"Hey, maybe we should stop here and camp for the night," Clemont declared, seeing that everyone- Serena, Bonnie, and Ash was tired. Dedenne and Pikachu, too. They were nearly falling asleep on their trainer. It was also a perfect place in the forest near Lavarre City.
"Alright, dinner time! I'm starving!" Ash threw his hands in the air, clearly excited. Clemont begun taking out supplies, with Serena and Bonnie helping him. They took out pots, spoons, forks, plates, bowls…and… a table. Serena wondered how on earth a table fit in his backpack. Courtesy of Clemont. She noticed their water supply was running low.
"I'm gonna head to the spring and fill the water bottles," said Serena.
"Alright, see you!" Bonnie waved at her.
"Be back in a flash!" Serena took off in the direction of the spring, bringing all four water bottles with her. She arrived at the spring soon, and filled the bottles one by one. She even tasted the water. It was delicious. As she headed back, she spotted some trees with pink and yellow banana-shaped berries. Mago berries.
Noivern loves these! Serena smiled as she went to pick the fruit, putting them in the side pockets of her skirt. She also picked Oran berries from a nearby tree. This forest was definitely packed with berries. After examining them, she went back to the camp.
"Oof!" Serena bumped into something, falling and dropping the water bottles. She looked up and saw that she bumped into someone- not something. The person, most likely a man, was clad in a beige trench coat, and most of his face and hair was covered by a hood. His eyes were covered as well. He had a stocky build, and appeared to be somewhere around six feet, more or less.
The man roughly grabbed Serena by her arm and pulled her to her feet. His hand was still on her arm, an iron grip that caused her to wince.
"Serena…You'll be back with Team Flare soon." His voice was low and husky, and had a dangerous edge to it. It was the last thing he said before walking away.
"Oi, Serena! We're over here! Where are you going?" Clemont waved to Serena, who had just walked past them, lost in her train of thought about the incident earlier. She turned around, blushing in embarrassment.
"O-Oh! Sorry… I kinda got sidetracked." She chuckled nervously and headed back to the group.
"I got Oran and Mago berries, guys!" She put the water bottles down and laid out the berries.
"Great! Thanks, Serena!" Ash said. Serena nodded and smiled.
For the next fifteen minutes, everyone helped cook, talking occasionally. They had cooked up soup full of vegetables and beef, and even made cheese sandwiches for everyone. Then, the group poured food for their Pokémon.
"Alright, come on out everyone!" Ash called out Talonflame, Frogadier, Clauncher, Tyrunt, and Pikachu, who was already out. Clemont called out Bunnelby, Magneton, and Quilladin, and Bonnie let Dedenne on the ground. Serena called out Noivern, Pumpkaboo, Hawlucha, and Eevee. Everyone- Pokémon and trainer- begun eating.
"Here you are, Noivern." Serena handed a Mago berry to her, which she happily accepted.
"You want more?" The bat dragon nodded, and Serena took out more of the Mago berries, but not all. She needed to save them for later in case Noivern got hyper. As she watched her chow down the berries, her thoughts drifted to earlier.
Serena… You'll be back with Team Flare soon.
The strange man's words echoed in her ears. She'll be back with Team Flare soon? What did he mean by that? Serena wondered if the man was following her all along. There was no way he could've just appeared, unless he was traveling as well, but that seemed highly unlikely. Unconsciously, her hand went to her arm.
Noivern growled softly, sensing her trainer's uneasiness. The dragon saw she was holding her arm, which had a hand print- much bigger than her own.
Serena looked up in surprise. The Pokémon seemed to be asking her if she was okay. "I'm fine. I just kinda… spaced out…" She gave a sheepish smile as Noivern tilted her head to the side.
"Wahhh! You're so cute!" Bonnie grabbed Eevee and Pumpkaboo in a bone crushing hug, to which the two responded by flailing about.
"Bonnie, you're crushing them! Give them some air!" Clemont managed to remove Eevee and Pumpkaboo from the hug, and handed Eevee to Serena, while Pumpkaboo floated behind her trainer. Bonnie still had stars in her eyes.
"Please! Let me hold them! They're soooooo cute!" Serena laughed at Eevee's reaction, and stroked his head, which calmed him down. She also gave Pumpkaboo a smile.
"Bonnie, I'll let you, but be careful, okay?" Serena smiled at Bonnie, who was beaming and had stars in her eyes.
"Sure! I promise!" Eevee let Bonnie pick her up again, and Pumpkaboo floated around her, still cautious. Hawlucha and Fletchinder were play fighting, while the other Pokémon were doing the same or relaxing. Ash walked over to Serena.
"Hey, Serena, what happened to your arm?" He pointed to her arm. She gasped, not expecting a handprint to be there already.
"There was a mosquito on my arm; I-I guess I accidentally slapped it too hard."
"Huh. Your hand is a lot smaller though." Serena sweat dropped.
"Erm.. You must be seeing things. My hand is this big..!" Ash looked at her carefully, but decided to let it go.
Serena sat on a thick branch of an oak tree, staring up at the night sky, a cocktail of deep indigos. The shiny orb in the sky sent a slightly silver mist upon the woods. The wind was sharp as a knife, which chilled her occasionally. She gazed down where the group was. Everyone was asleep, their Pokémon too. Eevee was still in her sleeping bag, soundly asleep. She couldn't stop thinking about the incident, and she was scared… That man… what if he was a member of Team Flare, sent out to look for her?
No… It can't be.
She took deep breaths to calm herself, but to little avail. Why did this one man frighten her so much? What did his words mean? As if on instinct, she quickly looked around for any sign of the man, but there was none. Eventually, she pulled her knees to her chest and buried her head in her arms. A while later, she heard the flapping of wings.
A soft growl pulled her from her thoughts. Serena looked up and saw Noivern perched next to her, and hung her head. Noivern nuzzled her, and she slowly looked back up.
"I just had a nightmare and I can't sleep…. That's all." The lie sounded convincing to Serena, and Noivern just looked at her. She stayed silent, knowing asking again would things worse. However, she couldn't take her eyes off the bruise on Serena's arm.
"Huh?" Serena noticed her Pokémon was staring at the light purplish mark on her arm. "It's nothing. Don't worry." She patted the dragon's snout.
"I'm sorry I woke you up. Let's go back to sleep, alright?" Noivern nodded as her trainer jumped off the branch, landing on her feet with a small thud.
"Goodnight, Noivern." She smiled as Noivern got back into sleeping position, hanging upside down on the branch.
"Vee…?" Eevee rubbed his eyes as Serena sat on the sleeping bag, but purred as she took him in her arms.
"Shhh. Sleep, little one," She whispered as Eevee dowsed off, and laid down herself. Having the warmth of Eevee put her at enough ease to fall asleep as well.
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