After much pleading from Bonnie, Ash finally agreed to go back to the gym with her to say hi to Clemont and Mairin. He made her first promise that she wouldn't tell Serena about anything and then he assured her Clemont and Mairin would have to make the promise as well.

"Yeah yeah." Bonnie muttered. "They will, don't worry." She ran ahead towards Prism Tower, with Dawn and Ash close behind her. They reached the doors in a few minutes and Bonnie hurriedly opened them. When they were all inside, Bonnie immediately announced their arrival. "Clemont! Mairin! I've got a surprise!" She lead Ash and Dawn down the hallway and they entered the battlefield.

Mairin was in there, practising with Chespie and Bebe. She looked up from the mock battle her two Pokemon were having and at first only saw Bonnie. "Oh hey Bonnie I-" She then saw Ash and Dawn enter behind her and Mairin's eyes widened. "Ash!" She yelled excitedly.

Ash smiled. "Hey Mairin. Training hard?"

Mairin nodded and came up to stand in front of them. "What are you doing here?" She looked at Dawn. "Oh hi, I'm Mairin."

"I'm Dawn." Dawn said happily. "I travelled with Ash in Sinnoh. We ran into each other near Anistar City."

Ash answered Mairin's question. "I needed to check up on something here. I was worried about something."

A door then opened at the other end of the battlefield and Ash noticed Clemont tiredly stumbling out. "Bonnie...did I hear you yelling? How many..." He looked at the group across from him and his eyes widened. "Ash?"

"Hey Clemont." Ash greeted. "How's the gym going?"

Clemont came over and once again Dawn was introduced. Ash then explained what they were doing in Lumiose City, to which Mairin and Clemont immediately started exclaiming in worry, thinking they were going to need to go right away and save Serena.

"No it's alright." Ash said. "I checked on her." He looked at Bonnie. "We just came here before leaving. Bonnie wanted to bring us over." He then looked at Dawn. "And I think Dawn would like to see the top of Prism Tower."

Clemont nodded. "Well it's definitely good to see you again, Ash. I'm glad you're alright. I was a little worried when I heard about the whole Team Flare thing in Anistar City."

Ash waved his hand to dismiss that. "Nothing to worry about. Those two are in jail and we'll get that Sundial back eventually."

Clemont sighed. "Well...I suppose you're right." He didn't exactly sound like he believed that. "Um...did you hear about Malva?"

Ash nodded. "Oh yeah...I'll tell you about that. How about we catch up on our way to the top of the tower?"

Clemont agreed and then lead them to an elevator which would take them to the top. On the way up, Ash explained the story with Malva, and then Bonnie broke in to explain that it sounded like the woman who had challenged the gym. Ash then explained what had happened in Anistar City and how he was now on his way to Shalour City. They had just finished talking, when the doors opened and they were able to step out onto the observation deck of Prism Tower.

"So where is it that Ash jumped from?" Dawn asked.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I'll show you. There's still some damage from where Garchomp attacked. Bonnie then lead Dawn around to the other side of the deck, followed by Mairin, leaving Ash and Clemont alone.

"So...you're not staying?" Clemont asked.

Ash shook his head. "I can't. You know I want to...but it's not fair to Serena." He shrugged. "I don't know...there's something else too. From what Olympia said, it seems like it's pretty important for me to get to Shalour City. Maybe it will be something that can help me get Greninja back." He thought about that for a moment. Maybe it was about that. His eyes then widened. Greninja was probably really close. If he...

"You think that Gurkinn knows something?" Clemont asked, taking Ash away from his thoughts. He seemed to know a lot about mega evolution.

Ash shrugged. "Whatever the reason, I hope it's something that can finally end all this stuff. I need to just sort all this stuff out. With Greninja, with Team Flare...maybe with Serena."

"I hope you two can work something out." Clemont said quietly. "You two were really happy together. It was hard for everyone else as well...seeing you two split up."

"Yeah...I'm sorry." Ash said. "It was probably a mistake." He now knew that more than anything. Seeing Serena and seeing that she wasn't as happy as he'd thought she might be, was hard on him. It couldn't change things now, though. He couldn't mess with her feelings like that. And he still had things to take care of.

Clemont apparently decided it was better to steer the subject away from Serena. "So you said Olympia showed you something about Greninja, right?"

Ash nodded. "He's here, you know? In Lumiose City." Clemont gasped and Ash continued, smiling. "Olympia showed me a vision that was from Greninja's point of view. He was watching over Serena." Ash then looked down, staring at Lumiose City below him. "I have to try to talk to him..." He whispered, barely audible.

"Sorry, what was that?" Clemont asked.

"I've gotta go." Ash said quickly. "I'll see you later." He picked up Pikachu off of his shoulder and placed him on the ground next to Clemont. "Wait with Clemont, buddy. I've gotta do this on my own." Pikachu reluctantly nodded. Ash smiled and then he turned and ran inside the elevator, ignoring Clemont's surprised stuttering.

In a few minutes, Ash was on the streets of Lumiose City once again. He wouldn't realize it until much later, but as he ran towards the river, it was with his eyes closed, as he did his best to concentrate on where Greninja was. He didn't fall, he didn't bump into anything or anyone. He just ran, until eventually he was standing in front of the river, opening his eyes and staring into it.

"Greninja." Ash said quietly. "Greninja, can you hear me?" He waited for a few moments. Nothing happened. It was completely silent except for some sounds from people walking the streets of Lumiose City and a few cars beeping and the more peaceful sound of the river flowing.

Ash tried closing his eyes again. Maybe he could sense Greninja's presence. Greninja. He thought. Greninja, please. I really need to speak with you. Ash waited another few moments. He kept his eyes closed, attempting to search the water with his mind, as ridiculous as the attempt might have seemed. He suddenly gasped as he somehow started to...see. He knew his eyes were closed, but somehow he seemed to be seeing his surroundings in a foggy haze. Various shapes could be seen, but overall, things seemed very dark. The only light seemed to come from the shapes of people and Pokemon around, that seemed to flash in blue lights.

Ash felt sweat go down his neck. Whatever he was doing, it was difficult to keep up. He had to hurry. He focused on the river, noticing that it seemed to get brighter, and glowed a bit green, as he focused on it. He forced his mind to move along the river. It was a very odd sensation, knowing he was searching farther away than he could see if he were to open his eyes in that very moment. He couldn't let that bother him, though, Ash needed to keep going.

Finally, as his mind began to grow more tired, and as Ash was just about to give up, a bright blue light flashed in the river ahead of him. Ash could tell the shape could sense his presence and he knew immediately who it was. Greninja,Ash thought, please come to me. It's important.He then opened his eyes, ending his connection and he felt a huge wave of exhaustion come over him. Whatever that was he just did, he definitely had no interest in doing it again. He hoped it wasn't a waste.

It was a few minuted before Ash knew it had worked. He had been staring up at the sky, sitting next to the river, just trying to recover, when a splash was heard to his right and he looked up. He couldn't control the huge smile that came to his face. "Greninja..." Ash said quietly. "Thank...thank you for coming."

Greninja nodded, but didn't move or speak after that. He just stood there waiting. Ash didn't know if he was mad, sad, or even if he was happy. He knew he could probably figure it out if he tried connecting with Greninja, but he didn't want to upset the frog-ninja Pokemon.

"I needed to talk to you." Ash said. "I...I think I'm going to be able to learn how to make our bond work." Ash hesitated and then continued. "I'm going to Shalour City. I think Gurkinn is going to help me understand mega evolution better. Or at least whatever it is we can do. I think it is going to help me control our connection better." Ash had started thinking about this carefully once Clemont had suggested this could be what he'd study with Gurkinn. It definitely seemed to make the most sense. It had to be what he was going to learn about.

Greninja suddenly looked at Ash with excitement. "Greninja?" He croaked. It was as if...he was asking if he could come along. This was pretty surprising to Ash, since it wasGreninja who had left after all. But apparently, thinking there was a better way to control their bond, made Greninja think that it was a good idea to go with Ash again.

"Well that's the thing..." Ash said. There had been another thing he had thought about. The main reason he needed to talk to Greninja."

XXXXX

Serena and her Pokemon were almost back at the apartment when she felt a tug on her leg. She looked down and saw Pancham staring up at her with wide and upset eyes. He was gesturing to his head and then pointing back towards where they had come from.

"Oh, you forgot your sunglasses?" Serena asked. "Don't worry, Pancham, we can go back and get them." There was no way she was going to ignore him. Pancham loved his sunglasses, so it didn't matter if they had to go back. "Come on," Serena said, "they're probably along the river."

Pancham smiled gratefully and he, Serena, Delphox and Sylveon started walking back. They cut through the streets so they could walk back along the river. They walked for a few minutes and then Serena stopped, thinking she had heard a voice. She strained her ears to hear better, but nothing else could be heard.

"Delphox?" Delphox suddenly yelped, looking up in surprise.

"What is it?" Serena asked.

"Del!" Delphox suddenly started animatedly pointing at the river.

"I don't see-" Serena's jaw dropped. It was unbelievable. She could see it. In the river, swimming away, was...Greninja. Serena might have mistaken him for another one, but clearly Delphox knew it was who they all hoped it would be. "We have to follow him." Serena said quickly.

They immediately started running, doing their very best to catch up to Greninja. They were quite far behind, though, and Greninja was obviously quite fast in the water. Serena knew, however, that all they needed to do was follow the river, and they would hopefully find out where he was going.

Eventually, they were starting to get close to the area near Prism Tower, after running for a few minutes. Serena was getting tempted to give up and just go back and get Pancham's sunglasses, but then she heard something around the corner that made her stop in her tracks. The voice...could it actually be? She peered around the corner, sticking close to a building to make sure she wasn't seen, her Pokemon doing the same. Her jaw dropped. Itwas him. She was so tempted to run out to him, but then she realized he was talking to Greninja. It must have been the first time they'd seen each other since Vaniville Town. Serena couldn't interrupt that. But...she couldn't help herself but listen. It wasn't to be nosey, but just to hear Ash's voice again.

"Well that's the thing..." Ash started to say. He sounded hesitant and regretful. He was looking at Greninja apologetically. "Greninja, I think it'sme that needs to work on myself. It's not you that needs training. I think you've already mastered our bond. I know that sounds weird, but, I think the problem comes on my end."

"Greninja-gren." Greninja muttered, looking down sadly.

"I've missed you too." Ash said. "But, Greninja, maybe it was good to spend time apart. I think that it will help us when we fight together again. And you know what, I think it's happening soon. Team Flare is preparing something with the Sundial and we need to be on alert."

"Gren-greninja?" Greninja asked, looking surprised.

"Yeah." Ash said. "That's part of the reason I want you to stay here. I need you to watch over Serena like you've been doing." Serena felt tears come to her eyes. He still cared about her. "Please Greninja, watch over her for me. When I've finished what I'm doing in Shalour City and Coumarine City, I'll come back. Then, we'll fight Team Flare together and maybe I can figure something out with Serena."

Greninja nodded. "Ninja." He said seriously. He then turned to the river. He looked at Ash one more time and then leaped in, sending up a splash of water.

Ash looked at the water for a couple more minutes. He then gasped and turned towards Serena's direction. She quickly ducked out of the way. As much as she wanted to talk to him, something told her it wasn't right. There was a reason Ash hadn't come to see her. He was waiting. He had said he had something to do in Shalour City and Coumarine City first.

There was then a voice, calling for Ash. Serena carefully peered around the corner again and saw Bonnie, Clemont, Mairin and another girl running towards the river. The new girl was maybe slightly younger than Ash, had a black shirt, pink skirt, pink boots and a white cap covering her navy blue hair. Serena had no idea who she was.

"Ash, why did you go running off like that?" Clemont asked. Pikachu, who was on Clemont's shoulder, hopped off and jumped up onto Ash's.

"I had something I needed to take care of." Ash said. He smiled. "I just talked to Greninja."

Bonnie gasped. "What? Is he with you again?"

Ash shook his head. "Not yet. I asked him to stay here. I need him to watch over Serena for me."

Mairin looked around. "Where did he go?"

Ash shrugged. "Into the river. I guess he's kind of been staying there the whole time." He paused. "He seemed to want to get to work. I...uh..."

The new girl stepped forward. "I guess this means you want to get going?"

"You know me, Dawn, I've gotta be on the move as much as possible." Ash pumped his fist confidently. "Shalour City is our next stop."Dawn? Serena thought. She travelled with Ash before. The coordinator from Sinnoh.

Bonnie suddenly jumped up in surprise as Squishy leaped out of her bag. "Squishy? Squishy what are you doing?"

Squishy quickly hopped over to Ash and started jumping up and down wildly, making his odd little noises. He definitely seemed upset about something. Serena could see the fear in his eyes. He then hopped onto Ash's shoulder and then onto his head and started jumping up and down furiously.

"What's wrong, Squishy?" Ash asked, looking alarmed. Squishy had never really had much to do with anyone besides Bonnie, so it was odd to see him acting up so much with someone else."

Squishy then gave Bonnie a pleading look and continued hopping up and down on Ash's head. Bonnie looked at Ash. "I think Squishy doesn't want you to go." She looked worriedly at Clemont. "Does that mean Team Flare is coming?"

Clemont looked around nervously, as if he thought Lysandre, Malva and Zygarde were going to all appear at once. "I...I don't know." He said. "Can Squishy sense that kind of thing?"

Dawn looked at Squishy with interest. "Is that the Pokemon that Team Flare is after? The one the Pokedex couldn't scan. Zygarde or something?"

Ash nodded. He picked up Squishy from his head and held it out in front of him and looked seriously at him. "I don't know what it is you're saying Squishy, but I can tell you're scared. But don't worry." He smiled confidently. "I've gotta go, because I need to get stronger so I can protect my friends. So I can protect Bonnie, like you." He walked over to Bonnie and handed Squishy to her. "Squishy, until I get back, I asked Greninja to take care of Serena. I'd like to ask you to take care of Mairin, Clemont and Bonnie, alright?"

Serena could still see that Squishy was nervous, but Ash's words seemed to have calmed him down a bit. She could just barely hear from her hiding spot, the murmur of agreement from Squishy and saw him nod.

Ash then looked at Dawn. "Alright, I think we should go." He pulled out two pokeballs and Serena was pleasantly surprised to see Charizard and Pidgeot appear. Ash hopped on Charizard, while Dawn got on Pidgeot. Ash looked at Clemont, Bonnie and Mairin. "I'll be back as soon as I can. If anything happens...I'll be here right away."

Charizard roared and he and Pidgeot flapped their wings. Serena was barely able to control herself from running out to stop Ash from going. She watched as Ash and Dawn waved goodbye and then as their shapes became smaller as Charizard and Pidgeot flew higher into the sky.

XXXXX

Danger...danger approaches. I can...sense it.The eyes of a humanoid Pokemon with feline features opened and he stared out from where he hovered in the air. He watched as the Pokemon he had charged himself with protecting, frolicked around in their underground sanctuary. All were at peace with their surroundings and at peace with one another. A peace this Pokemon had come to even expect himself.

Below him, the Pokemon saw two other Pokemon, relaxing in their usual spot near him. They enjoyed just sitting at the edge of the pond and watching their other companions run around. These two Pokemon were particularly close to him. The Pikachu and the Meowth.

The purple and white Pokemon slowly lowered himself and stood behind his closest friends.Pikachu. Meowth. He addressed them, using his telepathic abilities.

The two Pokemon turned around and looked up at him with wide eyes. "Pikachu?" Pikachu asked, looking a little concerned.

I'm not sure. The Pokemon said, shaking his head in confusion. I feel as though danger is once again in my future.

"Meowth?" Meowth asked, clearly not understanding how danger could be a possibility once more, considering the man who had attacked them now had no memories of the encounter.

I suppose it doesn't matter that he has no memories of our history with him. He is still the same evil man that doesn't care about the well being of Pokemon and people. The feline humanoid Pokemon sighed. I changed his memory, but I could not change his nature. It is still his instinct to harm. I fear that he wants to hurt a very dear friend of ours.

Pikachu's ears perked up. "Pi-pikachu?"

Yes. The boy and his Pikachu are in great danger. I feel...it is necessary to help them. The world would be a much darker place if they were to be harmed. The Pokemon said calmly.

A noise was heard ahead and the feline humanoid Pokemon, along with his companions, looked to see what it was. It was all of the Pokemon of the sanctuary, looking on with determination. They had been listening to the conversation. First, a Venusar roared, then a Blastoise, then a Charizard. After that, all of the Pokemon began joining in, roaring in growling in unison. Some of these Pokemon were natural born wild Pokemon, while others bore the markings that signified they had come from somewhere else.

You want to help? The feline humanoid Pokemon asked. You would join me to help the boy? All of the Pokemon nodded.

The feline humanoid Pokemon smiled and then looked around his sanctuary. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here. We have had years of peace because of him. I cannot think of a way that I can repay him for that. This is the least that I can do. He looked at all of the Pokemon.Rest now. We will soon need to prepare for a long journey.

As all the Pokemon moved towards their resting areas, only two remained in their spots, near their leader. Pikachu and Meowth. The electric mouse looked up at his leader. "Pika-pikachu. Pikachu?"

I cannot quite understand it. I know it may seem strange, but I feel that, in a way, when he saved my life back then, we became bonded. And, I suppose that, in a way, when the other one almost killed me, I became bonded with him as well.

"Meowth?" Meowth asked, pawing at his face.

Of course I am scared. The purple and white Pokemon answered. Of all enemies that I have encountered, he is the most dangerous. I have faced Pokemon and humans alike, but this man...he has caused the most harm, both to myself and others. It does not matter, though. Like the boy showed me, Pokemon and humans must work together. They must live in peace. And...like I remember from my time in that lab...when someone I can't quite place told me something I still remember...life is precious. We cannot let that man destroy lives. He is planning something dangerous and I know I need to help stop it.

Pikachu smiled and stood up straight. Electricity sparked from his cheeks. "Pikachu! Pika-pi-pikachu." He yelled out excitedly.

Yes...I suppose I must admit...seeing the boy and his Pikachu again is an exciting thought. I wonder if he knows of the coming danger. If only there was a way to warn him. I do not know if the distance is too far. I must try regardless. He needs my help. I, Mewtwo, must help.