Chapter 25: the Jewel of Anistar.
Now we are heading into the final showdown, but first the gym battle.
Ash sat up in his bed, after having a long night's sleep, he was sweating suffering nightmares from the battle he felt that he lost, his thought on all the people that died for no reason in Pallet Town, "I did everything in my power, Professor Oak, mom, everyone in the town, gone all because Team Rocket wanted to send a message," Ash whispered while petting his electric partner, he now felt very lost, he had no home to return to, winning and losing at the same time left the trainer feeling down upon himself.
"Ash, I have breakfast for you," Serena's called to Ash.
Ash looked away thinking about his breakdown the previous night, "and Serena must think I am weak, not even a man anymore, I cried like a baby last night," Ash remembered the display that he had, "come in," Ash called to his girlfriend.
Serena opened the door, seeing the trainer still in bed, "are you alright Ash?" She asked her rival, concerned about his mental state.
Ash took the plate and looked at the food, he was still reeling from the loss of the people in Pallet Town. "No I am not fine, I needed to be strong and yet I was weak last night," the trainer looked away in shame, refusing to make eye contact with Serena.
Serena shook her head wondering what Ash was going on about, "oh right, because you were crying last night, that doesn't make you a less of a man, I admire the fact that no matter how tough things get, you always find a way, this is one of those tough moments, what will you do Ash?" Serena asked her boyfriend calmly, Ash looked away unable to answer the question, he didn't know what to say or how to say, it was in that instance he felt the burning sensation on his face, jolting to his attention he noticed Serena's hand on his face where she had slapped him, "I will tell you what you need to do, get back on your feet and stop Team Flare, they intend to do the exact same thing as Team Rocket," Serena informed Ash with a determined expression.
Serena kept her hand on his face and kept her eyes glued on to his, "but what if I fail?" Ash asked while hesitating to answer Serena.
"Fail? Everyone fails at something Ash, you just need to know when not to give up, I am certain your mother wouldn't want you to give up when times are tough, Porfessor Oak wouldn't have chosen you to be a trainer if you gave up when times were tough, I don't want you to give up," Serena continued to try and cheer Ash up.
"You're telling me I haven't lost everything?" Ash asked the young woman, he moved his hand towards his pocket and felt for the small box, but removed it instantly, 'no, not yet, I will wait, I want to spend more time with her,' Ash thought but was unable to let out a smile.
Serena slowly moved her hand and started to walk away, "Ash, I went and talked to the Gym Leader, our double battle is later this afternoon," Serena informed her rival calmly. The blonde haired trainer walked out of the room and closed the door, 'I couldn't tell him, I was trying to be strong, but telling him I was in tears last night, so why am I pretending to be strong?' Serena clutched her clothes where her heart was beating and hoped that Ash would be alright, "I guess we are both not as strong as we claim to be," Serena whispered to herself, assuring herself that she will try to get stronger.
Ash looked at the food that Serena had given him, his partner pokemon who was as upset as the trainer was, "you know Pikachu, we have no home to go back to," Ash reminded his pokemon, the air grew still and the mood dark. The raven haired trainer picked up his fork and started to eat his food. The hurting trainer started to wonder what was next, the room fell silent with even his Pikachu not saying his name, just the munching of food and the gentle breeze billowing pass the curtains and into his room.
(Lumiose City)
A man in a red suit rushed into a café willing to talk to his boss, "sir I have some great news," the grunt informed the much larger man with a red beard and spiky hair.
Lysandre turned around to greet the young member, "alright tell me, what's this news?" Lysandre enquired calmly.
"Team Rocket have been defeated, and their boss killed," the Flare member replied while trying to catch his breath.
The leader of Team Flare burst out into laughter and then clenched his fists with delight, "Team Rocket defeated and Giovanni killed, this is amazing news, it means with no enemy to concentrate on we can fully apply ourselves to our true mission, whoever defeated Team Rocket actually did us a favour," Lysandre explained the situation with great joy, he turned to the coffee stall and pressed a button, "tell all forces to head to Geosenge Town, I will complete everything here," Lysandre ordered the grunts as he walked into the secret entrance.
"Sir!" the grunts in the room all yelled in unison, saluting their boss.
Lysandre walked down the hall, a broad grin stretched across his face. The previous months of failure have all come to the moment he was waiting for, "now I can change the world unchecked," Lysandre commented under his breath.
"Sir, the ultimate weapon is complete, we can fire it in two days' time," Xerosic informed the Flare leader.
"Excellent, now with no one to challenge us, we cannot possibly lose here," Lysandre celebrated. He soon remembered the time he met the Aura Guardians, 'then there is those two, it doesn't matter, now that I can complete this task with no Team Rocket in sight, I have a clear path to my success,' Lysandre thought to himself, smirking proudly at the clear road ahead.
"Sir, we have the TV airways ready to go, you can make the announcement tonight at eight o'clock," a woman with short green hair informed the leader calmly.
"Perfect, everything is going to plan, now world domination will be ours in a mere two days," Lyandre replied gleefully.
(Near Anistar City)
"Blair, we are almost there," Mark told his girlfriend calmly as the cold winds hit them from every direction. The couple covered their faces preventing the snow from hitting their faces, "oh man this is ridiculous how are we to get to the next city?" Mark complained as the wind continued to pushed them back towards the forest.
"Quit complaining, our friends need our help," Blair snapped back at her boyfriend. The young woman thought about the mysterious dark object that enveloped the large city, 'that was odd, it prevented us from getting into the city, but it mysteriously vanished after the beam of energy was fired,' Blair wondered to herself as she started to get more curious about the weapon itself.
"You thinking about the blast of energy?" Mark asked the woman quietly, covering his face from the driving snow and wind, Blair nodded at the question, "yeah I am thinking about it too, I have a bad feeling, like this isn't the last time we will see it," Mark remarked as he pushed through the powerful winds.
After thirty minutes the couple eventually made it into the city, it was quiet and the people were helping one another out, the weather was bitterly cold, but the lingering dark feel was still pressing down on the city, "hurry up Ash, we can battle the gym leader now," Serena's voice called to the trainer.
Blair looked over to a dejected trainer, his expression was that of defeat, "he is sad, what happened?" Blair asked herself while seeing her boyfriend rush towards the younger couple, "hey Mark, let them have their gym battle!" Blair yelled out in displeasure.
"Hey you two what happened?" Mark asked Ash and Serena.
Ash looked at the ground, remembering his failure to save his hometown and the people that resided in the town, "I don't want to say anything," Ash replied glumly, 'I don't have a home to return to,' Ash reminded himself, clenching his fists and holding back his tears once more, not wanting to show his moment of weakness to his friends.
"Hey leave him alone, he has been through a lot," Serena told Mark off, she grabbed the trainer's hand and helped him towards the gym.
Mark stood on the spot and wondered to himself what Serena was going on about, "hey Blair, why did Serena say Ash had been through a lot?" Mark asked his high school sweetheart.
Blair ignored the comments and the questions from Mark, she was asked again why Ash had been through a lot, "I don't know, but I can sense that Ash is hurting really badly," Blair replied, picturing the immense sadness shown on her friends face, scratching her head, she looked around town to see the people, seemingly more pale than the last time they were here, "I have no clue what happened inside that dark object, but I feel something is amiss," a sudden chill ran down her back.
At the gym Ash feeling less confident walked inside following Serena who was getting ready for the battle, the two were greeted by a woman, with purple hair, a black outfit and a white cloak with a night time pattern on the inside, "greetings, I arrived back in Anistar last night to find out what had happened, I take it you two are the reason why the people are safe," the woman remarked but the two trainers looked at the ground with guilt written all over their faces, "so you both want to challenge me and since the both of you are short on time, this will be a four on four battle, you can use two pokemon each," the gym leader explained the rules to the challengers.
"Thanks Olympia," Serena replied softly.
Ash remained quiet still haunted by the loss of his mother and his friends in his hometown, "I can sense it, you have had a great loss," Olympia told the trainer, "being psychic I can tell what had happened and what will happen, right now I can sense a future filled with darkness, yet there is light," Olympia informed the duo but Ash remained tight lipped about what was told of him, still lamenting the fact that he couldn't save the people of Pallet Town, "now that we are here, let's have a battle, time is of the essence, you will be heading into your next battle to save this world soon after this gym battle," Olympia explained her visions to Ash and Serena.
"What if I let the people down? What if I am given a choice and it is the wrong one?" Ash asked the gym leader angrily, "I can no longer smile anymore because I screwed up! I messed up big time against Team Rocket!" Ash let out his frustrations, placing his right hand where he was slapped, he began to think about his actions over time, shaking his head, he turned towards the exit, "I don't know if I can do this battle," Ash whispered, walking away towards the exit leaving Serena and Olympia to watch on.
"Ash, could the pressure be getting to him?" Serena asked herself, she bowed her head and turned to chase after Ash, "Ash!" Serena called to her boyfriend, she ran after him, managing to stop him from exiting from the building she grasped her hand, "what's wrong Ash? I never pictured you on giving up when things got to difficult," Serena told Ash while grasping his right hand tightly. Her tears started flowing down her face, "you taught me something many years ago, those words you told me have stuck with me and will always stay with me," Serena professed to Ash, but he remained disinterested.
"I forgot," Ash replied coldly.
"Never give up until the end," Serena replied to Ash's cold remark, "you shouldn't ever give up, or you will be going back on what you told me all those years ago," Serena lectured Ash, without smiling Ash walked back towards the gym's battlefield and pulled out his pokeball, 'I guess, it isn't the pressure, it is the pain of losing everyone he cared about in Pallet Town,' Serena thought to herself, she walked back to the battlefield, letting out a deep sigh, her eyes remained glued on Ash, concerned about his mental state and towards the visions that she had seen many times in the past.
Serena stood next to Ash with pokeball in hand, "now that you two have cleared everything up, it is time to battle," Olympia informed the two trainers, "my first two pokemon Sigilyph and Slowking," Olympia called out a bipedal pokemon with a shell on his head and a ball shaped pokemon with a green a black pattern, yellow wings with red and blue wingtips, and a black spike with a single eye.
"Pikachu, I choose you," Serena called out her new electric type pokemon, the small yellow mouse unlike Ash's had a small indent at the top of her tail, "that's right, when I trained I caught this female Pikachu," Serena remarked proudly at her capture.
Ash's Pikachu immediately leapt of Ash's shoulders and right into the battlefield, "hey I was going to choose a different pokemon," Ash complained, but Serena looked over towards Ash and winked at him. "Great Serena, did that on purpose," Ash hissed in frustration.
"Oh come on Ash, I caught a Pikachu, because they are so cute," Serena replied to displeased rival, "Pikachu, start things off with Electro Ball," Serena instructed her electric mouse.
"Pikachu, follow up with Volt Tackle," Ash called for his partner poekmon's attack.
"Slowking, defend with Protect, Sigilyph attack with Psychic," the gym leader replied to the two trainers, Ash's and Serena's pokemon prepared to attack, Ash's Pikachu rushing towards the two opposing pokemon with a thunderous aura and Serena's yellow mouse threw a ball of electricity towards the opponents. The two attacks got closer, but in the last second Slowking formed a powerful barrier preventing the two pokemon from getting closer, before the pokemon could jump back to their trainers they were thrown back with a powerful psychic blast.
"Pikachu!" Serena yelled out in horror.
"Not good she is good in double battles, she prevented us from landing a single attack," Ash acknowledged.
Serena looked at the corner of her eye to see that Ash was hesitating for a moment, 'if only I can help him become less hesitant,' Serena thought to herself calmly, she returned her focus to the battle at hand, "Ash, I have a plan, since your Pikachu has more endurance than mine, you will need to use Volt Tack to keep them busy, Protect can only work for a certain amount of time, so I will do what I can to break the barrier," Serena whispered her plan to Ash.
Ash took a deep breath and shook his head, "no, I will battle on my own," Ash replied seriously.
Serena gasped in shock at her boyfriend's reply, "listen to me Ash, at the moment, you're not in the position to make a plan, you are hesitating in the choices you're making," Serena informed the trainer, but Ash called for another Volt Tackle targeting the two psychic type pokemon, "Pikachu, use Electro Ball," Serena called for the attack.
"Wow, your teamwork is not something I would like to see happening all the time, Slowking, use Protect, Sigilyph attack with Air Slash," Olympia ordered her pokemon. The two electric mouse pokemon charged up their attacks yet again, Serena's Pikachu with a ball of electricity, and Ash's partner pokemon with a thunderous aura, the two attacks met with the green barrier set up by Slowking and a wall of wind knocking them back towards their trainers, "come on you two, you can do better than that," Olympia encouraged the two trainers.
"Ash come on, hesitating and now taking the battle on your own, please listen to my idea, that is what being in a relationship is about, we do things together," Serena explained to Ash, she looked over to her Pikachu who was panting and Ash's Pikachu who had taken the brunt of all the attacks, "you see what is happening Ash? We haven't landed a single hit and yet, we have taken so much damage," Serena pointed to the two tiring electric type pokemon, "we have the type advantage, but when it comes to battle experience, she trumps us," Serena explained to Ash. The blonde haired trainer turned her attention back to the battle, 'I am trying to bring him back, but I know I am getting close,' Serena kept reminding herself.
"I know what you are trying to do, but it doesn't mean that I can let go of my failure," Ash hissed back at the young woman.
"SlowKing attack with Hydro Pump, Sigilyph combine with Psychic," Olympia instructed her powerful pokemon, the water type fired a powerful column of water and the flying type enveloped the powerful water type move with a burst of Psychic energy.
"Ash, now we can counter," Serena remarked in an excited tone, but Ash remained despondent towards his girlfriend. "Enough, Pikachu deflect the attack with Thunderbolt," Serena ordered her electric mouse, she looked over to the concerned Pikechu that was owned by her boyfriend, "you attack with Volt Tackle," Serena called for the powerful attack, she knew that there was no chance of Protect from coming into play, Ash's Pikachu rushed towards the pink pokemon with a powerful yellow aura, sparking in every direction.
"Not bad, she not only commanded her Pikachu to counter but also commanded Ash's at the same time," Olympia thought out loud.
Serena's Pikachu, pushed back the attack keeping her opponents busy while Ash's Pikachu crashed into Slowking with a devastating tackle, "yes, now I can end this round, Pikachu, you keep Sigilyph busy with Electro ball, my Pikachu will attack with thunderbolt," Serena informed the two electric mouse with great vigour.
Ash was stunned at seeing the improved skills of Serena, but was still feeling guilty about what had happened the previous day, "Serena is trying hard, yet I have lost all confidence," Ash whispered, he looked at the ground.
"That's it enough! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Ash," Serena ordered Ash's Pikachu to attack his own trainer, hesitating for just a moment, the small electric mouse unleashed an unforgiving blast of electricity on his own trainer.
Ash fell off the podium, shocked to hear Serena instructing, "what? But why?" Ash asked with a shocked expression.
"You lost your confidence, do you really think the people who were murdered yesterday would want you be like this?" Serena asked the trainer, she jumped off the podium and grabbed the collar of his jacket, tears streaming down her face, "well answer me!" Serena demanded, "don't say the same thing, 'I let the people of Pallet Town down,'" Serena gave Ash her ultimatum.
Olympia watched what was going on, not wanting to attack, 'she is determined to get him back to who he is,' Olympia thought with a proud smile.
"Then what do I say?" Ash answered back.
"You know Ash, I let the people of Pallet Town down as well, and I regret not being able to do any more, but that doesn't mean that I will let it drag me down, I want to prevent another town or city getting destroyed like Pallet Town did," Serena confessed her resolve to Ash, she glared into his sad eyes and grasped his collar tightly, "now what will you do Ash? Drag your feet across the ground because you regret something, or do something to prevent it happening again?" Serena asked the trainer, the blonde haired trainer let go of Ash's collar and stood up, "I know you don't have a home to return to," Serena told Ash while remaining cool and holding back her tears.
"Wow, if we had bullied this Serena, we would have been in a lot of trouble back in the day," Mark said while watching a determined Serena walking back to the challenger's stand.
Blair looked over to Ash, but didn't move, she watched him stand up, trying to get his confidence back, "you're right Mark, she is trying her hardest for Ash, but what happened was beyond Ash's control."
Serena turned to Ash and nodded, "it wasn't your fault, so stop blaming yourself, I am not blaming you because I lost five years of my expected lifespan," Serena told Ash calmly much to the shock of Mark and Blair, "now let's finish this gym battle," Serena instructed Ash.
"Right," Ash replied timidly. Ash looked up to his girlfriend and tried to smile but was unable to, 'she didn't blame me, but what of the people?' Ash kept questioning himself. Ash stood next to Serena and took a deep breath, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt," Ash called for the attack.
"About time you two, Slowking, use Protect, Sigilyph attack with Air Slash," Olympia replied to Ash's command.
Serena smirked at the gym leader and then turned her gaze to her Pikachu, "alright Pikachu, use Double Electro Ball," Serena replied.
"What?" Ash gasped in shock at the young woman's combo.
Serena's Pikachu leapt into the air and charged up the first ball of electricity, "Electro Ball one fire," Serena called out, the ball of electricity was sent cannoning into the protective barrier, "now use the second," Serena instructed her electric mouse, "Ash tell your Pikachu to use Volt Tackle instead," Serena instructed her rival. 'excellent my combo worked for the first time, the protective barrier will now drop,' Serena thought to herself as her yellow pokemon landed tiredly on the ground in front of her
"Alright, Pikachu use Volt Tackle," Ash commanded his pokemon. Ash's electric mouse stopped charging for Thunderbolt, rushing towards the two opposing pokemon with a powerful aura.
Serena watched as her rival's Pikachu smashed through the barrier and tackled the two opposing pokemon, "yes, you did it Ash!" Serena celebrated with great joy.
"But you were the one that came up with the plan," Ash replied modestly.
Serena hit Ash hard on the back as the smoke cleared from the powerful attack, "oh come on Ash, I just knocked out the barrier," Serena replied with a cheeky grin.
"Yeah, but my Pikachu still took a lot of damage in this round," Ash pointed out, showing the red lightning arching around his partner's pokemon, in pain after the attack. 'It still doesn't change the fact that I messed up,' Ash lamented as his partner pokemon stood in front of him.
Serena looked over to Ash and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Ash, it was Team Rocket's fault, not yours," Serena assured Ash.
"Would you two want to change pokemon? I will bring out my ultimate duo, Meowstic, time to battle," Olympia called out her two psychic pokemon.
"Oh this is going to be good," Serena commented while letting her Pikachu on her left shoulder, she pulled out her pokedex and scanned the mostly blue cat like pokemon, "so they are male and female," Serena scratched her head. She still didn't notice her friends in the, she glanced over to Ash who seemed a little off color, 'he hasn't even eaten properly since last night, he skipped dinner, only ate a little bit of his breakfast and didn't even eat lunch today,' Serena thought to herself.
Ash grabbed one of his pokeballs, "Sylveon, I choose you," Ash called for his fairy type pokemon.
"Florges, I choose you," Serena called for her second pokemon.
"Wow, those two even have a fairy type pokemon each," Mark pointed out in surprise at the duo's pokemon.
"We better get to the pokemon Center," Blair replied as she walked towards the exit of the gym.
"So how will you go in this round?" the gym leader asked the couple, smirking as her two pokemon prepared to attack the trainer's pokemon.
"Well my Florges can defeat your pokemon in one attack and since my pokemon can withstand anything you throw at her and hit back twice as hard," Serena informed the gym leader with a smug expression.
'Is Serena that strong?' Ash questioned himself, unable to comprehend what his girlfriend was saying, 'not even I had the chance to train my Sylveon,' Ash admitted to himself, he felt his partner pokemon hitting his head with his tail, as if to remind him to focus, "oh right, I guess I cannot let myself be seen as weak," Ash replied to his pokemon's hit, assuring him that everything was alright.
"Since your pokemon is faster than mine, would you mind taking the lead?" Serena enquired in a determined manner.
"Yeah sure thing," Ash answered back softly. "Sylveon, use attract on the white Meowstic," Ash ordered his pokemon, forming a group of hearts the pink pokemon sent the hearts towards the female Meowstic.
"Oh no you don't my other one is male, so I will send him into the path of the move," Olympia informed the two trainers.
Serena smiled broadly knowing that this is what she wanted the gym leader to do, "you know, I was hoping you would do that," Serena admitted to the gym leader who gasped in shock at the confidence of the younger trainer, "now to attack, Florges attack with multi Shadow Ball," Serena called for the powerful attack.
"There is no way that she is this skilful," Olympia questioned the attack. "Quickly run to the left," Olympia ordered her two pokemon.
"Ash, have Sylveon block their path," Serena told Ash quickly.
"Sylveon attack with Moonblast," Ash called for the attack, "aim to the left, prevent them from getting away from Florges' attack," Ash told his fairy type pokemon. The intertwining pokemon formed a pink sphere and fired it just a few centimetres to the left of the pokemon. The attack landed causing them to stop instantly.
"Now we've got you," Serena declared in a confident tone. Her pokemon unleashed a steady barrage of Shadow Balls at the two pokemon, "Ash follow it up again with another attack," Serena ordered the more experienced trainer.
Ash nodded seriously, "Sylveon attack with Dazzling Gleam," Ash ordered his pokemon to attack yet again. A burst of light emanated from the intertwining pokemon while the ghostly orbs slammed into the psychic type pokemon followed by the blinding light.
"Amazing, you two are truly skilled trainers," Olympia recalled her pokemon from the battle, "your proved that your Florges could beat my pokemon in one attack," Olympia remarked as she held out two gym badges for the winning trainers, "take this as proof of your victory," Olympia told the trainers handing them a badge each.
"Thanks," Ash and Serena replied in unison.
Serena turned her gaze to Ash and smiled, "well Ash, that means we have one badge each to get," Serena said with great excitement.
"Yeah," Ash replied quietly. He turned away and walked out of the gym leaving the two women perplexed by his quiet reaction.
"You better help him out," Olympia told the blonde haired trainer.
Serena nodded and started to think about what she could do to help out her rival, "you know Pikachu, I have an idea," Serena confessed to her electric type pokemon.
(Three hours later)
The day was coming to an end and the sun was setting, inside the Pokemon Center Serena was in the kitchen preparing something for Ash, her team of pokemon looked on wondering what she was planning, "it's fine you guys, I want to help Ash feel better," Serena told her pokemon as she placed the final bits of food in the box, "there the Bento Box is finished," Serena said with great joy.
Serena knelt down to her Pikachu and pet her on the head, "I want you to keep the other Pikachu busy, I need to be alone with Ash," Serena instructed the electric mouse. The female Pikachu rushed out of the kitchen to find the other electric mouse.
Meanwhile Ash was walking out of his room when suddenly his partner pokemon was tackled from his shoulder, "hey isn't that Serena's Pikachu?" Ash asked in a puzzled tone.
"Ash, I want to show you something," Serena informed her boyfriend.
Ash followed Serena out of the medical facility and towards her designated location, he remained guilt ridden by the destruction of his home town, "Serena, you know I don't have a home to return to, I really liked Pallet Town, I wanted to live there after winning a pokemon league with the people familiar to me, but all those people are gone," Ash informed Serena who continued to walk towards the place she had chosen.
Serena stopped at the entrance to the location, Serena looked up to see a towering crystal dominating the skyline, "this is it," Serena replied, she walked towards a bench followed by Ash, she pulled out a medium sized black box from her hand bag, "here eat up," Serena ordered Ash calmly.
"But I am not hungry," Ash replied solemnly.
Serena pushed the box into Ash's hands and glared at him at the same time, "I order you to eat, I made this for you," Serena ordered the trainer with a determined expression. The young woman placed her hand on her lap and looked towards the crystal, "I know for a fact, you haven't eaten properly since yesterday, I don't want you to starve," Serena remarked with a concerned tone.
Ash opened the box to see the food that Serena had cooked for him, he grabbed the chop sticks and started to eat the food, "Thanks Serena," Ash thanked the young woman.
"No need for thanks, I will be happy to cook for you anytime," Serena replied gently. Serena watched the sun setting while hearing Ash eating her cooking, the young trainer watched the sky turn bright red with orange around the edges of the clouds, "you know Ash, I have been waiting to see this," Serena professed with great joy.
"Mmmmmph, why…..? what….." Ash started much to the disappointment of his girlfriend.
"Ash, didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk with your mouth full?" a disappointed young woman asked her rival.
Ash swallowed the food and placed the chopsticks down, "why the big interest in this area? What makes this place so special?" Ash asked in a perplexed tone.
"Just watch, you will see something amazing," Serena pointed to the large crystal as it started to glow, "there is a legend about this crystal, it is said to show the path of mega-evolution," Serena explained to the trainer as he recommenced his feed.
Before the crystal could start glowing brightly Mark ran up to the duo, out of breath and seemingly distressed, "you two, come to the Pokemon Centre now, we have a problem," Mark informed Ash and Serena before running back to the pokemon Centre."
Ash and Serena looked at one another and nodded, "Ash, before we go back, I want to apologize," Serena informed Ash.
"For what?" Ash replied cautiously.
"I mega-evolved my Blaziken, I really wanted to save it for our battle at the Kalos League," Serena apologized to Ash.
Ash watched Serena bow her head, Ash placed his hand on her head and started to pet her, "its fine I mega-evolved my Garchomp, I guess we will be needing to mega-evolve our pokemon again," Ash replied with a sigh, but was still unable to bring himself to smile, "how about, when we battle at the Kalos League, we save the pokemon we want to Mega-evolve for last and show the people a really good battle," Ash promised the young woman with a stern expression.
Serena looked up and smiled at her rival, "that's a promise," Serena replied with great joy. Serena turned her attention to the crystal as it began to glow brightly, with Ash placing his arm around her shoulder, "I am glad that I got the chance to see this," Serena remarked in a triumphant manner.
"Yeah, it's nice," Ash replied but was still unable to feel any joy.
"Come on Ash, let's head back and find out what's going on," Serena suggested as the air started to get colder.
(An Hour later)
"You have to be kidding me!" Ash yelled out in anger, throwing a plate across the medical facility barely missing a group of patrons, "Serena and I defeat Team Rocket and we inadvertently help Team Flare!" Ash yelled out punching the table repeatedly.
"Ash, calm down, at the moment we still don't know what Team Flare is up to," Blair told the trainer, but it was no use Ash was angered by the fact that he had helped an enemy out and didn't know that he.
"Blair is right, we can't go and get angry because we knew very little about what was really going on," Serena agreed with her friend, she grabbed Ash's hand and noticed a small amount of blood coming from his knuckles, "please, don't hurt yourself," Serena reminded Ash as she placed his hand gently on the table.
"We don't know what the full extent is, but may I suggest that we go to Lumiose City?" Mark suggested in a calm disposition.
Ash looked away, furious that he had let the people of Pallet Town down and now finding out that he had helped Team Flare, "fine, we go to see Professor Sycamore," Ash submitted, he sat down trying to get his composure to return, clenching his fists he looked down at his partner pokemo Pikachu, 'I am a fool,' Ash thought to himself resisting the urge to hit the table again.
"Alright, you two get some rest, we will go to Professor Sycamore's Lab tomorrow," Blair told the younger trainers, she got up and walked to one of the rooms, in order to prepare for the upcoming battle against team Flare.
Ash remained seated while Serena walked off, she looked over her shoulder to see that her boyfriend was still in bad shape, 'Ash, please smile again,' Serena wished to herself, she entered the main hallway with her Pikachu looking at her, "you can sense it too, he is still beating himself up for what had happened," Serena told her Pikachu, picking the female pokemon up and walking to her room.
The last fight against Team Flare is coming, how will Ash and Serena, be able to defeat the full force of Team Flare? And at what cost?
Next time chapter 26: Death before Life PT1
Alright before people ask any questions as to what is going on with my other stories, the answer is don't worry, I will get them done, since this story is almost coming to an end, I will head to getting another story done, I will be doing one major story at a time. The reason behind that is because I have very little time to go all out, I can only do one update per fortnight permitting the time I have.
I will go to Trainer and the Princess 4 after this one then Almost Easy 2.
This year I will end most of my main stories before starting any new ones.
But the cool news is, I have a different Ash and Salvia story planned, I also have another Ash and Serena story planned as well. But there is also me doing a Kingdom Hearts story coming next year as well called Kingdom Hearts: Masters. But that will be next year along with some long awaited Sequels as well.