I'm... really bad at updating this. Sorry. University has started for me and that's soaking up my time. I'm not going to say that I'm going to try to update more frequently, since I usually break my promises, but I'll try my best. This story will never be abandoned, by the way. It will be finished.

When Ash awoke, he immediately felt his muscles aching. A nearby source of light made it difficult for his eyes to adjust and fully open. As they finally began to gradually accustom to their new surroundings, Ash saw a blurry figure enter his view.

"Ash, can you hear me?"

The voice sounded desperate. Ash's mind refused to stay in one place, countless thoughts fighting one another which created an irritating headache. Even though an unending amount of questions echoed throughout his mind, one question kept consistently appearing. Where was Serena?

"Ash! Please respond!"

Worry leaked out of the voice, but Ash's head was preoccupied with the thought of somebody else so he didn't notice. His mind finally began to settle down, allowing Ash to recall what had happened to him.

Serena. She was with him. He remembered the rain. It was terrifyingly loud. It wouldn't stop. Serena. She was stained with tears, her breakdown as fierce as the storm that was above them.

As a bolt of lightning struck the earth in his memories, Ash's eyes widened and he shot up.

"Ash!"

He heard multiple voices this time. All of them he recognised. He noticed he could see more clearly now, but his vision wasn't perfect. But he knew at the very least that numerous people surrounded him. Luckily, their distinct colors made it easy for him to figure out who they were.

"Ash, I need you to talk to me." The professor told him with a calm tone. Ash recognised that the professor was the person calling out to him as he was in the process of awakening. "Say anything. Do anything. Anything that can let us know you hear us."

"I hear you."

His response was sharp and quick. Ash knew the situation was dire from the tone of the professor's voice, so wanted to reassure everyone that he was conscious as soon as possible.

"I... see." Sycamore responded, shocked by the fast reply. Although Ash could not clearly see it, a large smile had formed on the adult's face. "We're glad. How about your vision? Can you see us?"

"Yes." He replied with the same haste as before. "Professor, you're right in front of me. Clemont is to your left, and Bonnie is to your right." Ash continued, trying his best not to inflict any more worry on his friends.

"That's a relief." He heard the professor say, shortly followed by a sigh.

"How come?" His statement worried the trainer, prompting him to ask what he meant.

"Well... let's say you weren't looking too great when we found you, Ash. You were even more hurt than after the fight with Team Flare." Sycamore summarised. Ash decided not to pry for more details as everyone else in the room was looking uncomfortable, especially one little girl.

Bonnie suddenly latched onto his arm, tears falling out of her eyes. "Ash! I-I w-was so s-scared! Y-You were s-so h-hurt...!"

Ash instinctively placed his hand on her head and gently rubbed her crown. "I'm sorry I made you worry, Bonnie." He apologised, noticing her sadness slowly fade as he spoke. "You've been really brave these past few weeks. Everyone is proud of you for that."

Through the tears, the young girl pouted at the trainer, some stubbornness showing due to the sudden compliment. "S-shut up..." She whispered, refusing to make eye contact.

Ash quietly giggled at her comment. Clemont moved over to their location and grabbed his sister's hand. "C'mon Bonnie, let's go get something to eat. I'll buy you anything you want, okay?"

The blonde haired girl looked like she wanted to protest, but the temptation of food prevailed and she headed off with her brother, leaving the room with only two people left in it.

Professor Sycamore waited for the door to close before he turned his head to face the young trainer. "Are you sure you're alright, Ash?" He asked.

"I ache a bit, but I'll be alright." He answered, hopping off the bed carefully. "Professor, where is Serena? Is she safe? Greninja too!"

"She's... safe and sound. Greninja has recovered quickly too and is resting." The professor reassured. "Just promise me you'll take it easy, okay? If you overexert yourself anymore, I don't know what will happen, but it won't be pretty, okay?"

"Understood. I promise." Ash acknowledged with a smile, beginning the process of maneuvering his way out of the bed. "I'm going to go find her, if that's okay?"

The professor sighed and sat down on a nearby chair, giving the young trainer a smile. "Sure, but don't leave the building, alright?" He chuckled. As much as he wanted to not let the trainer leave, he knew Ash well enough that remaining idle would do him more harm than good.

Ash moved quickly, hoping to locate his friend as soon as possible. His legs were begging him not to run after how much work they had been put through recently, so he acknowledged their request but kept up a fast pace regardless.

As he moved around the nearby corner, he suddenly tumbled backwards as his head collided with somebody else's.

"Ow!" Two people complained simultaneously, trying their best not to fall over as they clenched their foreheads due to the sudden pain. Ash placed his right hand on the floor to balance his body, but groaned as it twisted awkwardly.

The person the trainer crashed into gasped. "A-Ash? Are you okay?"

The boy from Kanto rubbed his eyes with his spare hand and gazed at the person in front of him, noticing immediately that they were dressed in similar clothing, assumingly provided to them by Sycamore.

"Serena!" He shouted excitedly as soon as he realized who he had bumped into. A massive grin formed on his face and he couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't hurt you at all, did I?"

"No no, of course not! I'm happy to see you're on your feet again. Everybody was so worried."

"I'm just so... relieved, Serena." Ash admitted as he moved his body so he could rest his back up against the nearby wall. "These past few weeks have left me filled with nothing but worry. It feels nice to finally take a sigh of relief, y'know?"

"I'm sorry I made you worry all this time." She apologised after imagining what her friend had to go through during her absence.

"Don't worry about it." He responded with a small chuckle that helped to reinforce that he wasn't bothered in the slightest. "What matters now is that you're back with us. Everything is going to be okay."

Serena couldn't help but smile joyfully at his comment. "I'm glad to be back."

The two stared into each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity. Neither spoke in person as they enjoyed a moment of peace together. It was Ash that broke the silence after around a minute. "Uh... what do you plan on doing next, Serena?" He asked.

"If I remember correctly, somebody invited me to come back to Kanto with them." She replied, adding a wink to the end of her answer.

"Oh, that's right!" He said, slamming his left fist onto his right hand, emulating a pose often done when realizing something. A look of discomfort suddenly formed on his face, a look that didn't go unnoticed by Serena. He grunted through his teeth and quickly moved his right hand out of view.

"Ash?" She called out. After a few seconds of no response, she pouted. "Show me your hand, Ash."

"I'm okay!" He attempted to reassure her.

"Ash Ketchum, please show me your hand."

"Fine, fine..." He gave in to her stern voice, raising his left hand so she could see it clearly.

Serena bit her lip and glared at him. Ash purposely tried to avoid making eye contact with his friend, but couldn't help but take a glance. He was met by a look of disapproval.

He sighed and moved his left hand out of view, raising his right hand after a brief moment of stubbornness.

"Ash, it's bruised." She observed, gently surrounding the hand with her two own before calmly

"It's nothing, honestly." He laughed to himself. "I've been through far worse."

Serena ignored his comment and observed the damage done to his hand. "Did... did this happen when you fell just now?"

"...Yeah... but don't worry about it." Ash replied, knowing it was probably for the better not to lie, but he didn't want her to worry about his minor injury.

"I can't help but worry about it. It was my fault." The Kalosian girl responded in a predictable way. She sighed and got onto her knees, using her hands to help her stand on two feet. She reached out to Ash with a hand.

The young boy stared at his female companion for a few seconds as he processed what she was trying to do. He then smiled and reached out with his non-damaged hand. Although he didn't notice it, his heart was beating ever so faster as their hands connected.

"Alright, three, two and one!"

At the end of the countdown, Serena pulled with all of her might, bringing Ash to his feet within a second. The boy almost tripped on the way up, almost colliding with her once more, but he managed to maintain his balance.

"Thank you, Serena." Ash said with a smile, scratching under his nose. It was an action the performer had seen her friend do so many times and it brought a smile to her own face. The motion irritated Ash's hand, but he didn't mind too much.

Once again, the two were brought within the realm of silence, their eyes shimmering as their minds wandered.

"Um..." Ash muttered, after noticing the conversation had reached a halt.

"H-hey, Ash..."

Her voice was surprisingly timid and quiet, catching the trainer's attention immediately. Her free hand clenched into a ball and rested close to her heart.

"Serena?" He asked with the same volume of voice, noticing some hesitation on her side.

"Oh, um, I j-just wanted to say that I was thankful for all you've done for me when I've been... you know." She blurted out quickly. Ash knew that wasn't what she wanted to say, but felt it was better not to pry.

"It's okay, Serena. I'm just glad you're back." He repeated, adding a grin to the end of his response.

Serena fidgeted with her spare hand, trying her best to maintain eye contact. As soon as she noticed Ash was looking a little distracted thanks to her lack of reply, she began to slightly panic. "I... I mean it, honestly! Especially back then... in the rain, it felt like... like everything that had happened in my dreams all came back to me at once. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't there to comfort me. Thank you... so much."

Ash released the hand that was connected with her own, causing worry to immediately manifest itself within her mind. She had almost forgotten that their hands were still linked, but as soon as it was gone, she missed its warmth. The Kalosian girl worried that she might have said the wrong thing.

"I... I don't know how to feel right now, Serena."

His statement was odd, but she couldn't help adding some form of negative connotation to what he was saying, even though she didn't understand what he meant. She dismissed any negative thoughts and continued to listen.

"What you just said to me. I'm... really, really thankful!" He added. "For the past few weeks, its felt like there's been this massive storm inside me that won't go away. But now... I think you just got rid of it. I feel pretty strange now because of that, if that makes sense. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad feeling! It's just... strange."

He scratched his cheek a few times and quietly laughed to himself. He looked up and noticing his companion mischievously giggling.

"What's so funny?" He asked out of curiosity.

She let her laughter fade away and replaced her smirk with a smile. "Sorry. I just thought what you said was really cute, that's all."

"Cute?!"

His response was one of shock and confusion, which Serena entirely expected.

"Don't worry. It's nothing." She reassured him with her trademark smile. "Say, why don't we check up on our Pokemon? They're probably worried sick."

Ash nodded several times. "Good idea. I need to let everyone know I'm awake."

The two began walking towards the greenhouse-like area where the professor kept all the Pokemon. As she adjusted her hair out of habit, she noticed her friend seemed to be lost in thought, which was unusual for him. "Are you okay?" She prompted him.

"Me? Of course!" He began in an unconvincing tone before sighing. "It... it was really difficult for me to say that, to be honest." He admitted. "Usually I can just say anything. I don't know why that was hard."

"Are you talking about when you said you had that storm inside you?" She attempted to clarify.

"Yeah."

All sorts of interesting thoughts began to conjure within the performer's mind. A bright, crimson blush formed on her face alongside a giggly smile. Moments later, they dispersed and were replaced with a pose of deep thought, only for the blush and smile to return seconds later.

"You okay, Serena?" Ash suddenly asked, making his friend quietly gasp out of shock

"O-oh, sorry!" She apologised. "I was just thinking about... seeing our Pokemon again, that's all."

"Serena!" A voice from behind called out to the young girl. Ash and Serena stopped quickly after noticing the voice. The former noticed the anger in the person's voice, while the latter merely sighed.

"Oh... mama." Serena murmured, biting her lip. Ash focused on his companion, noticing she was avoiding making eye contact with her mother.

Grace approached the duo and crossed her arms as she stood in front of them. She focused her attention on her daughter with a glare. "I told you not to leave you room, young lady."

"I... wanted to see Ash." Serena replied after a moment of hesitation.

"That's fine, but if you wanted to do that, you could have let me know. I would have come with you."

"Don't worry, uh, Serena's mom!" Ash butted in, noticing a bit of unneeded tension between the two. "I can look after her for you."

Grace turned her attention towards the young boy, her expression turning neutral. "I know you are dependable, Ash, but you are no in position to say that you can defend her. You've been on death's door twice in the past week alone." She said, pointing at the boy's chest.

The Kalosian girl reacted quickly to her mother's last comment and looked at Ash with confusion. "What does she mean by that, Ash?" She asked quietly, hoping it was some kind of comment that need a lot more context to understand and that it didn't mean what she thought it meant. He didn't respond.

Serena's mother sighed. "The boy's been to hell and back all for your sake." She answered in his place. "I'm really grateful for all he's done, but he needs his rest. And so do you, Serena. As your mother, I am going to make a proposition."

"Proposition?" She inquired.

"Once the professor lets me know you're okay to leave, you will come home with me to Vaniville Town. You'll stay with me for a year so you can fully recover." Grace explained with a more authoritative tone.

"A year? Recover? I'm fine, mother!" Serena snapped back as soon as the last word left her mother's mouth.

"Don't raise your voice at me, young lady!" Grace raised her voice back, her daughter deciding it was best not to point her out on her hypocrisy. "It hurts me to do this, it really does. Ideally, you should be out there as soon as possible and performing so you can achieve your dream. However, everybody will be worried if you do that."

"Why would everyone be worried? I told you I'm feeling fine!" The daughter repeated, insisting that she was stable. "Besides, I promised Ash I would go to Kanto with him."

Grace turned to Ash and stared at him. "I'm sorry Ash, but Serena's visit will have to be put on hold for a while. Is that okay?"

"No... it's not."

Serena shivered at his response, specifically at the angered tone of voice he was using.

"Serena's fine. There's no reason to lock her up in her hometown for an entire year. That's completely unfair!" He shouted, trying his best not to sound too angered. Ash didn't want to come across as rude, especially to somebody else's mother, but the thought of what Grace had just said was too much for him to bear without adding his own input. "Serena is fine."

Serena watched Ash catch his breath as her mother simply sighed.

"I promised the professor I wouldn't say this until he gave permission, but..."

Ash bit his lip as Grace spoke, anticipating with rugged breaths what the end of that sentence could be. When a tear fell out of Grace's eye, Ash felt that storm manifesting all over again.

"Mother..." Serena muttered, her voice leaking her inner panicking. "What's... what's wrong with me?"