Chapter 2: Sacrifice

"Get off of me! Hey don't take those, NO!"

"Just grab her too!"

"She's kind of heavy"

"Hey what's that supposed to mean! ASH! Help me!"

"Serena *cough* where are you?!"

"It's Team rock-mmph!"

After that, he couldn't hear Serena again. Ash rushed out of the smoke and saw Braixen and Pancham looking around for Serena too. As the smoke clears, Ash makes out a hole in the wall that was behind them. Ash looked back toward the Pokemon Center but knew it would too late to give chase if he went to grab his pokemon. "Braixen, Pancham let's go!"

Ash, Braixen and Pancham gave chase they found Team Rocket, with James dragging Serena, and her Slyveon, which was using it's ribbons to hold onto Serena's legs. This was slowing them down and they eventually caught up with the devious trio near a snowy canyon. Their Team Rocket balloon was near the edge of the cliff.

"Pancham use Dark Pulse on the balloon, they're not getting away that easily!" Pancham fired his Dark Pulse and destroyed the Team Rocket balloon. "Braixen use flamethrower, Slyveon use Protect on you and Serena!" Slyveon understood and soon a greenish glow surrounded it and Serena but not James who was dragging both of them. He looked up and saw the torrent of flame coming right for him.

He tried to get away but was too late as his butt was ignited by the Flamethrower. Though Serena and Slyveon were engulfed in the flame they were left unharmed. Ash rushed to Serena took the gag out and untied her and Slyveon. "You ok Serena?" Serena looked up, glad that Ash had once again saved her, but then got up on her feet and faced toward Team Rocket.

"Give me back my keys! Why would you want them anyway?" Serena shouted, all of her hard work, no, not just hers but all of her Pokemons hard work as well was in Jesse's hand. Jesse shouted back, "Because you don't deserve these you little twerpette! I should have won all those Performances." Ash and Serena were taken aback, Jesse wasn't in any of the competitions unless…

"Ah! You're Jesseline!" Serena had figured it out; she thought to herself how they didn't notice before. "Ahem…Queen Jesseline thank you very much" Jesse said with a snarky tone. "Now Gourgiest shadow ball!" Serena countered by commanding Slyveon to use Moonblast. The Moonblast won the confrontation and sent Team Rocket flying, but not before Jesse threw the Princess Keys down the canyon. "If I can't have them, then you won't either! We're blasting off again…!"

Ash and Serena gasped as they saw the keys falling over the edge, but before they could react, Pancham had thrown himself over the cliff to catch the keys, and in an incredible acrobatic feat was able to turn and throw the keys back. Braixen tried to reach out with her twig for Pancham to catch, but he was too far away and fell down the Cliffside to everyone's horror.

Serena was about to go after her pokemon, but Ash stopped her from going over. "No Serena, stop!" Serena had tears in her eyes. "B-But Pancham!" Ash had his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her back. "It's too steep to climb down!" Serena had stopped resisting but gave out one more shout for Pancham, but they couldn't see or hear the Pokemon.

Ash turned Serena around. "Serena listen, you need to run back to the pokemon center and get Clemont and my Talonflame and Noivern. I'll go down and find Pancham" Ash said with a stern, yet caring voice. Serena looked up, tears still flooding her eyes and cheeks. It was then that Ash brushed her cheeks and wiped her tears. She saw in his eyes that same determination she always saw in them. "Can you do that for Pancham?" He said in a softer voice. Unable to speak due to still being in shock, she nodded her head, and Ash lifted her up on her feet.

As she was about to go, she turned back to Ash, still holding on to him. "Please be safe Ash." He gave a slight smile and nod, then she went off running, Slyveon right behind her.

Braixon stayed and gave Ash a determined look through eyes that were teary as well. "So you wanna help me find Pancham?" The Pokemon gave a nod "Brai!" and so Ash and Braixon went off running along the Cliffside looking for a way down.

Serena made it to the Pokemon Center and alerted every one of the crisis at hand, so Clemont went to grab Ash's pokemon.

After a couple of minutes, Talonflame and Noivern flew towards the canyon with Serena and Clemont running after them. They told Bonnie and Pikachu to stay and look after the other pokemon. Nurse Joy would have sent an ambulance but the snowstorm previously had left the roads too dangerous for vehicles to drive.

It was Talonflame that saw the flare first. A fireball sent high into the sky from Braixen from the bottom of the canyon. Serena and Clemont watched as the fiery bird pokemon dove down into the canyon followed quickly by Noivern. Ash and Braixen had found Pancham, unconscious, bruised, and very cold, but still alive.

After sending the flare, Braixen started a fire as Ash took of his jacket and wrapped Pancham in it. A minute later they heard a cry above them. They looked up and saw Talonflame coming in to land, followed by they landed, Ash gave Talonflame the wrapped up Pokemon. "You take Pancham to the Pokemon Center as fast as you can!" With that, Talonflame grabbed the jacket and flew off.

"Noivern where is Serena?" Noivern pointed at the top of the canyon and Ash could see two small points, one of them must be Clemont too. "Ok, Noivern give us a lift to the top, then take Serena to the Pokemon Center." Noivern gave a nod, and grabbed Ash while Braixen rode on top.

Serena and Clemont saw Talonflame speed off with what looked like Ash's jacket in its talons. "Pancham!" Serena cried, but Talonflame kept on going.

As Serena turned to run after Talonflame, she heard her name being called out. "Serena!" She turned back and saw Noivern carrying Ash and her Braixen. "Hurry and let Noivern take you to the Pokemon Center" Noivern lowered to the ground so Ash could land, and he offered his hand. "Just hold on to his legs and he'll carry you!" Serena ran to Ash. "How's Pancham is he ok? Is, is he…" She trailed off, tears starting to form again but Ash put one of his hands on her shoulder to steady her, and lifted her chin with the other. "Pancham is going to be ok, he's banged up pretty badly but Talonflame is getting him to the Pokemon Center as fast as he can" Clemont came up to them, "Nurse Joy is waiting there, he'll be in good hands."

With that small comfort, she embraced Ash hugging him around the waist burying her head in his chest. "Thank you Ash" She said between tears. After a couple of moments it was Ash that broke the silence, "You're warm Serena, but you have to go" Even after all that happened, Serena's heart skipped a beat with what Ash had said. Did he like their embrace?

She opened her eyes and pulled away a bit then saw what Ash had meant. "Ash you don't have your jacket! You must be freezing!" Serena then gave Ash a tighter hug. "Serena…thanks but stop, you need to go. Talonflame should have made it back by now. Go on ahead I'll be fine" Serena then reluctantly went over to Noivern, and when she was set Ash told Noivern to go.

It took 5 minutes for Ash and Clemont to reach the Pokemon center. Bonnie and Pikachu were waiting with Ash's jacket. After getting his jacket on, Ash wasted no time in asking where Serena and Pancham were. Bonnie pointed towards the E.R door. Ash ran towards the door, but not before Pikachu jumped on his shoulder.

He went down to hallway and saw Serena, along with her Braixen and Slyveon looking through a glass panel. As Ash came up to the window, he saw Nurse Joy along with a Wigglytuff working with machinery around a table where Pancham was laying. Serena was clutching at her clothes, completely still except for her breathing. Braixen and Slyveon were restless and whimpered every now and then.

Several minutes went by, with nobody making a move. Ash had finally caught his breath and had warmed up from earlier. It looked like Nurse Joy and Wigglytuff were finishing up. They were putting away some stuff and clearing the table with Pancham on it. Pancham had his right arm in a cast, and both his legs had some kind of bandage or brace on. He also had his right ear patched up. As they carted Pancham out of the room, Serena took a step forward, whispering to herself, "Wha…wait. How is he?"

Ash could barely hear her, but it almost seemed Nurse Joy did hear it as she turned around and gave a thumbs up and mouthed "OK" to the worried trainers and pokemon. With that, they gave a sigh of relief. Braixen hugged Serena, same with Slyveon with its ribbons around Serena's legs. Both were relieved that their friend was going to be okay.

Ash put his arm on Serena's shoulder. Serena, still teary eyed turned around, but this time she had a faint smile. Serena looked at Ash's hand on her shoulder and noticed the reddish stains on his gloves. She looked down at his other hand, both were scratched up but the bleeding had stopped. Serena grabbed both of Ash's hands in her own, "Ash, your hands…" She looked up with a worried face, but Ash silenced her worry with his smile. "I'll live Serena, just a few cuts and bruises from the climb down".

Serena looked towards Braixen and it showed her its paws. There were cuts on them too and a bruise on one of its knees. "We'll be fine, we'll get Nurse Joy to look at it after she's done with Pancham" Serena shook her head, "No, no she's busy already, and it might get infected. Come with me." Letting go of one hand, but keeping a hold of the other she led Ash and her pokemon out of the E.R area.

When they exited, Clemont, Bonnie, and the other pokemon were waiting outside the door awaiting the news. Instinctively Serena let go of Ash's hand, hoping nobody saw her and Ash hold hands, even if she was just leading him. "Pancham is gonna be alright everyone." Ash said, to the relief of everyone. Serena walked over to Talonflame and Noivern, "Thank you so much you two. Our friend is going to be alright because of you"

They both expressed joy as everyone gathered around giving them praise for their efforts. As that happened, Serena took Ash away and sat him down at the bench where their stuff was at. "Here Ash sit down, let me take a look at your hands." And she took out a first aid kit in her bag. Though initially protesting that they were fine, Ash finally relinquished his hands. Serena took care at removing his gloves. The gloves were torn and were going to be unusable after this. Serena then washed his wands with some water, taking care around the bigger cuts as she went.

While initially painful, the pain eventually dulled down for Ash, but then some other feeling was creeping up. It was the same feeling when they hugged at the canyon, but Ash was cold and still on an adrenaline rush from the crisis. Now this feeling had his full attention. It felt like his chest was burning, slightly at first but it wasn't painful, it was…good. He didn't realize he had been watching Serena the whole time until Pikachu jumped up next to him on the bench, curious at how his partner was doing. "Hey Pikachu, you're wondering if Ash is ok too?" Serena asked, bringing Ash's attention back to her.

Her honey colored hair...

Serena looked up at Ash with a smile

Her ocean blue eyes...

Serena then stood up in front of Ash, "All done, better?" Ash hadn't realized that Serena was already finished; he looked down and saw his hands wrapped up in some bandage cloth, little red blotches seeping through in some areas. "Thanks Serena, they already feel much better." Pikachu nudged Ash's arms and stood on his lap, grabbing his attention. "Pikachu!" The little mouse said as his trainer hugged him.

Serena took that opportunity to turn away and tend to Braixen sitting with the other Pokemon. Thanks to Pikachu, Ash hadn't seen her burning red cheeks as he complimented her handiwork, but that wasn't the only reason she was blushing so much…

He was looking at me the whole time, I could barely control my hands as they were holding his. Does…he like me? Oh…I shouldn't be thinking like this. I should be glad Ash and I got that…close but it was because Pancham got really hurt.

"Braix?"

Serena jumped a bit. Braixen had its head tilted with a confused look at Serena as she was washing its paws clean. "Oh, it's nothing Braixen just…wondering if Pancham will be alright." Braixen looked down for a bit with a worried look, but then jolted its head back up "Brai, Brai!" It said with a smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right, You and I gotta be strong for Pancham!" Braixen nodded its head in agreement.

As they ate an anxious dinner awaiting Nurse Joy's news they saw the E.R door sign turn off. A second later, Nurse Joy walked out. Serena jumped out of her seat and bolted to Nurse Joy, followed by everyone else. She had so many questions, but it all revolved around a single one, "H-How is he?"

Nurse Joy led them to the bed that held Pancham. As the group walked up to the bed, Pancham turned towards them, one eye was a bit swollen and shut but the other eye was able to see Serena and everyone walk up. When Serena saw her Pancham tilt its head, she ran the last couple of steps and kneeled down at Pancham's side. "Pan, Pancham" the injured pokemon said, glad to see its trainer again. "Oh Pancham, I'm so happy you're alright." Tears began to well up in her eyes again as Braixen went over to the other side, and Slyveon jump on the foot of the bed, being carefully not to step on Pancham's feet."It's going to take a while, but Pancham should make a full recovery." Nurse Joy explained. Serena turned toward Nurse Joy, "What do you mean awhile?" Nurse Joy walked over to the wall and showed them Pancham's X-rays on its legs. "While it may take a few days of rest and recovery to have Pancham back on his feet, as he suffered only minor injuries to his legs," She pointed at the other image, showing an X-ray on Pancham's arm. "It will take a few months for Pancham to recover from its broken arm"