Ash's Last Dance

Professor Sycamore's Lab

3rd Person POV

Ash and his friends finally made it to Professor Sycamore's Lab.

"Alright, hopefully he's here. He's pretty busy since he's the regional Professor," Bonnie said.

Ash rang the doorbell, and after a few moments, a man in a white lab coat with wavy black hair opened the door.

"Hello, how may I help you?" he asked.

"Hello, Professor. This Froakie is hurt. The Pokémon Center was too far, so we thought it was better to bring it to you," Clemont said, pointing to the Froakie in Ash's hands.

Sycamore's eyes widened as he saw the injured Pokémon.

"My goodness, come in quickly. This Pokémon is very badly hurt. Explain the details once we take care of this. Sophie! I need you here immediately!" Sycamore called.

"Yes, Professor?" a woman in a lab coat asked as she walked out of a room.

"This Froakie needs attention," Sycamore responded.

"Again?! This one just can't keep out of trouble," Sophie said as she took Froakie from Ash's arms.

"Will Froakie be fine?" Dawn asked, looking at Sycamore with concern.

"Don't worry, Sophie is the best at what she does. Plus, she's treated this Froakie plenty of times; she knows what she's doing," Sycamore responded. "Let's sit down in the lobby and you can explain to me what happened."

The group walked to the lobby and sat down. Bonnie explained how Clemont and Ash had battled, how Team Rocket had shown up to steal Pikachu, and how Froakie took a blast from Wobbuffet to protect Piplup.

"That's awful. Why would anyone want to steal other trainers' Pokémon?" Sycamore asked.

"Team Rocket's been on my tail for basically my entire journey. That's almost nine years now," Ash sighed.

"Wow! I bet you have a lot of cool and cute Pokémon!" Bonnie said gleefully.

"Well, I usually only take Pikachu with me when I journey to a new region," Ash explained. "But this time, I decided to bring along my Quilava and Bulbasaur."

"Ooh! Can I see Quilava again?! And your Bulbasaur, too?" Bonnie asked with pleading eyes.

Ash smiled and pulled out the two Poké Balls. He threw them on the ground, and Quilava and Bulbasaur appeared.

While Bonnie was admiring Quilava and Bulbasaur, Sycamore explained to the others the history of Froakie.

He told them that Froakie were given to new trainers as starter Pokémon, but this Froakie was different. He had refused to obey his trainers' commands and even run away because he didn't like the trainer. Some trainers even came back to the lab to return Froakie because of his refusal to follow instructions.

"Really? That's one strong-willed Pokémon if you ask me," Ash said, chuckling. Then, he noticed a large shadow coming from a doorway.

"What—" He stopped when a Garchomp appeared, watching Sophie treat Froakie.

"Hey! Check it out, a Garchomp!" Ash said, pointing to the Pokémon.

"Oh, yes. Garchomp lives here at the lab. He helps me in my research of Pokémon Evolution," Sycamore said, standing up.

"What kind of research, Professor?" Dawn asked.

"Well, what if I told you there was another evolution beyond the normal evolutions that Pokémon go through? I call this phenomenon Mega Evolution. Based on my research, not all Pokémon can Mega Evolve. For example, Typhlosion is not capable of Mega Evolving, but Venusaur is."