Champions… can they have a dark history?
Of course they can.
For example, Lance—the so-called Dragon Master.
Yet on his team? Gyarados, Dragonite, Charizard, Aerodactyl…
Aside from Dragonite, every one of them is a Flying-type.
So many people secretly call him the "Flying-type Champion."
Naturally, nobody dares say it in front of Lance—
unless they want to be torn apart on the spot.
As for Diantha… honestly, no matter how she thinks about it, she can't recall having any dark history.
But that's not a reason for her to relax!
Maybe she has none in the past…
But what about the future?
This Heavenly Tally can see the past and the future—
the "Temporal Sovereign" itself! (Not really, but you get it.)
She can't exactly stop her future self from doing something stupid!
"Sigh… guess I'll leave it to fate."
"Ahem. My condolences."
Lance maintained the professional composure of a Champion—he would never laugh in a serious setting.
Unless he really couldn't help it.
Hahaha! Finally, another Champion will have dark history exposed! Let's see who dares tease me about being a Flying-type Master again!
"Miss Diantha is so elegant and beautiful—how could she have any embarrassing past?"
Misty tilted her head, watching the large screen curiously.
"Sluuurp~ I'm curious too. I've known Diantha for ages; I've never heard of any dark history."
Cynthia—holding a parfait made from "century ice" as the shop description claims—slowly licked it with her pink tongue.
Ten points each, surprisingly cheap.
A parfait addict like Cynthia? Of course, she'd grab one immediately.
"I don't have dark history… at least not in the past!"
Diantha added weakly, with zero confidence.
And then—
The big screen lit up. The footage began.
Inside the video—
A forest.
The first to appear was a blue ninja-like frog Pokémon with a scarf-like frill fluttering.
Greninja.
[Professor Sycamore: Oh—one of Kalos's starter evolutions, Greninja!]
[Wikstrom: Makes sense. Diantha is the Kalos Champion—her dark history taking place in Kalos fits!]
[Diantha: Keep smearing my name and I'll kill you, Wikstrom~]
Wikstrom—one of the Kalos Elite Four.
Once competed with Diantha for the championship and was absolutely crushed by her Gardevoir.
No hatred left, but teasing each other is normal.
Beside Greninja, another figure appeared:
Red and white hats.
Blue short jacket.
That familiar face.
Ash Ketchum.
"No way, sir. Ash again?"
"No matter the tally, Ash always shows up!"
"Don't tell me Diantha's dark history is related to Ash?"
"Who knows. Keep watching."
Video continues—
"Let's start training, Greninja!"
"Gekko!"
"First step—run through this forest!"
"Gekko!"
The audience didn't think much at first.
Probably endurance training… running through the woods… nothing special.
Then Ash's next actions made the world drop their jaws.
Ash and Greninja took the same stance, then burst forward together!
As they sprinted, Ash kept adjusting his posture to perfectly mirror Greninja.
One human, one frog—flashing between trees, weaving through the forest at frightening speed.
And gradually… the viewers realized something was not right.
How was Ash keeping up with Greninja?
Judging from the blur of passing trees, they were sprinting at a speed no normal human should manage!
And Ash… kept up flawlessly?!
Greninja must've felt the difficulty was too low,
because it suddenly leapt up, jumping from branch to branch.
Each tree was at least two to three meters tall!
"Alright! I'll do it too!"
World audience: No way. He isn't really going to—
"Hey!"
Ash bent his knees and launched himself upward,
landing easily on a tree several meters tall.
Then—like Greninja—he began jumping through the canopy with near-Pokémon agility!
He slipped once, fell—
—but immediately recovered, leaping again without hesitation.
"...Is that a human?"
"I always knew Ash wasn't human! He's a Pokémon in human disguise!"
"I mean… we already saw him running across mountains as a kid. Dude's endurance is not normal."
"ASH! Take me as your disciple!!"
Bruno bowed to Ash. Ash almost fainted from confusion.
"H-Huh?!"
"Haha, don't mind him. This big guy is joking."
Lorelei slapped Bruno on the back.
"You scared the kid!"
"No, no, NO—HE scared ME! Look at that! What human moves like that?!"
Bruno flailed, pointing at the screen.
"I once wanted to take Ash as a disciple…
Forget that. I don't care about disciples anymore—I want to learn this! That movement!"
Ash gave an embarrassed smile.
"U-Um… Bruno sir… the current me definitely can't do something like that!"
"Look carefully at Ash's face in the footage."
Cynthia had finished her parfait and now sat with arms folded, eyes focused on the screen.
"In this footage, Ash has been traveling for years already."
"He looks more mature than in the Brandon battle, even the Lily of the Valley Conference. I'd estimate he's around thirteen or fourteen here."
"And if a younger Ash could outrun mountains, this version doing this… isn't surprising."
Her analysis made everyone look closer.
Indeed—Ash in the footage looked older.
After a long run, Ash and Greninja exited the forest.
Ahead of them—three figures.
Two women and one little girl…
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