I don't watch Journeys so I'm probably going to screw something up, just bear with me. I've literally paid attention to maybe two episodes and one was only the sub, not the dub. Feat. Long Distance Relationship PalletShipping including a poorly written part of a date because I said so. Also one of my OCs is in here but it doesn't matter because they're literally just challenging the Lumiose Gym. The amount of cuss words that come out of Ash's mouth is hilarious, especially the amount of times he says fuck.

oh, also spoiler warning for JN068 - "Advice To Goh"

"I need you two to go to the Kalos region." Professor Cerise spoke, "There are two Zygardes" Goh piqued up in interest, whereas Ash just seemed, well, off, "-destroying vines all over Kalos. I believe it's related to the Kalos Crisis." Ash noticeably tensed, "I've tried talking to Professor Sycamore about the topic, but he wouldn't give any information. The two Zygardes are also commonly seen with a Greninja" It was Ash's turn to pique up in interest, "-who is doing the same job. So do you two think you can handle it?"

"Of course!" Came Goh's reply, who then turned to Ash, who was seemingly quiet and only nodded.

The two boys left to get prepared to leave for Kalos. As they walked down the hallway to their shared room, Goh spoke up, "I'd love to catch a Zygarde, or especially that Greninja! I mean, the Zygardes must be hanging around with it for some reason, right?"

"Not if I catch it first!" Ash exclaimed, implying to Goh that he also wanted to catch the Greninja.

Ash sure as hell wasn't going to let Goh catch Squishy either, that was Bonnie's Zygarde. Z2, on the other hand, he could care less if Goh caught it or not, no one really had a bond with it.

Greninja and Ash had recently been in contact, while Professor Cerise was talking, actually. Greninja was telling Ash that the last of the vines have just been destroyed, bad timing for Professor Cerise. However, he was still going to lead them on because he had a plan. The plan had already been Greninja approved.

Ash was quick to pack his things before heading to call a few people. He started by calling Gary.

"Hm, what is it Ashy-Boy?"

"What fucking region are you in, Gare-Bear?"

"I'm in Kalos, why?"

"Perfect. Could you do me a favor?"

"Of course I'll do you a favor, but only because it's you."

"Well then, Gare, you remember my Greninja?"

"Of course I do, Ashy. How could I forget? It's all you'd go over for an entire week after you beat Wulfric and finally had control over the Bond Phenomenon."

"Not sorry. Anyway, short story short, Goh and I are being sent on a fucking research mission to research why Squishy, Z2, and Greninja are destroying vines or something. While Professor Cerise was explaining it, however, Greninja connected with me saying he could return to me because the vines have been destroyed. Goh said he wanted to fucking catch Zygarde and especially Greninja."

"I can already see where this is going."

"Heh, yeah. I need you to lead Goh into a part of the forest where I'll tell Greninja to go. Then he'll probably try to catch Greninja and will fail because it's my pokemon. Then, you lead him to me, somewhere else, probably talking to Clemont and Bonnie. Greninja should be with me by the time you get to us."

"Hm, alright."

"Is there anything I can do in return? I know how you are about this, but I want to fucking help you with something! Like, help you with your fucking Project Mew Mission?"

"Well, my mission is currently to get a Zygarde Scale..."

"That's easy! I can probably just ask Squishy if it'd be willing to give you one of its scales."

Gary sighed, "Of course you can."

"After Greninja is back with me, do you wanna go visit Goodra with me?"

"I'd love to, Ashy-Boy."

"Well, I've got another fucker I still need to call. See you tomorrow, Gare, love you."

"I love you more, Ashy."

With that, Ash hung up, both trainers smiling fondly. Ash then started to call another number.

Meanwhile, in the Lumiose Gym, a trainer named Lilli was battling Clemont for a chance of their fifth gym badge. They were both down to their last Pokemon, it was their Sylveon versus Clemont's Luxray. Bunnelby had fallen to Lilli's Bulbasaur, who was then taken out by Heliolisk. Heliolisk had then fallen at the same time as Lilli's Lucario. Bonnie was sitting on the bleachers, watching both Clemont and Lilli's things, along with Lilli's Brionne, Lopunny, and Quilava. Clemont's phone had started going off.

"Clemont! Your phone is going off!" Bonnie yelled.

"Sylveon, hold off for a second." Lilli spoke.

"Who is it?" Clemont asked.

"It-It's Ash!" Bonnie called from the bleachers.

"Could you answer it for me?" Clemont asked his sister.

"Yeah!" Bonnie replied, pressing the answer button.

"Thank you! Alright, Luxray, Discharge!"

"Sylveon, Dazzling Gleam, and follow it with Psyshock!"

"Hi Ash!" Bonnie spoke.

"Hi Bonnie, where's Clemont?" Ash replied.

"He's having a gym battle, or was..." Bonnie spoke, looking out to Clemont returning Luxray as Lilli's Sylveon ran to Lilli.

As an exchange of a badge, compliments on the Pokemon, and advice occurred, Ash told Bonnie about how Greninja had contacted him.

Clemont and Lilli walked over to the bleachers, however, Lilli was just returning their Pokemon and grabbing their things before leaving, Sylveon glued to their side. Bonnie handed the phone over to her brother, who put it on speaker so both of them could hear.

"Hi, Ash." Clemont spoke.

"Hi, Clemont!" Ash said.

"So, why are you calling?" Clemont asked, "You're not the type to suddenly call out of the blue."

"I'm coming back to Kalos for a few days because Goh and I got assigned to fucking research why two Zygardes and a Greninja are destroying vines, but why would I just give them that information when Greninja just contacted me saying all of the fucking vines have been destroyed?"

"That makes sense, I suppose." Clemont replied, pinching the bridge of his nose, knowing Ash would have a stupid plan.

"Do you even have a plan?" Bonnie spoke, despite knowing he did.

"Yeah!" Ash replied, going off about his plan.

Pikachu, who had been on his shoulder this entire time, as per normal, spoke up with a "Pika!"

"Alright then. We'll see you tomorrow!" Clemont spoke.

"Bye!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Bye, see ya tomorrow!" Ash replied, hanging up.

"Who was that?" Goh asked, running up to the trainer.

"How much of that did you hear...?" Ash asked.

"Only you saying that you'd see them tomorrow." Goh confessed, "Why?"

"No reason. It was a few of my traveling buddies from Kalos." Ash answered.

"Oh, alright." Goh replied.

"Now I just need to go to the Pokemon Center. I'll be back!" Ash spoke, running towards the Pokemon Center.

Once Ash arrived at the Pokemon Center, he went over to the Pokeball transporters, where he called Professor Oak. There, he swapped out his team for his Kalos Team, and Charizard, as Charizard had expressed interest in battling Greninja after Ash told his Pokemon at Oak's about him. Then, he let them out of their Pokeballs and started heading back to Cerise's Lab, filling them in. The Kalosian Pokemon seemed excited to see their teammates once again, whereas Charizard seemed hyped to meet and battle Greninja. When he arrived back at the laboratory, Ash returned the four pokemon before walking into the door.

"Ash, you're back!" Goh spoke, "What do you wanna do? I'm bored."

Right, Ash had almost forgotten how innocent Goh was compared to him. He didn't know what a cuss word was, let alone use them. Ash, on the other hand, was an avid cusser, especially with his favorite word, fuck. That sentence would have looked more like "What the fuck do you wanna do? I'm fucking bored." if it came from Ash. But, Ash had taken it upon himself to keep Goh as innocent as possible, or at least try to. At least, until he knew Goh could take it. Why would he cuss in front of Bonnie then? The only person Ash could blame was Professor Sycamore.

"Ooh, come with me to Cerise Park. I wanna show you something!" Ash replied, cringing at how cheery it accidentally sounded.

"Alright...?" Goh replied, confused.

The duo ran to the so-called park, only stopping once they arrived.

"So, what'd you wanna show me?" Goh asked.

"This." Ash spoke, releasing the four pokemon from their pokeballs.

Talomflame seemed a bit annoyed, as she was put back into her pokeball only to be released a second later, but quickly got over any annoyance she was feeling upon seeing one of Ash's supposed new friends.

Hawlucha seemed to not care much. Meeting one of his trainer's friends was always fun, but this guy seemed to just want to catch Pokemon to catch them, which made Hawlucha a little upset, due to his past and how his trainer caught Pokemon. The fighting flying type was now having a conversation with Talonflame.

Noivern was excited, he was happy to see his trainer again. He was happy when Goh commented on how powerful he looked. Also being a bit tired, he was also happy when his trainer allowed him to slouch down and lay his head on his free shoulder as his trainer pet his head.

Charizard seemed bored, to say the least. When he was released from his pokeball, he flamethrowered Ash's face, as per normal, but the lack of a reaction from Goh quickly bored him, as did Goh's comment about him looking powerful. He was happy for the young flying dragon type though, as it wasn't used to hearing that like Charizard was. The bored fire flying somehow not dragon type was now chatting with the electric mouse sitting on his trainer's shoulder.

Goh has sat on a nearby rock and was now holding a conversation with Ash, who was still standing, due to Noivern nearly falling asleep on his shoulder. Cinderace had run off, into the park.

All in all, it was a very calm scene. Even the pokemon who were already in Cerise Park were relaxing.

~~~

"GOH!!! HURRY UP!!!" Ash yelled, running to the airport.

"WHAT'S WITH THE RUSH? IT'S NOT LIKE THE PLANE'S GONNA TAKE OFF ANY FASTER!" Goh yelled in reply.

Suddenly, Ash stopped, realizing he was missing information.

"Wait, what airline are we taking?" Ash asked.

"Braviary Airlines, why?" Goh asked, confused.

"Thank f- Arceus. If it was Mandibuzz Airlines we would have had to cancel our flight."

Pikachu seemed to sigh in relief as well.

"What's wrong with Mandibuzz Airlines?"

"All Pokemon have to be in their Pokeballs, no exceptions, and you know Pikachu."

Goh nodded, "But isn't Braviary Airlines the same way?"

"They know when to make exceptions." Ash replied, starting to run again, "Now hurry up! I can get us the best seats on the plane!"

"Alright?" Goh replied, confused has he followed Ash.

So, as it turns out, saving the world multiple times has its perks. Ash simply showed the flight attendant his pokedex, and they were led to the VIP seats, picked out by Ash himself. The planes used by Braviary Airlines didn't have a separate VIP cabin, so they allowed their VIPs to pick seats that would be considered "VIP." These VIP seats, if no VIP was on board, would be first come first serve, as they were technically just regular seats. Cinderace and Pikachu was also allowed to stay out of their pokeballs, as permitted on the list of the airline's VIP privileges.

"How'd you manage this one?" Goh asked.

"I guess dying multiple times has its perks, right buddy?" Ash replied, turning to Pikachu.

Goh was stunned into silence, only recovering after Ash and Pikachu fell asleep. Goh sighed, deciding he'd ask the Pallet Town native later. The Vermilion City native fell asleep shortly after as well, Cinderace following suit.

Meanwhile, at the Lumiose City airport, a brunette sitting on a bench was fiddling with a ring, a gift for someone, it could be assumed. The ring was silver, and on the inside, it read "I love you like idiot misses the point." A pair of blondes ran up to the brunette as he returned the ring to his pocket.

"You're Gary, correct?" The older one asked.

"Correct. You're Clemont and Bonnie?" Gary asked.

"Yup, and this is Dedenne!" Bonnie spoke, holding up her bag, showing Gary Dedenne.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet the two of you in person." Gary said as Clemont and Bonnie sat down next to him.

The trio started sharing stories about things they've done with Ash, waiting for Ash and Goh's plane to land. The three had decided to go to the airport early because they had nothing better to do. After a few hours, an announcement came over the intercom that Braviary Airlines Flight 43 from Kanto to Kalos had landed. The two ten-year-old Kantoians on the plane were quick to leave the plane, Ash dragging Goh.

Seeing Ash, Gary was quick to yell, "Ashy-Boy!!! Over here!!!"

"Gary!!! Clemont!!! Bonnie!!!" Ash exclaimed, dragging Goh over to where the trio was now standing.

Ash hugged all three of them, starting with Bonnie, who practically jumped onto him, and ending with Gary, whose arms he lingered in for a few extra seconds.

"Goh, you've already met Gary, but this is Clemont," Ash motioned towards the taller blonde, "And this is Bonnie and Dedenne." Ash motioned towards the shorter blonde, who now had the antenna pokemon on her head.

"Hi!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Clemont, Bonnie, this is Goh. He's my research partner under Professor Cerise." Ash motioned towards the blacked haired boy he had dragged over.

"It's nice to meet you, Goh." Clemont spoke.

"You too!" Goh exclaimed, "This here is Cinderace!"

Goh showed the Kalosian natives the rabbit pokemon as the group started to leave the airport.

"So, Ash, when do you think we should go find the Zygardes and Greninja?" Goh asked after they had escaped the airport.

"Well... I actually have something I need to do... so we'll search tomorrow. Gary's actually here to pick me up for it... Right, Gary?" Ash said, giving Gary a look.

"R-Right! Let's go!" Gary replied, dragging Ash off.

"That was weird." Goh spoke.

"I guess." Clemont replied, both him and Bonnie knowing what was happening, "Have you been to Lumiose City before?"

The duo had found out about Ash and Gary's relationship after Ash's first battle with Wulfric after they had answered Ash's phone when he was calling. Ash called Gary every day at the same time, so he was worried when Ash didn't call and promptly exclaimed "Ash, love, are you alright?!?!" after they had picked up the call. They were good friends, of course, and told Ash that they knew after he had returned from his running away.

"Ash?" Gary spoke as he and Ash sat down on a bench in a park after getting ice cream, Ash sharing his with Pikachu.

"Hm?" Ash asked.

"I got you something. It's not much, but..." Gary let go of Ash's hand that wasn't holding the ice cream and pulled the ring out of his pocket and rolled it into Ash's hand.

Ash looked at it and read it before speaking, "I love it, but I don't get it."

It took all of Gary's willpower to not start laughing. Instead, he took a deep breath before speaking, "I knew you were an idiot, but not this big of an idiot."

Ash put it in his pocket, choosing to ignore Gary's comment, "Thank you, Gare. I'll add it to the chain later. Wish I would've got you something though."

"Ash, you even being here is already a gift in its own. You being alive even, to be fair." Gary spoke.

~~~

"So, where are we going?" Asked Goh as the five started walking away from Prism Tower, where they had slept the night before.

"A good place to start would be the forest outside Lumiose City. Both Zygardes were present at the Kalos Crisis, correct?" Ash spoke, now in his Kalos outfit, only asking so he wouldn't blow his cover yet.

"Right!" Bonnie cheerfully replied, wanting to see Squishy again.

"Alright then, let's go!" Ash exclaimed, running towards the forest.

The others followed behind and the call of "Wait for me!" from Clemont could be heard. Once the group reached the forest, Gary spoke up.

"Wouldn't we have a larger chance of finding them if we split into groups?" Gary asked.

"Yeah, and since Ash and Goh need to try to figure out what's going on, we should split into two groups, one with Ash, and one with Goh." Clemont spoke.

"Are you two alright with that?" Gary asked for confirmation.

"Yeah!" Ash spoke, whereas Goh simply shrugged, not caring too much.

"I wanna go with Ash!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Then I guess I'll go with Ash as well." Clemont spoke.

"That leaves me and Goh." Gary spoke.

"Alright, you guys head left, we'll head right!" Ash exclaimed, going right, Bonnie and Clemont following.

The trio kept going until they reached a clearing, where Ash started to bond with Greninja. It was just a quick message, Ash telling Greninja exactly where they were and who he was looking for. Ash then cut off connection. Ash and the Lumiose siblings then started talking about whatever, not having anything to do other than wait.

Meanwhile, with Goh and Gary, the two were talking about Project Mew as they looked around for either a Zygarde or Greninja.

"Y'know, I need a Zygarde Scale for my current Project Mew mission." Gary spoke.

"Is that the only reason you're here?" Goh asked.

"No, I also work as an assistant to Professor Rowan in Sinnoh and there were some things he needed to me get from Professor Sycamore. Plus, Ash did call me, asking what region I was in since he knew this could be a search going on for days." Gary replied.

"You and Ash seem really close." Goh commented.

"Heh, yeah. We're best friends after all." Gary replied.

Just then, a blue blur moved past them, landing in front of the duo.

"It's a Greninja! Do you think it's the Greninja?!" Goh exclaimed.

Seeing no trainer around, Gary replied, "Probably."

"Alright." Goh spoke, pulling out a pokeball, "Go, Pokeball!"

The Pokemon hit the Greninja, opening up and surrounding the Greninja in a red light before the red light broke. The Greninja seemed amused as if this had happened before, before running off.

"We still need to follow it!" Goh exclaimed, "We need to figure out the whole vine destroying thing!"

"Right!" Gary replied and the duo was off, chasing the Greninja.

Meanwhile, with Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie, the trio was still talking when suddenly, a green, black, and white dog-looking creature, with a singular red spot, ran to Bonnie. It then split off the cells and landed in Bonnie's now cupped hands.

"Squishy!!!" She exclaimed, "You're back!"

The blob gave a blub of agreement before hopping into its pocket of Bonnie's bag. Just then, the Greninja appeared behind Ash and, seeing its trainer, jumped, going in to hug him. Ash turned around, seemingly sensing him, and caught the frog pokemon for the hug. The duo stood there, crying into each other, for what felt like an eternity before Goh and Gary arrived.

"What is going on?!?!" Goh exclaimed, confused on why Ash was hugging the Greninja, crying into it.

It stayed at this scene, with Clemont, Bonnie, and Gary smiling at the trio, as Pikachu was also crying into Greninja, and Goh being extremely confused, for a few minutes until Ash and Greninja finally let go of each other.

"Okay, now can someone please explain what is going on!" Goh exclaimed, very confused.

"I caught Greninja first. I won by a couple of years, actually." Ash smirked, "After the Kalos Crisis, I had to leave Greninja behind to destroy the leftover vines."

"What about the other form, Ash-Greninja?" Gary asked, making Goh even more confused, "I've always wanted to see it in person."

As if on cue, Team Rocket used one of their electric-proof capsules to snatch Pikachu off of Ash's shoulder.

"Who did that?!" Ash yelled, despite fully knowing who did it.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!"

"Wobbuffet!"

"Team Rocket!" The group of five on the ground exclaimed.

Ash turned to Greninja, "You ready?"

The ninja frog pokemon nodded and the duo raised one arm over their heads.

"Let's go!" Ash exclaimed as a torrent of water appeared around Greninja before disappearing into the shuriken on his back, which looked like wings.

Greninja now had two new points jetting out of the side of his head, looking very similar to his trainer's hair. There was a red bolt in each of these, looking like the marks on Ash's face. The outer points, which these new points were connected to, turned black, while the middle one turned red. His eyelids turned black as well, while his eyes changed from pink to red. The pattern on his torso now matched his trainer's jacket.

If Goh somehow wasn't confused before, he definitely was now.

"Oh no, it looks like he got his Greninja back." James commented.

"Greninja, Water Shuriken!" Ash exclaimed, following through the motions with Greninja.

"We're blasting off again!" Team Rocket exclaimed while blasting off as the capsule Pikachu was in came flying back towards Ash.

Ash caught the capsule as he and Greninja severed the connection between them, Greninja returning to its original form. Ash then freed Pikachu from the capsule as Goh started asking "What was that?!?!"

"Have you heard of the Bond Phenomenon by any chance?" Clemont asked.

"Yeah, I heard Professor Cerise talking about it to Professor Sycamore." Goh replied.

"That's what that was." Ash spoke, "Oh, Bonnie. Can I see Squishy? I need to ask it something."

"Yeah." Bonnie replied, pulling Squishy out of her bag.

"Ash needs to talk to you." She said to the blob before handing it over to Ash.

"IS THAT A ZYGARDE CORE?!" Goh exclaimed.

Ignoring Goh, Ash spoke, "Hey, Squishy. would you mind if Gary took one of your scales while you're in another form? He needs it for his Project Mew mission and since you know how much Gary means to me..." Ash trailed off.

The Zygarde core seemed to agree, as it called back cells, transforming into 50% forme, and taking off one of its scales, handing it to Ash, who in turn handed it to Gary, before sending the cells back.

Goh had fainted from shock.

"Thank you, Squishy!" Ash and Gary both said as Bonnie picked the Zygarde core back up and hugged it before tickling it.

The group of four just sat around and talked as they waited for Goh to wake back up, not really worried. Pikachu, Dedenne, Greninja, and Squishy seemed to be having a separate conversation. Once Goh finally woke up, Ash returned Greninja to its pokeball as the other three pokemon returned to their spots with their trainer or trainer-to-be.

"Let's go visit Goodra!" Ash exclaimed, already running off, knowing they were near the wetlands. He was holding Gary's hand, causing him to drag Gary with him.

"What's up with them?" Goh asked.

The two Lumiose siblings looked at each other before shrugging, walking in the same direction the two Pallet Town natives had run off in.

"Wait up!" Goh exclaimed, running after them.

~~~

"You're joking." Professor Cerise said in that tone where you know he doesn't mean it.

"No, really!" Goh exclaimed before turning to Ash, "I can't believe you never told me!"

"It's all nothing, really!" Ash replied, "I didn't see the point in telling you about anything because it's all really nothing!"

"Really, what's next? You tell me you've met Arceus?" Goh countered.

"No comment." Ash replied.

"Mew?"

"..."

"You're kidding!"

"No, it all happened! You can ask my friend Brock, he was there for both of them too!"

"I might just have to then."

"And whatever you do, I would not recommend looking at my trainer file. It's a bit overwhelming, even for me."

~Fin

~4029 words.

(EDIT: 4022 words.)

Poor Goh, he was so confused. Maybe next time I won't torture him with confusion. Maybe next time won't be a year later this time as well. I hope yalls enjoyed!

Published: August 6th, 2021

EDIT:

Aug. 12th, 2021:

dang i must have been tired when I wrote the ending, i came and fixed a few typos :)

EDIT:

Oct. 1st, 2021:

there was a slight consistency error, as i had written about raboot, although it had evolved by this episode. i was just unaware.

EDIT:

November 27th, 2021:

i found a spot where i forgot to change raboot to cinderace so i fixed that.

EDIT:

March 3rd, 2023:

Deleted a sentence I decided I didn't like.

~Vannah