"Kero! (Took you long enough!)"
A blur shot from the water, slamming into Su Feng with enough force to drench him in lake water and sticky froth. But Su Feng didn't flinch—he wrapped his arms around Greninja, laughing as the ninja Pokémon clung to him like a child.
Then, as if remembering his "cool guy" persona, Greninja abruptly let go and backflipped away, pretending nothing happened.
[IT'S REALLY HIM!]
[Wait, Greninja was supposed to be aloof!]
[LMAO the tsundere act is gone~]
[Reunion arc hits different.]
"Long time no see," Su Feng said softly. "I kept my promise."
Greninja's eyes shimmered. "Kero-kero! (You forgot about me! I was gonna storm the city!)" he blustered, masking tears.
Su Feng pulled him into another hug. "How could I forget?"
Greninja stiffened. "Kero? (You... understand me?)"
"Yeah?"
"..."
Greninja's feet began carving a three-bedroom apartment (Budew-sized) into the dirt.
Su Feng: "..."
The now-red Greninja backpedaled into the lake, sinking like a stone.
"Wait! I don't understand you!" Su Feng lied, scrambling after him.
Greninja submerged faster.
[BAHAHAHA HE'S MORTIFIED]
[Greninja.exe has stopped working]
[Su Feng: "Oops, forgot to play dumb."]
As Su Feng wrung out his shirt, a new voice boomed behind him:
"Hitmon! (Su Feng?!)"
A towering Hitmonchan—1.7 meters tall, nearly a foot above average—stood clutching berries. Spotting Su Feng's confusion, it pulled out a rice bowl stamped with a Tyrogue's face.
"Tyrogue?!" Su Feng gasped.
"Hitmon! (It's me!)" The boxer embraced him, then frowned at the slime. "Hitmon? (You saw Sensei already?)"
Su Feng glanced at the water. "Yeah... it went weird."
Hitmonchan's shoulders shook. Then—
"Pfft."
Su Feng: "Do Pokémon even laugh like that?"
The Truth Unveiled
Hitmonchan declined Su Feng's offer to rejoin him: "Hitmon. (I've got a family now.)"
"Family?!"
"Hitmon. (Just take my lonely Sensei.)"
SHING! Three Water Shuriken erupted from the lake. Hitmonchan swatted them away casually.
"Hitmon~ (Lunch is here, Sensei~ Oh wait, you've got Su Feng now.)" Grinning, he turned to Su Feng. "Hitmon! (Meet my wife and kid!)"
Su Feng nodded. "Gifts are in order."
Flashback: The Unspoken Sacrifice
After Su Feng left, Greninja had given his entire Pokéblock stash to Tyrogue, claiming he "hated the taste."
Yet Hitmonchan often found him clutching Su Feng's bowl in the treetops, staring at the horizon.
Those blocks fueled my evolution, Hitmonchan realized. But Sensei's training made me strong.
Now, as the forest's undisputed champion, he owed everything to the ninja who'd pretended not to care.