"Real smooth back there, Serena." Bonnie teased, putting a lot of emphasis on the first word. Serena tried to hide her embarrassment and told Bonnie to be quiet. The group of four were now back on the road, heading to Santalune City. The plan was to reach there before the night, then say hello to Viola at the Santalune Gym the morning after before they headed out again. Ash and Clemont were at the front, talking about the Santalune Gym battle. It had happened so long ago by now that talking about it was fairly nostalgic. Serena was looking forward to heading back to the gym as well, but for a slightly different reason. It was the place she properly saw Ash again for the first time since her childhood, so for that reason alone it had a lot of value to her.
"And you helped me out a lot, didn't you Serena?" The friendly voice of Ash Ketchum snapped Serena out of her thoughts.
"Oh! S-sorry, I zoned out a little there. What were you talking about?" Serena apologized, once again getting caught lost in thought.
Ash looked a little concerned at first, but then smiled, "The Santalune Gym battle. I lost the first time but it was all thanks to you that I won in the rematch."
"Aw, thanks Ash. Though I didn't do that much." The performer responded. Before the Pokemon Trainer could reply, they were distracted by a few droplets of rain.
All of a sudden, the heavens opened and the whole route was flooded by rain.
"Oh no, my hair's getting all wet!" Bonnie immediately complained, with Dedenne agreeing with her as it hid away in Bonnie's bag.
"Luxray, come on out!" Clemont shouted, releasing his loyal electric type Pokemon. As soon as it came out, it didn't seem the slightest bit fazed by the weather. "Luxray, we need you to find shelter as soon as possible."
"Lux." The Pokemon acknowledged the gym leader's request with a nod. It began to scan its surroundings, its eyes glowing as it tried to detect any form of safe haven. Luxray then suddenly began running into the nearby woods, which the others took as confirmation that it found shelter. They all quickly ran after it.
After about a minute, Luxray stopped and the group noticed it had found a small cave. Once everyone was inside, Ash smartly sent out his Talonflame to use its Flame Body ability, making sure everyone was warm. The two girls were busy drying their hair while Clemont was searching through his backpack to make sure all of his equipment wasn't damaged.
"Everyone alright?" Ash asked the group. It was still raining heavily, but at least they were all safe from the storm now.
"Just about." Serena sighed. She was a little annoyed at her clothes getting soaked, but the weather was something out of her control. She began to scan the cave with her eyes. "Looks like this cave is big enough for us to set up our tents. We should stay here for the night."
"Aw, no fair!" Bonnie complained. "I thought we were going to rest in Santalune City."
Bonnie continued muttering to herself while Clemont began setting up the tent for himself and Ash, "Well, I don't think the weather is going to get any better any time soon, Bonnie. It's best we stay here for the night." He explained to his younger sister. She pouted in return, but cheered up when Dedenne appeared from her bag in a cheerful mood.
"Ash?" Serena whispered as she approached her childhood friend. Many hours had gone by and it was now the middle of the night. The rain had began to stop when everyone was getting ready to sleep. It had now stopped fully and the night sky was as clear as possible. Serena adjusted the bow on her head as she waited for a response. She had changed into her pajamas, so she was a little chilly.
"Hey, Serena." Ash greeted his companion, adding a smile after his greeting and then turning his head to look at the sky. He too was wearing his usual night gear.
Serena quietly sat down next to Ash and mimicked his actions, looking at the stars above herself. "How come you're still up?" She questioned him.
"Couldn't sleep." He admitted. Both Serena and himself were sat outside the cave, meaning they couldn't disturb the two siblings. The rocky terrain they were sat on was a little damp, but neither seemed to mind it.
"Anything on your mind?" She inquired. Serena was a natural worrier and her crush didn't exactly make that characteristic any better.
Ash quietly laughed to himself. His facial expression changed a few times afterwards. Serena figured he was probably thinking of how to answer her question, so she remained patient. "Well... I'm just a little concerned."
"About?"
"I didn't disappoint you, did I?" Ash asked. Serena eyed him with a confused expression, which the Pallet Town trainer noticed. "I'm talking about the Kalos League. You're not upset I didn't win, right?"
"Of course I'm not upset!" Serena responded immediately. "I thought you did fantastic. I'm very proud of you and I would still be proud even if you had ended up not doing so well."
Ash looked Serena in the eyes for a few seconds before smiling at her. "Thanks, that helps a lot."
"Are you upset you didn't win, Ash?"
The trainer from Kanto looked down at the floor, hiding his face from his friend. Serena regretted asking that question as soon as she saw his response.
"Not really, to be honest." Ash confessed, looking back up at her. "Sure, it bothers me a little that I was so close, but in the end I'm happy that I didn't give up-"
"Until the end." Serena interrupted and finished his sentence. As soon as she realized what she had done, her cheeks turned bright and she faced away from Ash. "S-Sorry." She muttered quietly.
"That's what I told you as a kid, right?" Ash questioned Serena.
After a brief moment of time, the girl from Vaniville Town turned her head to face her crush once more. She began to play with her hair and a smile formed on her face. "Yeah... that's right." She answered.
"I guess that got in your head, right?" He laughed, rubbing underneath his nose with his finger. "You have a saying too. 'Go for broke!'. I've found myself saying it a few times too."
"I've noticed. I got it from my mother." Serena replied. Her smile grew even bigger due to this interaction between her and Ash. She rarely got time to speak to him alone and she was loving it. Her mother's catchphrase which was passed down onto her then echoed throughout her head. Her hands started to shake a little. "H-Hey, Ash..."
"Yeah?"
"T-There's something I want to t-tell you... i-if that's a-alright." She said, stuttering horribly as nerves began to overwhelm her. Serena was originally not planning to share her biggest secret at all tonight, but something about Ash saying her mother's words sparked a temporary burst of confidence within her. Now that confidence was gone, but she had no way out now. She had to do this.
"Sure, go ahead-" Ash started, before a loud scream interrupted him. Both Ash and Serena looked at where the sound had came from and all they saw was a nearby forest. Suddenly, swarms of flying type Pokemon emerged out of the nearby woods. There were countless amounts of them.
"W-What do you think is happening?" Serena murmured. She was upset her moment had been interrupted, but part of her was relieved because she was extremely nervous.
"I don't know, but I think I should go see if things are okay. We did hear a scream after all." Ash suggested. He looked to the direction of the cave and pondered whether to wake Clemont or Bonnie, but decided against it. Both were exhausted before they slept. Clemont had to set up the tent and Bonnie tired herself out playing with Dedenne and Pikachu. Ash didn't want to disturb their sleep. He had all of his Pokemon with him, aside from Pikachu who was with Bonnie, so he knew he could stay safe.
"Alright, but I'm coming with you." Serena informed Ash, who nodded in return. They both stood up simultaneously.
"Noivern, I choose you!" Ash said as he let out the dragon-type Pokemon. It appeared a few meters above them and roared in delight. "Noivern, we need you to take you to that forest over there." Ash said, pointing towards the woods. The large Pokemon nodded and landed, granting passage to his trainer to mount up. Ash climbed on and secured himself on his Pokemon. He looked then at Serena and reached out towards her with his hand.
Serena blushed at what he was doing and hesitated to act, "Um... are you sure there is room for two on there...?"
"Should be." Ash laughed. "If you want, I can call out Talonflame and you can-"
"No!" Serena raised her voice slightly. Immediately after, she covered her mouth with both of her hands for a few seconds. Her companion looked at her with confusion. She sighed and took Ash's hand, who then helped her up onto the Sound Wave Pokemon. During this process, she couldn't help but blush even more as she sat behind him.
"Alright, let's go." Ash gave Noivern the order to head off. The bat-like Pokemon then took off towards the skies. Serena instantly felt herself falling back. She quickly panicked and instinctively wrapped her arms around Ash, holding onto him as if her life depended on it. "Hey, Noivern. Can you slow down a bit?" Ash asked it.
Noivern acknowledged the request by gliding slowly towards the forest. Serena felt like she was the most flustered she had been in her entire life. She wanted to hide her face with her hands in embarrassment, but she couldn't exactly do that with her arms currently around her crush. "He... he doesn't seem to mind, either..." She thought to herself, a hint of a grin appearing on her face.
"Noivern, you see anything?" Ash asked. Noivern looked down and saw the forest he was asked to head to. He watched carefully to see if anything of interest appeared. His eyes shifted and then he saw something he knew his trainer would want to see. Noivern looked back at Ash and nodded. "Alright, let's head there."
"The boss is gonna be so pleased!"
"I haven't felt this happy in a long time!"
"Hmm... maybe this Pokemon would work well in the showcases..."
"Jessie! We're gonna give it to the boss!"
Team Rocket were happy to say the least. They had parked their balloon in the middle of the forest, hoping to rest for the night and then follow the twerps the morning after. That is, until they were awoken by someone passing through the forest.
"Let me out!" The angered voice of a young girl called out to them, trapping in a small cage.
"Be quiet, twerp girl." Jessie ordered, walking up to the girl. "If you be a good little thing, we'll set you free."
The girl pushed her hand throughout her wild black hair, trying to adjust it. She glared at the Team Rocket member and sighed, "I'm only leaving if I'm leaving with Mimi."
In an even smaller cage next to her was an Espurr. It seemed to be not paying attention to anything around it.
"Sorry, kiddo." Meowth said as it too approached the girl. "That Espurr of yours is pretty powerful. It put up a good fight against both Gourgeist and Inkay. We're going to give it to our boss as a little gift."
"Mimi is the only thing I have!" She yelled, grabbing the bars of the cage and shaking them out of desperation.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Jessie said, rolling her eyes. She turned to her adult companion and noticed he seemed to be distracted. He was mindlessly looking up at the sky. "James, what the heck are you doing?"
"There's a Noivern up there." He replied instantly with a hint of excitement in his voice. He knew first hand how powerful a Noivern could be. He then saw something he wasn't expecting. "Wait, it's coming towards us!"
"I should have known they had something to do with this." Ash muttered. He was a little annoyed at seeing the iconic Team Rocket balloon. "Whatever they're up to, it's no good."
"Ash, I see a girl down there." Serena shared her observation.
Ash looked at where she was pointing at and saw what Serena was referring to. There was someone down there, trapped in a cage. An additional cage next to it also had a Espurr in it. "Alright, Noivern, head on down there!"
Noivern roared in approval and glided down, flapping its wings rapidly as it descended and landed on the ground.
"Team Rocket, what are you up to now?!" Serena demands.
The three members of the Kanto organisation all looked at each other and grinned.
"Prepare for trouble, why are you even here?!"
"And make it double, you should go and disappear!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all people within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth! That's right!"
"Wobbuffet!"
"That was really lame."
Jessie, James and Meowth had proud smiles on their faces before they then heard what their prisoner said.
"How dare you insult our motto!" James yelled at the girl, who sighed in return.
"Team Rocket, let that girl go!" Ash demanded. He jumped off the flying type and reached out towards Serena with her hand. The performer took the hand after a brief moment of hesitation and he helped her down. She was a little disappointed she wasn't holding onto him anymore, but maybe there was a time for that to happen again later. After the two were on the ground, Noivern roared, signaling he was ready to stand by his trainer's side.
"Now why would we do that, twerp?" Jessie responded. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a PokeBall." Gourgeist, darling, come help out!"
James did the same motion as his partner, "Inkay, I need your help!"
"Noivern, use Boomburst on Inkay!" Ash commanded. The dragon type aimed its ears and they began to glow a bright blue. From the ears then came a massive sound wave that struck Inkay and sent it flying until it landed in a nearby tree. Ash was a little surprised that the psychic type was defeated so easily, but decided to ignore it. "Alright, now use Dragon Claw on Gourgeist!" Noivern flew with haste, striking the ghost type with its strong physical move. Just like Inkay, Gourgeist was sent flying until it was stopped by a tree.
"What?!" Both Jessie and James yelled, completely flabbergasted at what happened. They quickly returned their partner Pokemon to their PokeBalls and looked at each other for possible answers.
"You forgot Mimi weakened your Pokemon earlier." The trapped girl informed the Rocket trio.
Jessie growled in frustration, "Why you little..."
"Boomburst!"
The Team Rocket didn't notice the sound wave attack coming their way until it was too late. The blast sent Jessie, James, Meowth and Wobbuffet flying into their balloon and then into the sky.
"Looks like we're blasting off again...!" They yelled in unison.
"Wobbuffet!"
Ash let out a long sigh and looked towards the girl Team Rocket had imprisoned. She looked very happy that the evil team had been sent flying. "Alright, let's get you out of there." He said, approaching the cage.
"T-Thank you!" She shouted back at the trainer. "I-I thought they would have actually stolen Mimi forever... she's the only thing I have."
"What's your name?" Serena asked with a smile.
"Oh! O-Of course!" She stuttered, somehow not expecting the sudden question. "My name is Emma."
