Constitution of a Transformation

                                    

                                          
THIS WAS MEANT TO BE OUT TWO WEEKS AGO AAAAAAAA I'm so busy and I haven't had the time or motivation to write even though I adore this story. As always thanks for being patient.

                          


                          
Alright, this is an important note, so listen up, everyone. According to the order of anime episodes, Master Class is supposed to be up next, i.e., right now. However, with how I have the plot set up, a few things need to be rearranged and postponed, so we'll be going through a few more normal episodes first, especially ones developing the Team Flare plotline and Ash's training with Greninja.
                          
Hope you don't mind, and trust me, Master Class will definitely be worth the wait when the time comes for it. Now that that's been addressed, this chapter is a fun one, so buckle up!
                          
~
                          
        Over the next week or so, our heroes had even more adventures. They had to stop thieves and lockpicks, Bonnie had a nightmare about Clemont getting married and leaving her- though thankfully that one was resolved pretty quickly after she interrogated Pine, who assured her she'd never steal the blonde's brother from her- and even tend to a sick Ash. During that time, Serena battled, pretending to be Ash, and she didn't do half bad.
                          
        Well, depending on who you asked. Shadow still had some harsh critiques. But her sisters could tell something else was on her mind.
                          
        Which led them to today, where Clemont was challenging Ash to a battle in order to study his transformation with Greninja. His "Clembot Mini" had various recordings of them, along with Zenith's and Crystal's similar transformations, and theorized that it was a psychological change that caused the Pokemon to resemble its trainer, which the Sawyer sisters were able to verify.
                          
        He gave both Ash and Greninja Battle Pulse Meters to collect data, and sent out his Luxray. "There's no holding back, Ash!"
                          
        "I never do!" Ash reminded him.
                          
        "Show 'em what you've got, Ash!" Zenith cheered, Star at her side exclaiming in unison. She was hoping the type advantage wouldn't be too much of an issue.
                          
        "Yeah! Greninja, use Cut!"
                          
        "Thunder Fang, now!" Luxray tossed the Water-Type back, but Greninja was unharmed.
                          
        "That was a strong move!"
                          
        "Wait until you see this! Luxray, Wild Charge!" The Electric-Type raced toward Greninja, coated in electricity.
                          
        "Greninja, Double Team!" Copies appeared all around the battlefield. Luxray crushed them all, but Greninja remained unharmed, having jumped into the air. "Aerial Ace!"
                          
        Luxray was caught off-guard and pushed back, but Clemont only pushed up his reflective glasses with a smirk. "That was an excellent move!"
                          
        Still, though, the Battle Pulse Meters didn't show much of a change, aside from a somewhat elevated heart rate. In fact, they were rather similar, but their being tuned-in ended there. The battle continued on, with Luxray and Greninja meeting in midair, attacks colliding and sending them both back again. Dust was thrown up, and both Pokemon were tired, yet there was still no change.
                          
        "Time out, time out!" Clemont called. "I'm not seeing any changes!"
                          
        "I don't think it happens all the time. We still don't know exactly what makes it happen... maybe we're just not on the same wavelength today?" Ash wondered.
                          
        Zenith stood up. "Since it's more of a mock battle than something either of you are especially worried or fired up about, you might not have your hearts in it. A synchro-bond can't work unless you're both really feeling the same way, strongly. Hence why it usually only shows up during important battles, like against your rivals."