuff I'm doing, I'm basically trying to expand a bit on the little info Sycamore had in the anime. I've got a few things coming up that I'm hoping will work with it, but...I guess we'll see how that all plays out. Not much I can say until it starts to get cleared up.

Anyways, off to Chapter 33.

Chapter 33: A Mega Test

It was the last school night of the week, with only the Friday classes remaining before Ash and his friends would be able to compete in the tournament and take their chances at getting that Key Stone that Sycamore had promised the winner. It was tough to sleep, and Ash could barely imagine what it would be like the next night. In some ways, he was even more excited about this tournament than he had been about the opening IPL match. He supposed it had more to do with the fact that he'd been letting his losing streak get to his head so much before, but he was also just so excited to see how he'd do with Rowlet, as well as seeing how his friends would do with their new Pokemon.

He sat up in his bed as thoughts of potential battle scenarios in the tournament played through his head. He imagined Rowlet going up against Turtwig again, and settling the score. He thought of Dawn and her new Scatterbug, taking on Marie and her new Fletchling. And he thought of Serena and Absol, truly working together as trainer and Pokemon for the first time. It was all so exciting.

"Pika?" Ash looked down to Pikachu who was curled up at the foot of his bed, the electric mouse looking up tiredly at his trainer, having noticed he was awake.

"Sorry, Pikachu. Just thinking," Ash said, smiling sheepishly.

Pikachu didn't seem to mind, standing and stretching, looking a little more awake now that he noticed how awake Ash was. A moment later, there was a bit of shuffling over where Ash's backpack lay next to his desk, and Rowlet surprisingly poked his head out. Of course, Ash supposed the little owl Pokemon was asleep most of the day, so maybe it made sense for him to wake up in the middle of the night.

Ash smiled at the sight of his two Pokemon, suddenly feeling the need to get up, knowing he wouldn't be getting to sleep any time soon. "I can't sleep, guys," Ash admitted to the two Pokemon. "Wanna go for a little walk?" he asked, sliding out of his bed.

Both seemed agreeable to that, Pikachu hopping up onto Ash's shoulder as he got up, while Rowlet flew to the opposite side. Ash then grabbed his jacket and his belt, which had both Greninja's and Hawlucha's pokeballs. He then headed out the door, careful to step by Clemont's room quietly and open and close the door to the dorm carefully.

When he was out in the hallway, he thought he heard the sound of a door around the corner in the direction of Serena and Shauna's room, so with a curious look at Pikachu and Rowlet, he headed off in that direction. He rounded a corner, finding the stairs that led back down to the lobby, for those who preferred not to use the elevator. Since he was feeling so full of energy, Ash decided that's what he would do, but as he started to head down, he glanced up, hearing the sound of another door, and noticed the steps leading up to the roof of the building as well.

He shrugged, thinking it would be interesting to head on up there, and he, Pikachu and Rowlet started to make their way up. A few moments later, Ash was at the door and pushing it open, a soft breeze blowing into his face as he stepped out into the cool night air, the lights of Lumiose City all around the building. It was an impressive sight, and Ash would've taken more of it in, but he then noticed he wasn't alone on the roof at the moment.

"Serena?"

The honey-blonde Performer turned around from her spot near the edge of the roof, where she was looking out towards Prism Tower, Absol and Braixen by her side, with Riolu sitting on Absol's back. Ash noticed Pancham and Sylveon as well, having a mini sparring match to the side. Serena seemed to be as wide awake as Ash, still in her regular outfit, looking like she hadn't even tried to get to sleep.

"You okay?" Ash asked, walking forward to join her, letting Hawlucha and Greninja out of their pokeballs, the two of them heading over to join Pancham and Sylveon. Riolu noticed this, and quickly followed, hopping off of Absol's back. Rowlet then followed close behind him.

"Yeah," Serena said, sighing as she looked out again, eyes lit up by the lights of the city. "I'm just...thinking. You too?"

"I can't stop thinking about the tournament," Ash admitted, laughing a little in embarrassment, although a moment later Serena joined in.

"I can't stop thinking about it either," she finally said, looking down at Absol next to her. "It's kind of weird for me. I know battle tournaments are pretty common, but this just seems so important. And it's not just about the prize. I don't think I really care about the prize."

Ash was surprised to hear that, glancing over at Absol, who sat calmly next to Serena, apparently in agreement with what she was saying. The thought of the girl named Astrid in the Kalos League came to Ash's mind, and he couldn't help but think that Serena had thought of that at some point since the tournament had been announced. If she could win it, and somehow get an Absolite...

Of course, Ash knew that perhaps that was the reason why Serena and Absol had bonded so quickly and were already so close. She wasn't thinking about making him stronger and a more skilled Performer just for winning, or accomplishing impressive feats like mega evolving. Serena was helping Absol overcome his dark past. They wanted to bring light to the world together, and perform as a team, with Braixen and the others.

In a way, Serena and Absol were similar to him and Greninja. Sure, he and Greninja were very focused on battling, and they'd worked hard to make it to the Kalos League finals together, eventually achieving that special form along the way. But, while succeeding in the Kalos League and perfecting Ash-Greninja were important for them, as their journey progressed, the most important thing had been simply working together, trusting each other and aiming for higher heights as a team, with all the other Pokemon. Maybe they'd started to forget that once they'd fallen to Alain, much like after their losses to Wulfric and Sawyer. They didn't have to win. Winning the Kalos League was important to them, but it was never a step back from their dream.

He looked over to the Ninja Pokemon, watching as he and Hawlucha exchanged a few practice attacks, Hawlucha using his new Steel Wing against Greninja's Cut. The Ash-Greninja form was still somewhat confusing to Ash, and he wondered whether he'd ever truly understand it. He still wanted it to work, and he knew it was useful in big battles, but he knew he didn't have to be so worried about it. Serena and Absol had a clear goal in mind for their partnership together, and that was to grow as a team, and enjoy performing together with Serena's other Pokemon. Ash, Greninja, Pikachu and the others...they would do that as well.

"You and Absol make a great team," Ash finally said, noticing the pride in Serena's eyes at his words. "I hope we'll get to battle in the tournament."

Serena thought for a moment, eyes drifting over to where Rowlet was flying around Riolu, the baby Pokemon trying to catch him. Ash knew that Serena actually had an advantage when it came to this tournament, with Absol being, for the most part, recovered physically. He wasn't worried about Rowlet's strength, though. He just wanted to see what Serena and Absol could show him in battle.

He looked over to Greninja again, seeing the Ninja Pokemon looking back, perhaps sensing something in his trainer's thoughts. And soon enough, he'd see what he and Greninja could show their opponents in battle. They weren't giving up on moving forward together either.

"So, for today's class, we'll be having a test," Professor Sycamore announced, shocking the tired students around the room.

Test? Ash really didn't like that word. Considering he'd barely passed one the previous week where he had to bandage up a wound for a Pokemon, he really wasn't feeling too good about the idea of another one. It would be even worse if it was a written one. He really hadn't been forced to do much in the way of writing here at Lumiose University, but when he did, he was a little lost on how to describe some of the things he was explaining, despite knowing the material fairly well. He supposed he'd just have to give it his best shot and hope Professor Sycamore wasn't going to go too hard on the class. It was the Friday before his big tournament after all.

A student near the front of the class raised their hand, getting the attention of Professor Sycamore, who had made the announcement from his position near the back of the little stage area at the front. The Pokemon researcher nodded to the student, looking amused by the muttering from many in the class about the test, which there had been no warning for. "Professor...what kind of test is this going to be? I've been training for the tournament, so I haven't been able to study as much as I could have."

"Not to worry," Sycamore said, smiling in amusement at the question. "This will be more of a practical test. This week and next, I'll be having everyone come up to the front of the class, and demonstrate an ability in battle against Clembot. It doesn't necessarily have to be one that we've studied in class. This is just so that we'll have a better understanding of how abilities can affect the outcome or momentum of a battle."

That got the students throughout the room quite interested, each of them leaning forward to hear the rest of the instructions. Ash could see a few people immediately pulling out pokeballs, ready to get started right away. He was pretty excited too, hoping to do much better than he had in his last classroom demonstration with Rowlet. He just had to pick a Pokemon to use, wondering which ability would work best in a demonstration.

"Pikapi," Pikachu muttered from his lap, clearly making the decision for him. Ash laughed at that, scratching Pikachu behind the ears, knowing how eager he was to get into some proper battle action. It was definitely frustrating for him to be stuck on the sidelines with Rowlet being the only one able to participate in the tournament.

"So, how about we get started?" Sycamore finally said, as an assistant entered the room, guiding in one of the Clembot robots. Ash glanced to his right, seeing Clemont lean forward, looking a little nervous. He seemed to get like that every time there was a demonstration using Clembot, obviously worried about how successful his invention would be. Luckily enough, Clembot had appeared to be the most useful addition Clemont had made to the school, being crucial to many teachers' lessons.

"Who do you think you'll use?" Ash asked Clemont, as Sycamore pulled out a clipboard, which presumably had the class list on it, for calling up the students.

Clemont thought for a moment, clearly trying to decide which would be best, before ultimately pulling out a pokeball, looking a little unsure, but smiling. "I guess this will be an opportunity to use Turtwig in a battle before the tournament."

Ash was a little surprised at that choice, given the fact that Turtwig would probably need to take a decent amount of damage before being able to use his ability. Clemont seemed fairly sure of his choice, though, and Ash knew he'd been doing quite a bit of training with Turtwig over the last few days, so maybe he had something planned.

The two of them watched the first few demonstrations in silence. Ash could see that some of his classmates, who he'd seen training a few times in the training facilities, had shown much improvement. The first trainer, a guy with a Magby, was able to quickly make use of the fire type's Flame Body to burn the opposing Squirtle and land a few strong attacks before Sycamore called for the match to end, only wanting the demonstration of the ability and evidence of its use in battle.

One of the later matches, two thirds of the way through the class, was particularly intriguing, with someone using an Oddish and having it start the battle with Sunny Day to activate its Chlorophyll ability, perfectly using it to fire off a quick Solar Beam to beat back the opposing Geodude. Ash remembered the Shiftry that Dawn had fought against during the screening battles using the same technique, and wondered if this trainer had seen that match. He knew he'd have to remember that strategy if he ever had a Pokemon with that ability.

When the Oddish trainer's battle was called to an end, Sycamore finally looked up in the direction of Ash and Clemont and gestured towards the latter. "Clemont, if you don't mind, you're up next. Who would you like to use in your battle?"

Clemont started making his way down towards the front of the class, holding up his pokeball as he walked. "I think I'll use my Turtwig," he informed Sycamore, stepping up to take his place on the makeshift battlefield. "He might be able to use his ability in the tournament tomorrow, so I'm going to have him get some practice in."

"Sounds good," Professor Sycamore said, stepping back and looking on with interest. Ash was definitely interested as well. He almost got the feeling that Clemont was hiding something. He noticed his backpack moving in front of him, and smiled, seeing Rowlet pop his head out of it, hopping out and flying up to Ash's shoulder, opposite Pikachu. Clearly the little owl Pokemon had heard what was going on, and wanted to see what his fellow grass type was up to.

Clemont looked over at Clembot as he held up his pokeball, waiting a moment before finally throwing it out. The light flashed as it opened, and with a loud, "TURTWIG!" the energetic Tiny Leaf Pokemon emerged, jumping up and down a couple times, before looking back at Clemont. The inventor gave his Pokemon a stern look, which Turtwig actually seemed to respond to, as he turned back, waiting for Clembot to call out his Pokemon.

The robot held up one of its arms, seemingly observing Clemont and Turtwig a moment, and then, he jerked it upwards, firing the pokeball out, the capture device opening up and flashing brightly to reveal a Corphish on the opposite end of the stage. Ash was a little surprised at that, even noticing Sycamore looking on curiously. Clembot seemed to use Pokemon with a type advantage for the most part, the Geodude against the Oddish being one of the odd exceptions. But particularly against an experienced trainer like Clemont, this was an odd move. Unless it had something to do with the ability...

As odd as the choice seemed to be, though, Sycamore must not have wanted to delay too much longer, quickly calling for the battle to begin. Ash was happy to see Clemont make the first move, acting quickly once Sycamore made the call. "Turtwig, use Bite!"

"Harden!" Clembot countered immediately, observing Turtwig carefully as he ran forward towards Corphish.

"Corphis cor!" Corphish yelled out, tightening up its body quickly, just as Turtwig leaped forward, its body glowing briefly. The grass type struck a moment later, closing his jaws over the spikes on the top of Corphish's head. The Ruffian Pokemon winced, but mostly seemed unharmed by the attack, looking up, pulling up one of its arms in preparation to attack.

"Now, use Crabhammer!" Clembot shouted, causing a few students near Ash to gasp, seeing the vulnerable position Turtwig was in.

"Crabhammer can cause a lot of damage," one of them was saying. "It can even hurt a grass type if it's a good hit."

"And Crabhammer usually hits pretty hard," another added.

Ash narrowed his eyes, watching Clemont, who seemed pretty calm as he watched. Rowlet seemed pretty tense on Ash's shoulder, obviously interested to see any kind of weakness Turtwig might have. Of course, when Corphish swung out with its tightly closed pincer, which glowed a bright blue as it rushed towards Turtwig, Ash could see they weren't witnessing a weakness, but rather a crucial strength. Turtwig's whole body seemed to tense up, glowing briefly just before Crabhammer hit.

"Twig!" the grass type shouted out, wincing from the hit, but overall seeming unaffected by it. A normal reaction from an barely effective move. But...Ash could tell by the reaction of many in the class that it probably should have been more effective

"Now Turtwig, use Leech Seed!" Clemont ordered quickly, distracting Ash from his thoughts. "Then jump back and use Razor Leaf!"

Turtwig nodded, holding on tight to Corphish, who seemed a little surprised by being unable to get free of the Tiny Leaf Pokemon's hold. The grass type seemed to sense it had an easy opening, eyes lighting up as the seed atop its head emerged and shot forth, striking Corphish and opening up, unleashing vines all across its body. Turtwig was quick to follow the next order as well, jumping back, sliding a few inches, and then swinging his head forward to unleash three razor sharp leaves that sliced across Corphish, sending the water type crashing to the ground.

"And that's the match!" Sycamore called out quickly, even though it looked like Corphish could probably still continue. Turtwig had definitely done a lot of damage in that short time, though, with only a couple of attacks. "Well done, Clemont and Turtwig."

"What ability was that?" Ash heard someone muttering, as Clembot and Clemont both recalled their Pokemon. Ash was unsure as well, trying to remember if he'd seen it before. He glanced up at Rowlet, the Grass Quill Pokemon tilting his head in curiosity.

Luckily for the class, Sycamore had their answer, which he explained as Clemont made his way back towards his seat next to Ash. "That was the ability known as Shell Armour," Sycamore explained, looking impressed as his eyes followed Clemont, who seemed a little embarrassed at the impressed looks he was getting. "It's a rare ability for a Turtwig to have; what we've been calling a hidden ability. It's not going to protect Turtwig from many other attacks, but as you saw there, a move like Crabhammer, which can often cause extra damage with a critical hit, was less effective, because Shell Armour protects the Pokemon from those critical hits. So, essentially, Crabhammer was just a barely effective water type attack on a grass type like Turtwig."

Ash raised his eyebrows at that, glancing over at Clemont, who shrugged, smiling nervously. That was interesting to know, for sure. It would definitely make Turtwig a little harder to deal with if Ash and Rowlet were to go up against him and Clemont in the tournament. Especially if Turtwig was able to land a few attacks early, and make those critical hits more important. The thought made Ash smile as he looked back towards the front of the class. He had to wonder if Clemont wanted to show that ability off to him and Rowlet, just to show that they were in for a challenge once the tournament started.

"And next up, we have Ash," Sycamore suddenly called out, looking back up to where Ash and Clemont were sitting. "Ready to get going, Ash?"

Ash nodded, quickly taking Rowlet, who had fallen asleep, off of his shoulder and carefully putting him in his backpack, before getting up and making his way towards the front of the class, Pikachu tensed up on his shoulder and ready to go. "Pikachu and I are all set, Professor Sycamore," he informed the Pokemon researcher, starting to head towards the spot opposite Clembot.

However, Professor Sycamore didn't seem quite ready, as he called out to Ash before he moved any further. "Sorry, Ash...and Pikachu, but I was hoping you could demonstrate something a little more...unusual."

Ash narrowed his eyes in confusion, turning around and looking up at Professor Sycamore. "What do you mean?" he asked, noticing Pikachu sigh in disappointment.

"I think you might have an idea," Sycamore answered, smiling a little.

Ash's hand drifted towards the pokeballs on his belt, his fingers lightly brushing over Greninja's pokeball, which seemed to shake in answer, the Ninja Pokemon clearly sensing what was up. Ash was a little hesitant, though, even after what he was thinking of the night before. They hadn't tried to battle, not in that way, since the IPL match against Anton. Ash had been hoping to get in some more training before doing that, and he hadn't exactly had a chance to since the tournament was announced. He supposed Sycamore had a reason for this request, though. Maybe he knows a little more, Ash thought, hoping Pikachu was going to forgive him as he knew what he had to do.

"You and Greninja, then?" Sycamore said after another moment of silence, apparently spotting Ash's hand closing around Greninja's pokeball. "I think it will be...educational."

Ash nodded, finally pulling out the pokeball and holding it up. "We'll do what we can." He glanced up at Pikachu on his shoulder, his loyal partner looking further disappointed. "Don't worry, buddy. You'll get in another battle soon. You'll lead the training for Rowlet later today, okay?"

Pikachu smiled at that, nodding and hopping off of his trainer's shoulder as the two of them made their way over to stand opposite Clembot on the mini battlefield at the front of the class. "Pi pikachu!" The electric mouse cheered out as Ash threw his pokeball forward, Greninja emerging with a flip through the air. Ash was glad for the support from his loyal partner Pokemon, promising to himself that he'd make sure Pikachu got his chance soon enough. He definitely wanted to make up for that loss in his last IPL match.

There was a brief moment of silence, if one ignored the excited murmurs about Greninja from some of the students, before Clembot called out his own Pokemon. "Chesnaught, come on out!" he shouted, firing the pokeball out of the mini cannon on his arm.

There were a few gasps from the other students, and Ash was surprised at the opposing Pokemon as well. The grass and fighting type looked massive as it stood tall opposite Greninja, its arms strecthed out, ready to battle, and the large, spiky shell on its back casting a large shadow behind it. This was definitely going to be interesting. Ash wasn't put off by it, though, ready to see just what he and Greninja could do since battling Anton. They'd done well for the most part, only losing focus in the final stages. They'd struggled against Team Rocket after that, though, relying on Dawn and Serena to help them out. Now, they would get back on track, though. They would take this battle to their opponent. Chesnaught looked strong, but Ash and Greninja would beat it together.

When Sycamore signalled for the battle to begin, Ash was ready. "Start things off with Cut!" he ordered, clenching his fist at his hip and bringing his arm up like he was using a sword, just as Greninja did the same, the white blade of light emerging in his webbed hand. The water and dark type burst forward, seemingly vanishing from his spot in front of Ash, before reappearing a moment later in front of Chesnaught, slashing outwards with the white blade in his hand, striking Chesnaught in the chest with all the force he could muster.

Chesnaught was sent flying back from the attack, soaring through the air and landing hard on the ground behind Clembot, who looked very surprised for a robot. Ash's eyes widened, also surprised by the force in the attack. He could almost feel it, the desire that he and Greninja had to get themselves back on track adding something more to that attack.

"All right, keep it up!" Ash yelled, his heart beating a little faster as they prepared to quickly move into the next stage of the battle. He could see Chesnaught starting to stand, but he wasn't going to let his opponent get back into it. There was no chance. "Aerial Ace!"

"NINJA!" Greninja was off like a bullet again, darting past Clembot, who didn't have any clue as to how to respond. The Ninja Pokemon's limbs glowed white as he ducked past Chesnaught and then kicked outward as hard as he could, lifting the grass and fighting type into the air. Then, he jumped up, spinning around and sending another kick, propelling Chesnaught back to where he started, crashing hard into the ground in front of Clembot, cracking the floor and causing a few students near the front to laugh nervously.

Keep it up! Ash thought. Don't let up! "Water Shuriken!" His heart was racing even faster, his eyes widening and focusing closer on his target. He could see Chesnaught in front of him, struggling to stand from the Aerial Ace a moment earlier. He felt the water rushing in his hand as Greninja raised his arm up from midair, the shuriken forming quickly. Then, with all his might, the Ninja Pokemon fired it forward, the watery projectile crashing against Chesnaught and sending it face first into the ground again as Greninja landed, ready to keep his attacks going.

That's when Ash knew it was happening. He saw through Greninja's eyes, felt the water rushing around him, felt the desire to work together and push back their doubts. Ash could see the torrent around him from Greninja's eyes, and he could see the transformation taking place in front of him from his own. He felt the excitement, both his own and Greninja's, and then they spread their arms, embracing the rush of power as the water formed into a shuriken on Greninja's back.

"Now, Greninja, finish this with-"

"Stop!"

Ash was so close to completing the order, he was almost tempted to follow through, but fortunately, he managed to restrain himself, Greninja helping to do so as he quickly lowered his arms. Both of them looked across at one another, Greninja's form suddenly fading away, almost as quickly as it had appeared. Ash could hear some muttering from the students in the class, but ignored them as he looked forward, seeing Chesnaught ahead of him, the grass type struggling to its feet, looking completely wiped out.

He quickly made his way forward, helping Chesnaught up, feeling guilty about going all out like he had, despite only having landed three attacks. "Hey Chesnaught, sorry about that. You okay?"

"Ches chesnaught," the Spiny Armour Pokemon answered, smiling in thanks at Ash, although wincing a little as it finally stood up straight. It turned as Greninja approached, nodding to the Ninja Pokemon. "Chesnaught ches," it said.

"Ninja," Greninja answered, nodding back, before looking to Ash. He seemed to be a little shocked as well at his display of strength, bringing up his webbed hand and looking at it curiously. Ash just smiled back, though, knowing that this was only a fraction of what they could do together. He hadn't felt like that since their match against Diantha, when she'd challenged them, having heard of Greninja's strange form.

"That's all for today, class," Sycamore suddenly called out, having made his way over to stand next to Ash at the centre of the battlefield, while Clembot recalled Chesnaught back into its pokeball. "We'll discuss this ability next week. Good luck in the tournament this weekend, for those who are participating."

Ash got the sense that he would be staying behind, which he was fine with, as he definitely had some questions to ask, so he waited patiently as the crowd of students started making their way out. Many were whispering to each other, looking in Ash's direction, clearly excited about his brief, but dominant display with Greninja. He ignored that, though, noticing as Clemont started making his way down, bringing Ash's bag with him. He looked pretty surprised by Ash's display as well, but more curious about Sycamore's sudden dismissal of the class.

When the class had finally cleared out, and Ash and Clemont were standing with Sycamore, the Pokemon researcher made his way back over to his desk, grabbing a few papers, before returning, eyes on Greninja. "Well...congratulations, Ash. You passed," he joked, smiling at him and Greninja. "Excellent use of the Battle Bond, or also known as, the Bond Phenomenon. Sorry you couldn't properly battle with it, but clearly it would have been a bit too much for Chesnaught to handle. I've never seen Clembot look so overwhelmed before, but he was adjusted for Intermediate trainers, for the purposes of this test." Ash noticed Clemont look a little relieved at that, obviously having thought his invention had somehow failed.

Ash was more curious about the first thing that Sycamore had said, though, and he exchanged a curious look with Greninja as he asked his question. "You said I used the...Bond Phenomenon?"

Sycamore nodded, looking at the papers in his hands, which had some diagrams of a Greninja and some pictures of ninjas and old looking stone tablets. "I've had to do a great deal of research just to find this little bit of information, but at least it's something. I have a couple other things I'm looking into, and a guest will be visiting this weekend to discuss it, but I thought you'd find what I have now to be interesting."

"So it's something that's happened before?" Clemont asked, moving over to glance at the notes Sycamore had in his hands. "Are there any other trainers you know of that can do it?"

"Well...not exactly," Sycamore admitted, chuckling in amusement as he looked back at Ash. "I think Ash and Greninja are the only ones to have achieved this in hundreds of years. However, it seems that it has been accomplished before, by a Greninja in Ninja Village." That didn't surprise Ash, as he remembered the devoted Greninja fans like Sanpei he'd met there. Of course, even they didn't seem to know too much about Greninja's form when they'd seen it, almost just as surprised as Ash.

"Do you know why we can do this?' Ash asked, leaning forward and glancing at the notes as well, although stepping back a moment later, too confused by them, preferring Sycamore's explanation. "Is it something special about Greninja?"

"Yes, and you as well, Ash." Sycamore paused, looking at his notes, appearing like he was still trying to figure a few things out. "It's still a little unclear, but it seems that only a very unique bond of complete trust and belief in one another can achieve this. Of course, as Greninja is the only Pokemon known to have accomplished this before, I would assume it has something to do with the species as well. Perhaps some variation of Torrent or Protean...I still need to research further on that. It's also possible it's got a connection to another region, which my guest may be able to help out with. In any case, the trust that you and Greninja have for one another when activating this...ability, appears to be so powerful that you are, in a sense, able to become one being as you battle. Greninja even takes on some of your physical characteristics...including what you seem to wear."

Ash's eyes widened at that, thinking of the red and black fins, along with the lighter blue skin that appeared, possibly being a match to his hat, hair and jacket. What he was a little less surprised about, was the trust factor. He knew it had something to do with their bond, the transformation often activating when they were focused on one goal together. Of course, it was still a little confusing, as he knew he'd at the very least had similar bonds with his other Pokemon. Especially Pikachu.

He wondered about the times he'd struggled with Greninja's transformation, his mind going back to what he'd thought about the previous night, when on the roof with Serena. He didn't think it had ever been lack of trust in Greninja, but perhaps they'd lost trust in themselves, which made it harder to work together. He knew he had to make sure to be careful about that in the future, and not just with Greninja.

"Do you know why it seems to be on a level close to mega evolution?" Clemont asked after a few moments of silence, peering at a picture Sycamore had of a Key Stone and Greninja in the midst of transforming.

Sycamore paused at that, suddenly pulling out a Key Stone from his pocket, which Ash assumed was the one that would be the victor's prize in the upcoming tournament. "It definitely has to do with the bond, which is essential for both transformations. A Pokemon somehow being able to harness the power granted to them by their trainer is rare enough, but to do it in this way is truly one of a kind. I would definitely be interested to see how a bond on that level would work when it came to standard mega evolution."

Ash thought that would be an interesting thing to see as well. And the thought made him even more excited to battle his friends in the tournament. He was excited to see just how close they all were with their Pokemon, and just what they could get them to do on the battlefield.

"A tournament with a Key Stone as the prize? That sounds awesome!" Clemont couldn't help but smile as Korrina pumped her fists in excitement, despite having no part in the upcoming tournament. "It'd be really cool if you managed to get a Key Stone, Clemont. Then you just have to get a mega stone, and a Pokemon to mega evolve, and..."

It was kind of hard to follow along as she went on a bit of a tangent about the different Pokemon she knew that Clemont could catch and find a mega stone for. She had a few recommendations for places in Geosenge Town to look, and even said her grandfather knew of a few places in Hoenn and Kanto that might have some places. That was about all he could keep up with, though, instead just watching her on the video monitor, her blonde hair bouncing up and down as she animatedly discussed the mega stones she knew about.

After a few moments, he realized that he was staring, silently thanking Arceus that Bonnie or Shauna weren't watching him. He'd kind of decided to make this call out of nowhere, after Ash, and Dawn, who'd caught up with them on the way to the training facilities, had both decided to make a call of their own. Clemont had just wondered if Korrina might have something to say about the Key Stone being the prize for the tournament. And...apparently she did.

"Maybe when you win and are able to mega evolve a Pokemon, you and I can have a rematch. And that time it'll be a bit more fair since you'll have a mega Pokemon too." Korrina finally paused for a breath there, sitting back in the seat she was in and looking back at Clemont, smiling confidently.

It took Clemont a few seconds to realize what she'd actually said, staring back curiously as she waited for an answer. Then, he shook his head as the realization hit him. "Wh-what? You think I'm gonna win? It's pretty tough competition, you know."

Korrina shrugged, obviously thinking that was nothing to worry about. "You're a good trainer, Clemont. I barely beat you, and I was using my best Pokemon with mega evolution. And you said everyone's using Pokemon they've never competed with officially, right? You've got as good a chance as any of them, and I know you and your Turtwig will figure it out."

"I don't know," Clemont admitted, feeling the little bit of doubt as he looked over towards Ash, who was busy talking to Professor Oak. "It's some pretty tough competition," he said, as he turned back to look at Korrina. "Ash and the others still have some tough Pokemon, and they know how to get a lot out of them."

Korrina shook her head, waving her hand dismissively. "Clemont, come on! You want to win, right? You're not entering to lose."

"Of course not!" Clemont said quickly, shaking his head. He couldn't help but let his shoulders sag a little. "I mean...I want to win, but, I just know it'll be tough. Really tough. Turtwig's still kind of unpredictable, and there are some tough trainers and Pokemon competing. I just don't want to get my hopes up-"

"No! No no no! Clemont! That's not how to look at it at all! Never never never!" Korrina suddenly hit her fist on the table in front of her. She looked seriously at Clemont, and although there was no anger in her voice, she still sounded kind of intimidating. "You have to know that you're going to win. You didn't act like you didn't want to get your hopes up when you battled me. You seemed ready to win."

"That was...different," Clemont muttered, eyes widening a bit as he said that. He couldn't exactly explain how it was different, but he once again was quite happy that Bonnie and Shauna weren't there to bug him at the moment.

Korrina didn't seem to catch the meaning behind his words, though, once again shaking her head. "You can win this thing, Clemont. Make sure you believe it. Do you think I'm planning on letting those guys at Laverre beat me when we battle them next week? No way! I know I'm gonna win."

Clemont had almost forgotten about the IPL, with the tournament coming up. Not to mention, he hadn't even considered the fact that Korrina would be going up against Anton and the others at Laverre. "Do you know about that trainer, Anton?" he asked, curious about how much Korrina had prepared.

"We've got a plan to beat him," Korrina said confidently, leaning back and looking a little more relaxed at the change in topic, obviously excited to talk about her IPL team. "My grandfather seems to know him, and he says he knows a good way to get him and the rest of Laverre off their game."

Clemont wasn't so sure about that, but he just smiled at Korrina's confidence. From what he'd seen, Anton knew how to get into his opponents' heads better than anyone. Of course, Gurkinn had the Shalour team well prepared for Lumiose's arrival, so perhaps he did have something ready for Laverre. Clemont laughed, starting to understand Korrina's point about being more confident about his future battles. "I'm looking forward to hearing about your win."

"And I'm looking forward to hearing about yours!"

"So it's called the Bond...Phenomenon?" Dawn asked, scratching her head in confusion as they headed down the hallway of the training facilities to the battlefields. "Well...I guess that's why Professor Oak didn't seem to know too much about it. I don't think I ever heard anything about something like that when I travelled through Kanto."

"I've never heard of anything like it, either," Ash said, pushing open the door as the two of them, with Clemont trailing behind them, entered the battlefield area, noticing the rest of their friends up ahead. "I knew the people in Ninja Village loved Greninja, but I had no idea that that was where it first came up. I wonder if they might know anything else."

"Professor Sycamore probably got everything he could out of them," Clemont pointed out. "It seems like there's still plenty of research to do when it comes to it."

Dawn nodded, although she was sure Ash was happy to at least have a little bit of clarity on what it was. "At least you know what to call it," she pointed out to him. "And maybe now that you know even just a little about it, you can still work on it some more."

Clemont laughed at that. "If anyone can somehow make that form stronger, it's Ash."

When they finally reached their friends, Ash apparently deciding to wait before explaining the whole Bond Phenomenon thing to them, Dawn could feel the excitement emanating from them all. This would be their last chance to train before the tournament started the next day, and they were all ready to get things going. It was definitely going to be an interesting weekend. Dawn was just hoping she and Scatterbug would be able to keep up. Her newest bug type had the energy, that was for sure, but she just wanted to make sure it had the discipline.

"Ready to get some training in?" Ash started off, Rowlet slowly hovering out of his bag, but immediately perking up as he noticed Clemont calling out Turtwig, who not so casually started to make his way over to Serena, apparently smelling pokepuffs. Riolu, who was at her side, nervously watched the grass type, looking nervous at the sight Turtwig's wide, hungry eyes. Dawn didn't blame him.

Everyone was quick to call out their own Pokemon in answer. Dawn looked over to Marie as she called out Scatterbug, noticing her friend excitedly holding up her pokeball and calling out her new Fletchling. Ash was quick to take note, walking over as Fletchling perched itself on Marie's shoulder.

"Wow, that's a strong looking Fletchling," he said, smiling at the little flying type. "I'll have to get Talonflame here at some point. I bet they'll get along great."

Marie's eyes widened at that, and she looked almost as excited as she'd been when she'd actually caught Fletchling. "That'd be so cool, Ash!" she almost shouted, looking at Fletchling, shaking with excitement. "Fletchling, you can learn all kinds of amazing flying moves. Talonflame was one of the best fliers in the whole Kalos League."

Ash rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little embarrassed at the praise for his flying type. "Haha, thanks. Talonflame definitely worked a lot on his flying skills." He then looked up to Rowlet, who looked ready to get started as he exchanged a challenging look with Turtwig. "And I guess that's something we should continue doing with you, Rowlet. If you can control the battle from the air, you'll be tough to beat. How about you and Fletchling train with us, Marie?"

Marie seemed pretty pleased with that idea, and the two of them quickly set off to a battlefield, Ash quickly calling out his Hawlucha and Noctowl to join in. Riolu followed, clearly excited upon seeing Hawlucha. Soon after that, Serena and Shauna set off to another field, while Tierno and Trevor did as well. This left Dawn and Clemont, the two deciding they might as well train together and heading to the field next to Ash and Marie, and Tierno and Trevor. Dawn took a quick glance over at the mock battle Tierno and Trevor were having, noticing Trevor's Mudkip struggling with Chimchar's dancing.

"Anything you're hoping to work on?" Clemont asked, as he took his place on the battlefield, Turtwig standing in front of him, the grass type glancing over as Ash's Rowlet demonstrated a perfect Peck attack for Marie's Fletchling.

"I think I just want to get used to using Scatterbug some more," Dawn said, calling the bug type out of its pokeball. She'd trained pretty hard with Scatterbug the last couple days since catching it, but she knew she still had plenty of work to do if she wanted to have any chance in the tournament. Luckily, she seemed to have a good idea of Scatterbug's style, which she had confidence she could work with.

"All right, how about a practice battle then?" Clemont suggested, Turtwig looking towards Dawn and Scatterbug as he realized what his trainer had said.

Scatterbug seemed interested in the idea, so Dawn nodded, giving a thumbs up to her newest Pokemon as they got in battle position. Piplup gave a little cheer from his spot next to her, giving his full support to his newest teammate. "Okay, Clemont, you take the first move!"

Clemont nodded, watching Scatterbug a moment and then exchanging a look with Turtwig. "Turtwig, start off with Tackle!"

"Slow it down with String Shot!" Dawn countered quickly, noticing Scatterbug tense up quickly as Turtwig started to approach.

"Scatter scatterbug!" Scatterbug quickly crouched low, making itself a small target in case Turtwig was able to get close and change attacks, making sure to stay cautious. Then, as Turtwig began to close the gap, it fired off the silky rope, the web striking Turtwig in the centre of the head and causing him to stagger to the side and come to a stop, unable to properly see.

"Now, pull down and use Tackle!" Dawn ordered, wanting to see just how quickly Scatterbug could take advantage of an opening like this, against a skilled trainer like Clemont.

Unfortunatley, Clemont was quick to act, and he and Turtwig were starting to understand each other very well, so their reaction time was quite fast. "Break off with Bite, and then use Leech Seed!"

"Twig!" Turtwig shouted excitedly, opening his jaws wide and then biting forward and snapping off the stringy webs that stuck to his head, just as Scatterbug pulled and began to charge forward. Dawn clenched her fists as she noticed the poor bug type fall into a vulnerable position, Turtwig's seed firing out. Scatterbug could only look up in surprise as the seed struck and exploded in vines all around it.

"Awww, I thought we had you there for a second," Dawn said, the two of them pausing so she could head out to remove the vines from the irritated looking Scatterbug. Clearly the Scatterdust Pokemon had a short temper, as it had shown against Team Rocket, and it wasn't happy about allowing even one attack to hit it.

"I think you had the right idea," Clemont told her, kneeling down next to Turtwig and petting the grass type on the head, a rare moment of normalcy for the pair. "You and Scatterbug will be quicker once you get to know each other better."

Dawn shrugged at that, finally pulling away the rest of the vines and picking Scatterbug up and looking it in the eyes. "Yeah, we'll be fine, right Scatterbug?"

"Pip piplup!" Piplup added, smiling up at Scatterbug, who seemed pleased by the declaration its trainer was making.

"Chim chim charrr!"

Dawn jumped a bit at the sudden noise, looking over to see Tierno's Chimchar doing cartwheels around the battlefield and firing Ember attacks at Mudkip. The Mud Fish Pokemon was clearly overwhelmed, struggling to follow and being hit repeatedly. However, Chimchar's aim wasn't exactly great, missing a few times and sending a few small balls of flame into the other battlefields, one barely missing Ash's Rowlet as it dove to the ground to clash with Hawlucha, which caused the Wrestling Pokemon to shout in anger at the dancing fire type.

Unfortunately, Chimchar appeared to be so into his dancing, that his recklessness not only continued, but seemed to be getting worse. Tierno didn't seem to really notice, either, obviously into some kind of routine that he'd prepared with his fire type. Dawn took a quick glance at the fields her friends were training on, noticing they'd all either stopped their sparring, or were at least distracted by Chimchar's yells. Trevor, who was in the middle of trying to command Mudkip, also seemed to be noticing things were going a bit too far.

"Charrr!" Chimchar seemed to be wrapping up his ultimate dance, though, jumping from side to side and then spinning around and firing a particularly large fireball towards Mudkip. Unfortunately, Mudkip managed to dodge to the side and the attack, with so much force behind it, went sailing past the Mud Fish Pokemon's side and out towards the next battlefield. The battlefield where Dawn and Clemont were.

"Pip!"

Time seemed to move slower in that moment, Dawn's eyes widening as she noticed the Ember attack approach Piplup. She felt Scatterbug squirm in her arms, though, and a second later, the bug type was glowing faintly, a pink outline around its body. Then, as the Ember was just about to strike Piplup, the Penguin Pokemon's body had the same pink glow around his body. The attack struck then, sending Piplup staggering backwards. Fortunately, though, it didn't seem to hurt him too much, and he quickly got to his feet, looking up at Scatterbug in surprise.

"Wow," Clemont said, sounding surprised, walking over to Dawn and looking curiously at Scatterbug. "Dawn, I think that was Scatterbug's ability."

"Its ability? What was-"

"Scatter scatterbug!" Scatterbug suddenly jumped out of her arms, glaring out towards Tierno and Chimchar, the two of them finally having realized what had happened and looking over in surprise.

"Sorry Dawn!" Tierno called out, looking pretty guilty. "Is Piplup okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," Dawn said, looking over at her partner Pokemon, who nodded in answer. Of course, Scatterbug didn't seem so willing to forgive. Suddenly, the bug type jumped up into the air in front of her, the rope of web firing out towards Tierno and Chimchar from the other battlefield. "Scatterbug! Stop!"

"Chimchar!" Chimchar was quick to respond, sending out another Ember attack, which clashed with the String Shot between the two battlefields, the webs burning away quickly.

Both Dawn and Tierno quickly rushed over to their Pokemon, holding on tight to them to make sure they didn't fire off any more attacks. It didn't stop either of them from trying, though, each squirming in their trainers' arms and doing their best to attack again. Fortunately, Marie was able to help, her Jigglypuff quickly hopping over to each Pokemon and singing quickly in their directions, putting both Scatterbug and Chimchar to sleep.

Dawn sat back after that, as she and her friends sighed in relief. She could see Ash looking over with a smile on his face, looking surprisingly excited. For a moment, she wasn't sure why, but as she looked over to Tierno, his own eyes shining with excitement as he looked back, a challenging expression on his face, she realized why.

It was always good to have a rival to help you grow. And now, Scatterbug appeared to have one.

Author's Note:

And with that, we've got another little rivalry started. Will Scatterbug help Dawn avenge her loss to Tierno from the IPL tryouts? Guess we'll find out soon enough.

As for Ash-Greninja in the little abilities test that Sycamore had, I wanted it to be a dominant win. Not because Ash is going to easily get past everything he faces now, but because he's essentially out of that funk. He's ready for his next real battle, and even though it won't involve Greninja, he'll be a threat.

So...tournament starts next time, in Chapter 34: Sycamore's Mega Tournament Part 1