Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter! I'm writing this not too long after the last update was posted! Not that there's any reason for you to know that. Anyway, let's get to the chapter!
Serena woke up. The first thing she saw was Ash's face. Despite falling asleep on his chest, she had managed to slide up his body so that her face was resting on the front of his shoulder.
Serena noticed that Ash was still asleep. Not wanting to awaken him yet, she decided to check her phone, noticing that it was seven AM. That was unusual for Serena. She would never normally get up, let alone wake up that early. It would normally be about nine or ten AM with the absence of an annoying alarm to ruin the sweet, cosy clutches of sleep.
Slightly bored, Serena opened a game on her phone, making sure to mute the sound so that she wouldn't awaken Ash. Through the immersive gameplay, Serena felt Ash stir a little. Did he normally wake up at this ridiculous time?
Sure enough, Ash woke up, greeting her with a kiss on the forehead. "Morning, beautiful," he said.
"Morning," Serena replied, putting her phone down before resting her head on Ash's chest.
"We have to get up," Ash told her, chuckling when she groaned at the thought.
"This is what I don't like about journeys!" She suddenly exclaimed.
"Having to get up?" Ash asked, to which Serena nodded slightly, making him chuckle again.
"Well, it's something we all have to live with," Ash told her. "Besides, if we don't get up, we won't be able to carry on with our journey," he said, elongating the last word, causing her to groan again.
"Shut up," She moaned, nuzzling her face into Ash's chest to try and make him give in, which he didn't.
"Come on, Serena," Ash said, pushing her off him before attempting to slide out of the sleeping bag. Serena, however, shook her head and grabbed his arm, stopping him dead in his tracks.
"Five more minutes?" Serena asked, pleading.
Ash sighed. "Fine," he said, laying down again and letting Serena clamber back on top of him.
"Thank you, Sweetie," she said, giggling before giving him a quick peck on the lips, making him laugh a little.
"I'm not that easy to convince normally," Ash told her. "I just figured that it would make you really happy."
"It did!" She exclaimed, resting her head on Ash's chest once more.
"You're so cute, you know," he said nonchalantly.
Serena smiled, looking up at him for a second before winking. "There's more cuteness to me than you think, Ashy," she said, sticking her tongue out at him, making Ash smile a little.
"Shut up, Serena," he said while stroking her hair. "Just enjoy the next four minutes."
Not long after that, Ash and Serena got up. Serena still didn't want to but gave in. They both threw on their clothes and grabbed their things, quickly packing the tent away in Ash's bag.
"Ready?" Ash asked Serena, zipping up his bag.
"Yeah," Serena responded, putting her bag on.
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, hopping onto Ash's shoulder.
"Pikachu, you might want to move," Ash said. "I have to put my bag on, and I don't think that you want a bit of fabric on your head for the rest of the day," Ash told Pikachu, making Serena giggle a bit.
Pikachu nodded, hopping off Ash's shoulder while he put on his bag before jumping back up when Ash was finished.
"Let's go, then," Ash said, leading Serena out of the clearing and into the open before they both started to walk towards the end of the route.
"What's the plan for today?" Serena asked Ash, grabbing onto his hand.
"I'm not sure. I guess we should continue down the route," Ash told her before continuing. "If we manage to make it quite far, we should get to Santalune Forest before the end of the day."
Serena nodded, happy with that estimate. "I would like that, Ashy. I want to stay asleep while the sun comes up."
"Is that what woke you up this morning?" Ash asked her, to which she shrugged her shoulders.
"Maybe," she said. "It probably was, but we were surrounded by trees."
"There are gaps in between them, maybe a metre wide at most," Ash told her, looking back at the clearing while continuing to walk.
Serena shrugged again. "That was probably what happened," Serena muttered.
The two of them continued walking towards the forest when Ash caught sight of trainer sitting on the grass a few metres ahead of them.
Ash pointed the young boy out to Serena, and she urged Ash to go over and talk to the kid who looked a little uncomfortable.
Heading over there, Ash called out to the boy. "Are you all right?" He asked, making the boy look over at Ash and Serena.
The boy shook his head solemnly as a response.
"What's wrong?" Serena asked him, squatting down until she was at his level.
"My Pokémon's really hurt," the boy told them, pointing at a Rattata laying in front of him.
Kneeling down for a second, Ash began to analyse the Pokémon in front of him. "This Ratatta isn't hurt too badly, actually," Ash told the boy. "It has a couple bruises and a sprained ankle. Was it in a battle recently?"
The boy nodded as a response, a little scared as to what Ash's reaction would be, therefore, he was surprised when Ash laughed a little. "Take it to a Pokémon centre. There's one in Aquacorde. It might take an hour or two to get there, though."
The boy nodded a second time, about to return the Rattata to its Pokéball before Ash stopped him.
"Carry it. Returning an injured Pokémon to its Pokéball is an uncomfortable experience for said Pokémon. Spray it with a potion and return it or carry it."
"I don't have any potions," the boy said.
"We do!" Serena chirped, taking her bag off before fishing a potion out of it and handing it to the boy.
"T-Thanks," he said, stuttering a little as he was unsure as to whether or not he should take it.
He sprayed the Rattata with the potion, smiling when his Pokémon lifted its head to look at him, a substantially happier look present on its face.
"Thank you!" The boy exclaimed, jumping up from the ground before hugging both Ash and Serena.
"It's okay," Ash said, chuckling.
"It was our pleasure to help," Serena told the boy, patting him on the head lightly before the boy pulled away from them both.
"I'll take Rattata to the Pokémon centre right away!" He exclaimed, hurriedly scooping his Pokémon up into his arms before running in the direction of Aquacorde, giving Ash and Serena a nod as he left.
"He was so cute!" Serena blurted out to Ash as they started walking again, to which Ash nodded as a response.
"Yeah," he said nonchalantly. "What time is it?" He asked.
Serena pulled out her phone, checking the time. "It's eleven now," she told him.
"Okay, we should keep walking for an hour, then rest and have lunch?" Ash suggested, to which Serena nodded.
An hour or so later, both Ash and Serena had reached a massive, thick oak tree that stood roughly a mile away from Santalune forest.
The two of them settled down on the grass and fixed some lunch, taking their time to eat while watching their Pokémon play with each other.
"I love doing things like this," Serena told Ash, resting her head on his shoulder.
"I do, too," Ash replied, taking some of the rice and putting it in his mouth.
The two of them sat there like that for half an hour, just relaxing together before they Ash spotted a wild Pokémon.
"Serena, look over there!" Ash exclaimed in a hushed whisper, pointing to a branch.
"What is it?" Serena asked him, following his finger before seeing the Fletchling.
"I'm going to catch it," Ash told her before telling Froakie to follow him, slowly walking closer.
Serena, along with Pikachu and Fennekin, watched in anticipation while Serena's Zigzagoon rolled around on the grass.
When Ash and Froakie got decently close, Ash suddenly commanded Froakie to attack. "Throw your frubbles at its feet!"
The command confused Serena, but Pikachu could easily see Ash's strategy. The stickiness of Froakie's frubbles would prevent the Fletchling from moving.
"Now use Pound!" Ash exclaimed, watching as Froakie jumped in the air and smacked the bird.
Grabbing an empty Pokéball from his pocket, Ash threw it, hitting Fletchling in the wing before the Pokémon was pulled into the ball.
The ball shook three times before it stopped as stars erupted from the top, signifying that Ash had succeeded.
Ash picked up the Pokéball and released the Fletchling, rubbing its head before scanning it with the Pokédex.
"Fletchling, the Tiny Robin Pokémon. These friendly Pokémon send signals to one another with beautiful chirps and tail-feather movements. This Fletchling is female. Its ability is Big Pecks. Its moves are Growl and Tackle."
Ash bent down next to the Pokémon before grabbing a potion from his bag and spraying it on the little bird, healing her.
"Congratulations, Ash," Serena said, coming up from behind him.
"Thanks," Ash replied, turning around and giving her a little kiss before turning to face the Fletchling. "Welcome to the team!"
The Fletchling let out a little cry of its name, flapping its wings to signal that it was happy.
Ash smiled at her before returning Fletchling to her Pokéball, clipping it to his belt.
"Well done, Froakie," Ash said, rubbing Froakie's head after turning to face him, returning him, too.
"How did you catch it so easily?" Serena asked Ash, slightly bewildered.
"I've been doing this over five regions, Honey. I'm used to thinking outside of the box to come up with strategies to make it easier," Ash told her, to which she nodded, knowing that it was true.
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, hopping on Ash's shoulder.
"Well, I think we should get our bags and head into the forest?" Ash suggested, to which Serena agreed.
The two of them headed back over to their bags, quickly putting everything away before they both left and entered the forest.
There we go! Another chapter complete! I've realised that these normally come out Sunday night, in British time, at least. If not Sunday, then Monday. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!
